Hawkstrong16 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Does anyone know of a program that I can use to format hard drives. Like a program I could download and put on a floppy disc. the computer I want to use it on only has a floppy drive. And it will no longer boot in to Windows 3.1 So I need to format the HDD so I can reinstall windows. Thanks for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det. Bart Lasiter Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 The OS installer should have a built-in formatting tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 This is Windows 3.1 he's talking about. It was an add-on to DOS, not a stand-alone OS. Camo, what you're going to need is an MS-DOS 6.x floppy to boot into. You can then format your HDD by typing "format c:" (or whatever letter your HDD is) then hitting ENTER at the prompt. Once it's done you should be able to install Windows 3.1 as normal. I'm not sure that it would be kosher for me to link you to a copy in spite of DOS being abandonware, but Google "boot disk" and you should be able to find it easily enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hey thanks Qliveur! I'll let you know if I have any luck with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 You're welcome. God, this brings back memories. I haven't messed with Windows 3.1 since Windows 95 came out. Just out of curiosity, what kind of machine are you reinstalling Windows 3.1 on, and what are you using it for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 It is my dads old AST Laptop, Its a Ascentia 810n Thats about all I know about it. I just want to use it to play some really old games and goof around mainly. It used to work, then I broke it back before I knew anything about computers. I put the Windows 95 boot floppy in it....opps. And since I have no cd drive and I don't have the 95 floppys I was stuck. Oh btw I can't fix it. Apparently my floppy drive no longer reads discs. and its not worth a new drive even if I can find one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm having trouble with a different computer. When I get in to the windows 95 setup from DOS it tells me that I have an error Error SU-0013 Setup could not create files on your startup drive and cannot set up Windows. If you have HPFS or Windows NT file system you much create an MS-DOS boot partition. If you have Lantastic or SuperStor Compression, disable it before running setup. See SETUP.TXT on setup disk 1 or Windows CD-ROM Thats my error message. Could someone please explain it a bit better, I don't know how to do what its tell me to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Look here for that particular error message. Are you attempting to install an older version of Windows 95 over a newer version? If so, then you're probably going to have to use a DOS boot disk like I mentioned above to format the HDD before you attempt to install Windows 95 on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 Ok so I'm fallowing the instrutions to format my hard drive. When I get to the point where I'm supposed to type: A:/> Format C It thinks for a minute then says: "Parameter format not correct - C" I've tried everything I can think of and then some and I can't seem to get past it. I'm using a DOS boot disk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrrtoken Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Holy modern-day workaround, Batman! If you really want to not run Win3.1 on an older DOS-based machine, you can always try DOSBox as a workaround rather than MS-DOS. Actually, people have been able to actually install and run Win3.1 well via a DOSBox workaround. I haven't tried this myself, by I have the original Win3.1 floppies in-hand, and hope to experiment with it soon. The only thing that you'll have to be wary of is the fact that you'll essentially be emulating two OSs at once, along with any other program/game that you throw at it, so it'll probably eat up any free processing power. EDIT: I've found this guide which guides you through the installation process and any troubleshooting that might arise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det. Bart Lasiter Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Ok so I'm fallowing the instrutions to format my hard drive. When I get to the point where I'm supposed to type: A:/> Format C It thinks for a minute then says: "Parameter format not correct - C" I've tried everything I can think of and then some and I can't seem to get past it. I'm using a DOS boot disk I'm pretty sure it should be "format c:", with a colon after the "c". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 You would be right, I think. It's been a while. Once DOS boots, you should get a prompt, like "A:\>". Just type "format c:" after that, and if it asks "Are you sure? y/n" hit "y". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 I hope you guys are right, I'll give it a try now. if this doesn't work I'm taking a break for awhile. I stayed up all night the other night just to work on this, So I hope it works Thanks though. I've learned a lot even if the computer wont work hahaha, IT WORKED!! All I was missing was the stupid ":" I was typing "format C" not "format C:" Thank you all for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 You're welcome, Camo. Good luck in whatever endeavor you plan to pursue with that ancient OS and hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkstrong16 Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Now to find some good old games to play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Check out Abandonia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrrtoken Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Check out Abandonia.Probably the best game on Abandonia is System Shock 1, and it's the enhanced CD version, to boot. The only problem that might arise is how slowly it will run on many systems; even running it on DOSBox doesn't resolve the massive amount of lag that is produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.