Trying to format a Linux HDD
 

I've been trying to get rid of Mandrake on an old HDD for some time now but I just can't get rid of it. I have tried to run the winXP cd and format like that and tried to run the Windows ME cd but the winXP just ends up not even starting up and the Windows ME just freezes right before it starts formatting. I was going to download the files from the HDD maker to format but it turns out they only support windows OSes. At this point I have no idea how to do it so I'm asking here:confused:

Get a win98/dos bootdisk, and run fdisk from there. Then try installing XP/ME/whatever. Or for that matter, if the mandrake is still bootable, boot it to a command prompt (you should be able to do this with a bootdisk) and run fdisk from there.

Well I tried a bootdisk before but it wasn't able to do anything since the drive wasn't called C: but I guess I have nothing better then to give it another shot. sigh this is such a waste of time but I must do it...

Does the mandrake boot at all?

Look around for any sort of bootdisk that includes a formatter on it.

Maybe someone can clarify this, but I thought fdisk would format any disk, regardless of name... Its been a while since Ive used it though.

how about booting a linux live cd like knoppix, mounting the drive and fdisk/parted to fat32.

O_O I'm not that good with software guys. You can't be too complex with me.

try using the command
fdisk /mbr
to kill the master boot record.

You should be able to install windows without the linux bootloader coming up anymore.

Not the DOS/windows version. The DOS/Windows version is seriously limited.

I agree. I once had to dig up an old OS/2 boot floppy to be able to get rid of Linux partitions.

You could try a FreeDOS boot floppy, from freedos.org. I hear those work pretty well for something like this.

Try www.bootdisk.com, download the Win98 OEM boot disk and the updated fdisk, it's a little further down the page. Then, you can run the boot98.exe file to create the boot floppy. Once it's made, you can copy the new fdisk over to the floppy.

Finally, boot w/ the floppy, hitting CTRL+C or holding down the left shift key to get out of the startup sequence. Once you have a command prompt, run FDISK from the floppy to erase partitions.