format a 2nd 'active' HD

[Rydawg5143]

So finally got my 6400aaks up to par and now want to format my 3200aaks but disk manager won't let me, and I think because it still has all my old files on it, vista etc. How do i format it the easiest way?

[nitrobass24]

well do you have everything off it and are you completely dependent on the 6400? Try disabling the 3200 in the bios and see if your comp still boots and everything works.

[Rydawg5143]

yeah everything is off of it. I went into bios and didn't see anywhere to disable it. Perhaps in just not looking in the right place..

[nitrobass24]

try disconnecting it from the board then if theres not an option in the bios

[Old Hippie]

You may hafta to use something like DBAN (http://dban.sourceforge.net/) to nuke it.

I have also just deleted parts/whole of the OS, and when the system decided it wasn't part of the current operating status, it let me format.

But any disc cleaner otta prep it for formatting.

[Rydawg5143]

sweet, will try this stuff when i get home. Thanks you 2

[Rydawg5143]

Tried to delete all the files off, wouldn't let me delete program files, windows, users and another one. Some reason disk manager says this hard drive is my 'system' drive, but its not. I can unplug it or disable it and windows works fine.

Will that DBAN program nuke all my drives or will it let me pick? don't want to nuke my 640gb drive

[nitrobass24]

in the disk manager can you delete the partition?
Also set the new 640gb drive to active

[Rydawg5143]

No the delete option is greyed out because it shows it as the system drive, even though its not. How do i mark the 640gb as 'system' cause that seems to be what the issue is. And yes it is active

[unhappy_mage]

Are you sure you're booting from the right device? If you hit start->run and type "%SystemRoot%" in the box, what folder does it open?

[Rydawg5143]

i'm booting from the 640 gb, the 320 wont actuall boot, it has some bad window files

[parrot5]

Turn off page file for that drive too....AND restart

[nitrobass24]

forget all that just download Gparted, burn it, boot it, nuke the drive and be done.

[Rydawg5143]

turn off page file? havent seen anythign in comp mnger that says anythign to that effect

[Rydawg5143]

Some weird reason the system was booting from the 2nd hard drive, but was running off the 1st, i finally said fuck it and formatted and reinstalled Vista.

[Old Hippie]

Some weird reason the system was booting from the 2nd hard drive, but was running off the 1st,

Weird shit happens when 2 OSs are present.

DBAN is bootable...no OS needed. When I clean or format a drive, I disconnect all other drives cause shit happens. :D

Everybody that plays with computers should have a copy of Hiren's Boot CD (http://soft.softoogle.com/ap/hiren-s-bootcd-download-6916.shtml).

It's got the tools needed for situations like this.

[parrot5]

turn off page file? havent seen anythign in comp mnger that says anythign to that effect
Page file settings are under System properties -> performance? Do a search and you'll find it. I had the same problem as you have, just a week ago. Windows (Vista, at least) can always detect that a page file may be useful on another drive, even if it's not running Windows off that drive, and prevented me from formatting it. Turning off the page file for that drive, and a restart, fixed it.

Note, however, transferring an OS image to another harddrive (and put the disk in the same SATA channel etc) does not guarantee Vista will boot in the new drive. I failed at that, and is stuck with a 500GB Vista drive now :o