>
> If you want to do a low-level format with simultaneous surface
> scan then use the Unconditional switch:   Format C: /U


Just a minor correction.

The DOS format command cannot perform a low level format on a hard drive.
That task requires specialized software.

A DOS format does not eradicate data on the drive; it merely writes a new
FAT table, replacing the old one. The contents of the data sectors of the
hard drive remain intact. One can reconstruct the original FAT and recover
the data with a program like Lost & Found, even after an unconditional
format. Files are stored in linked allocation units and each unit contains
information about the next unit in the chain. That's why FATs are
efficiently small and why FAT32's myriad small clusters cause such disk
overhead.

The unconditional switch instructs format not to backup the disk system
data (including the FAT table) which are needed to unformat a disk (the
unformat command has been discontinued).

Speaking to the original problem, it's possible Ms. James has an OEM
version of Win98, requiring an installation on a drive devoid of any OS.
Or, possibly, she may have the Windows SE $20 step-up upgrade which
requires an existing Windows 98 installation (full) as a predicate to
installation.

The original error message should provide a clue to the obstacle.

Regards,

John Chin

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                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>