Formatting NTFS
 

Is there a way to format an NTFS partition, other than using the Win XP install CD?
Any one diskette solution?

What is the program NTFSDOS used for?

ALso, What are good Spybot and AD-Aware versions:
Thanks

Are you trying to format your boot partition or another drive?

Right click on My computer>manage>Disk Management, then Format!
Partition Magic Will also Format or convert a drive. But it is a 2 diskette solution!

Thanks war59312...that helps partly.

I want a quick way of formatting the NTFS boot partition.
Initially i do partition in Disk Management, by putting thye drive to be formatted as slave, but I would like a quicker way to format before restoring a Ghost image. I hyave been doing it using the WinXP install CD, but that take a lont time.

ALSO, Can you have more than ONE anti-spyware program on the computer at the same time

The format should be included in the image, at least it is with Powerquest drive image.

Since the image is a sector by sector copy of the drive, it includes everything including the format. You should be able to restore an image into empty allocated space.
Formating the drive before a restore is a waste of time because the first thing that happens during a restore is that the partition gets deleted.
Dave

Yes, most of us have several, since not every spyware program is able to detect every type of spyware...

Hi Dave..
Lately I have had some problems with my registry. I have a series of 5 Ghost images for my current boot partition, and the registry problem developed after the fourth image was made. SO that means it is Not in the fourth image, but when I restored the fourth image, without formatting, the problem remained. Same when I restored the earlier image, the third, it was still there. But when I reformatted the partition and then restored the fourth imager, the problem diappeared.
I emailed back and forth with MS and Symantic, and both said that they believed that to get rid of the registry problem you would have to reformat, BEFORE restoring a clean image.
Before this, I always believed that Reformatting was not required, but I never really had a serious registry problem before.
So, I take it you do not agree with this....please comment.
I did not find anything in the Ghost manual saying anything about this...that is whether or not reformatting is required before restoring an image..Do you know of anyplace this is discussed, or explained?
THanks.
moen

Hi Moen , I was also under the impression that Ghost would do a clean write of the partition you are restoring , format and all. however if you wish to format first one solution I have used a few times is the partition manager QTParted off the KNOPPIX cd.
Knoppix is a live Linux CD with many fine features , I have found it usefull for data recovery when connected to the LAN as well as disk management and formatting with many file systems.

I for one simply use fdisk and create my paritions and then use Ghost. Simple as that. fdisk creates them in under 90secs...thats three different hard drives atm and 7 paritions...

I use the win me one. lol Its the only good thing that came from win me. ;)

Get here:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Windows Me OEM ^^^^

But...
...there is no need to format before restore an image by Ghost. In fact it is totally waist of time (and money if you need to buy PQM). As Ghost is a pretty competent imaging program it restores the image of the partition and you'll end up with a working partition, even if the target was unformatted or formatted as, f eks, FAT before you started Ghost.

A war59312...I also use ME fdisk for fat 32 partitions, but Dos Format cannot reformat NTFS partitions.
I had a problem with nortons program and My registry got screwed up. I restored a healthy Ghost image 3 times and problem persisted.
Symantec finally said that the only way to solve it was to reformat the NTFS partition before restoring the same healthy Ghost image. AND, it worked.

Ok, I should have read all the posts in this thread before replying. Shame on me.
Ghost is supposed to format restore. In case you restore an image to a partition that is slightly larger than the first partition you had when making the image Ghost will even format the whole new partition. At least Ghost as I know it, before the latest version (which isn't Ghost really but the other one, now forgot the name... from Powerquest I think...).
What Ghost version is it you have? I'm asking as I find this problem ridiculous. The imaging software should, par definition, format (at least by a sector by sector writing manouvre) the target partition. In case Ghost doesn't make it anymore it is time to change to BootItNG maybe?!

I use Ghost 2003, which is very good, and I have made many Images with it as I look after 4 computers and help any more.
I ghost Both Fat 32 and NTFS partitions and store both on Fat 32 partitions. No problem with that, and I have up to 10 dif ghost images stored on the same far32 partition.
All I really asked for in the first place was an easy diskette way to reformat an NTFS partition.
I have no problem GHosting or restoring .
In the past I never reformatted before restoring an image, but when this registry problem came up, caused by NOrton, Symantec told me I shoould reformat before restoring this NTFS image, and that solved the registry problem.

Again, I am looking for a diskette that can reformat an NTFS partition.
THanks
moen

So you say...
I find this outrageous. Norton/Symantec buy a lot of small software companie's products and then they turn them into shit. Now lately I noticed that Symantec bought @stake. Thank you for the time and the nice soft @stake!
The only floppy based tool I know of that can format a partition NTFS is the rescue floppy set made from inside Powerquest Partition Magic, as user needs allready pointed out. (Now Symantec has bought Powerquest and nothing is to be tasken for granted.)

regards,

Thanks, I will look for this.

What you can do is download Bart's PE from http://www.nu2.nu and this will allow you to create XP on a bootable CD that you can then use to format a drive without formatting through the CD Install process.

As far as the other software:
Adaware SE
Spybot Search & Destroy
AVG Antivirus

These are what I use.

THanks everybody...I learned a few things here.
moen

Ment to say i just use it to create the partitions not to format.