Formatting hd

[Susanowo]

I have a computer that has so many problems with it that the only way I can fix it is to reformat it. it hasn't been able to perform scandisk in over 2 years and it also hasn't been able to do a disk defrag for just as long. It's running Windows ME and has one 80gb hard drive that has been partitioned into a 70 and 10. all of the Windows files are on the 10 gb section and everything else is on the 70. I am wondering if there is a way to format each of the drives at the same time and get rid of the partition?

[Acheron]

A partition is always a good idea, although 10GB is a bit small these days. XP and 2K both have a format option to sort this, but I'm not sure ME does. Honestly if you're going to format, it's a great time to ditch ME, considering it's probably the most unstable Windows OS ever built. Also, most modern HDDs (if not all?) come with software to format and partition your drives. Just insert the disc and boot up and follow the instructions. If you don't have the disc, you can usually download it from the HDD manufacturer's site (for example, I know MaxBlast is available for download from Maxtor). You can also use an external app to delete the partition and reformat. The first commercial app that comes to mind is Partition Magic. There are also a lot of freeware apps out there (check Google). basically, you have many, many options at hand. ;)