3 replies to this topic

[LeeJ_Photographer]

Wiping / Erasing a Hard drive sometimes not easy .. but i get when i format to use Vista .. Boot Manager with a older version of windows listed .. is there a free tool out there to Format / Erase all Data on Hard Drive so this cannot happen again ... I have Tried KillDisk ... that failed and Dans Version of Kill disk

please help cheers

[todd1970]

I dont understand why this is happening if you are deleting all the data on the HD as in the full drive..the only thing i can think of is that the HD has been partitioned at one point and the boot sector for the other OS still exists , so when your formatting your only formatting the partition with Vista on it and leaving the other partition untouched.

When you put the Vista disc in..and its done its crap..it should show you your HD as 1 unit..split into however many partitons...you must use the advanced drive options to delete all other partitions to make the HD whole again at 750GB for example..then format..then install Windows.

If its doing it at the moment and annoying you...all you need to do is go into (this is Win7 not sure on Vista..but should be similar) ..Control panel>System and Security>System>Advanced System Settings>Advanced>Startup and Recovery>Settings.

Where it says at the top..default operating system..pull that down to Windows Vista...and untick the box that says..Time to display list of operating systems..then ok it...then apply..then ok..reboot and it should boot straight into Vista.

[jim2311]

Wiping / Erasing a Hard drive sometimes not easy .. but i get when i format to use Vista .. Boot Manager with a older version of windows listed .. is there a free tool out there to Format / Erase all Data on Hard Drive so this cannot happen again ... I have Tried KillDisk ... that failed and Dans Version of Kill disk
please help cheers

When you say an older version of windows is listed, do you mean when you boot up you have the option which OS to choose. If that is the case then either your installing a trial version of Vista (your original OS will not be deleted) or you are not doing a clean install correctly, but ending up with a dual boot.

Place your Vista Boot disk in the optical drive and switch the computer off. Now when you restart, your computer should Boot straight from the Disk. Follow the on screen instructions deleting everything along the way and reformatting (ignoring all warnings)
When finished you should have a completely clean hard drive with Vista as your OS.

However, as Todd has already stated, it is common practice during manufacture for an inaccessible partition to include the OS and other programmes and drives (used as a get out of jail free card)and that partition normally remains intact.

If you need more help, give us more info…make , specs, etc.

[stanmarsh14]

I have had this issue sometimes with XP.

Best off getting a copy of Hirens Boot CD, and use one of the many DOS based hard drive wipe tools on it, like kill disk (Used in DOS mode, you should not have any problems).

You can also boot in to it's mini linux mode, and try from there.

The alternative, is finding a win98 boot floppy, and use the fdisk command: http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Edited by stanmarsh14, 30 June 2011 - 08:38 PM.