Can't reformat my harddrive (Windows 2000)

slimjim123 · Sep 12, 2005

I have tried to reformat my harddrive using the DOS prompt format c:, but when asked if I want to proceed, and having typed yes, I get the following:

"Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N)" At which point, I type "Y".

I then get: "Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use."

PS. Need to reformat as my laptop is full of spyware cr*p!

PPS. If I can get my reformat done, can anyone recommend a cheap and effective protection against spyware on-line?

Thanks!!

A_DOG73 · Sep 12, 2005

Do you have a copy of windows 2000?

If so, get into your bios, set the first boot device to cd, pop the disk in the drive, reboot, let the windows installation come up, and reformat your drive that way. Hope that helps.

luvr · Sep 12, 2005

You cannot reformat your drive, since that would destroy the operating system that is currently running; in effect, you would crash the system if you did that.

The easiest option is to boot from CD, start the installation process, and tell it to format your harddisk as NTFS.

My personal favourite to fight spyware is Lavasoft Ad-aware. You can download a free, personal, version from one of the mirror sites (to which you will find links at the right-hand side column on the Lavasoft home page), or you can buy a professional version. (I'm using the free version myself.)

It may also help to use the Mozilla Firefox browser, instead of Internet Explorer; I'm not entirely sure, but I do get the impression that I get far less spyware since I switched to Firefox.

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Can't reformat my harddrive (Windows 2000)

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