few formating questions
 

My windows XP pro computer stopped working the other day and since then, when i boot up in any mode(safe mode, etc..) and even Last good settings, i get up to the black windows logo with the scrolling bar and it stays there without going any further.

i tried doing a repair with my window's disc and that did nothing more. So now i'm prepared to do a format and do a clean install but I want to clean the disc completely.

i heard about some software that didnt just remove the data but also brought the drive back to all 000 or something? like a REAL clean. Any info on this i should know? software or ways?

or if anyone has ever come to the same problem and knows how to get around it, that would save me a ton of time!

You are thinking of a "write zeros" program. I personally think they aren't that useful - just do the "long format" when you reinsall Windows. Works just as good. Doesn't write 0s to the HD, but will perform just as well. The only time you want to write 0s to your HD is to get rid of personal/private information if you are going to sell or give away your computer. That's my opinion!

yes! thats exactly what i was looking for. I've never used it but i thought it would maybe fix my drive like a defrag does. oh well. thanks for the info!

btw: noone has any info on why my computer stalls at the load screen of windows?

I had the exact same problem a few months back. I just formatted since my HD was all junked up anyway.

I keep all of my important files (coughporncough) on the slave drive so its never a big deal to format for me.

So uhhh... my point was if there is nothing irreplaceable on the drive, just reformat.

dban is a great program for this, Google dban and you will find it. as for windows, i use sdelete, it was made by sysinternals before they were bought by Microsoft. sdelete cleans the free space on your drive.

i'll remember it for the next time i do a format. but i was in a hurry today so i did the regular winXP format and got my system in order in just 1hr. oohya!

all you need is just a plane format, no need to destroy data unless your selling.