Go to dos command when there is a problem in booting

to format hard drive you either have a utility disk that will let you log into DOS and then run Format command. Or, if you have an operating disk like Windows(?), where you insert it and when it tries to install it will ask you to format hard drive? you allow this to run until it has reformatted hard drive. THis will put your version of Windows on the pc hard drive and have wiped whatever else was on the drive before.
if you just want a wipe of drive take it out of PC chasis and run a magnet all over it. or put it in another pc drive bay and run dos Format command on that drive letter (E:) or whatever letter is assigned to it.
more info about what or why you want to do something helps us to give you the best answer(solution) to your questions.

You could try installing Windows on top of it's self, or onto another partition. It can even loaded on same drive where it renames the old Windows folder and creates a new one. However, these options are susceptible to data loss.

A safer way is to remove the hard drive, and attached as a secondary drive on another computer. You have the choice of internal or external. External (easiest) can be done with an universal adapter and connected to a USB port.
I'm using something like this right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002


Your other option is the reverse, attaching another drive to your PC and using DOS commands to copy files over to the attached USB storage device. This method is cheap and fairly easy, but you must know some basic DOS prompt commands.

GL

You would need a clean partition on a hard drive, a floppy drive (A:\) and the DOS 6.22 floppy's. You may be able to use an USB drive, but I have not tested. Then there is the problem of dual booting. You would need to modify boot.ini, bootmgr (Win 7), or boot from floppy to access DOS.

FYI: Windows has DOS shell already available. Or you can boot into command prompt.

If the computer is running you will not be able to format the C: drive. You will need to restart the computer with a boot disk, boot to a DOS screen, and format C: drive from there. Just remember this will wipe everything on C:, including your operating system, so you will need your windows reinstall disks handy.

During the boot process you will see on the screen to press delete to enter setup

Press and hold delete during the boot up process to enter BIOS the scroll down to advanced bios features press enter change your first boot device to cd,press escape then press f10 to save to cmos to restart

this will erase you operating system you have to have a operating system disk to load it onto you hard drive or create a partition to load another operating system

(note after you have loaded the operating system you must go back and change the first boot device to your hard drive)

hope this helps

You are accessing the DOS command via your OS so of course your drive is in use.

Use the original install disc to reformat.

Could be a physical fault with either the hard disk or a damaged XP installation cd. I would disconnect the hard drive and connect it to another pc via an ide/sata to usb converter to see if you can read the disk and save your data. These converters can be purchased for under a tenner on ebay.

Hi Michael,
Its possible to reformat your hard drive by using a DOS boot floppy disk or CD. You can create this disk on another pc then boot your pc from this disk. It will boot your pc to a DOS prompt, usually "C:>" from there you can create partitions, delete partitions and format the hard drive. The command for creating partitions is FDISK.exe. Make sure your boot disk has the FDISK.exe command on it.
Let me know if you require any further assistance regarding this.
Best wishes,
Graemevm

Press F8 while booting but before it goes into SAFE mode select "Temporarily disable restart." Now you should be able to read the Blue Screen. If this doesn't work it's likely you have the GenericFX virus and you'll need to repair the operating system.

If you have a spare computer or can get to someone that can help, remove your hard drive and install it as a "data" drive in another system. The other system can then remove the partial installation and start over. A last resort would be to reformat the drive. It might be possible to reformat it with a DOS (or Windows 95/98) boot floppy. Be very careful as DOS does not always work well with newer hard drives.