How and what order do I do to clean a hard disk and ready it to install win98se?

Ok I am not a PC person mostly Mac.
What is fdisk for? I thought it was for wiping the disk clean before a
format. I.E. like erasing a piece of paper and the format is putting
the lines on the page ready to fill (Macs call it initialization and
then format).
So is fdisk just for partitioning?
Is this done using DOS and what do I do. At prompt put in a line
command like C:/format to start the wiping clean of C drive then what
do I do to format it do I do C:/format? I have two floppies I go online
for the Seagate drive that is a wizard does any one have any idea if it
will do both for me in preparation to insert the windows 989se install
disk?
If I do not use the disks that I got from Seagate do I do it with a win
98 install CD in or a bootable floppy and does that floppy have to have
format or fdisk application on it too or is it just a command that the
computers ROM will have on it and run?
If I do not want to partition what order do I have to do first before I
install the win 98se system in other to start fresh so to speak? Or do
I have it backwards do I make a partition then format it?
PS I realize I also will need the drivers for all the other hardware I
run on the computer after win installs.

"DJW" wrote in message
oups.com...

What is fdisk for? I thought it was for wiping the disk clean before a
format. I.E. like erasing a piece of paper and the format is putting
the lines on the page ready to fill (Macs call it initialization and
then format).
So is fdisk just for partitioning?
Is this done using DOS and what do I do.

FDISK is a DOS utility used to create (or wipe) partitions
of a hard drive, prerequisite for FORMATTING, creation of
logical drives other than C: etc. For more detail see
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/partitions.html
The same web site also tells you how to instal the
Win98 OS.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

FDISK is for creating the partition. Use a command like FDISK to start it.
To format the partition you created with FDISK, use FORMAT. You can see the
options by doing FORMAT /?

The utilities are included on a standard startup floppy. They are not built
in to the machine.

There is no standard DOS utility to wipe a disk clean, but the disk drive
manufacturer will have one for downloading. In some cases these utilities
do the whole disk preparation for your - clear, partition and format. This
might be the Seagate utility you mention.

You must have a partition on the disk before you can format it, and it must
be formatted before Windows can be installed. Some installation procedures
take you through the partition and format process if they detect a blank
disk.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"DJW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok I am not a PC person mostly Mac.
What is fdisk for? I thought it was for wiping the disk clean before a
format. I.E. like erasing a piece of paper and the format is putting
the lines on the page ready to fill (Macs call it initialization and
then format).
So is fdisk just for partitioning?
Is this done using DOS and what do I do. At prompt put in a line
command like C:/format to start the wiping clean of C drive then what
do I do to format it do I do C:/format? I have two floppies I go online
for the Seagate drive that is a wizard does any one have any idea if it
will do both for me in preparation to insert the windows 989se install
disk?
If I do not use the disks that I got from Seagate do I do it with a win
98 install CD in or a bootable floppy and does that floppy have to have
format or fdisk application on it too or is it just a command that the
computers ROM will have on it and run?
If I do not want to partition what order do I have to do first before I
install the win 98se system in other to start fresh so to speak? Or do
I have it backwards do I make a partition then format it?
PS I realize I also will need the drivers for all the other hardware I
run on the computer after win installs.

"DJW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok I am not a PC person mostly Mac.
What is fdisk for? I thought it was for wiping the disk clean before a
format. I.E. like erasing a piece of paper and the format is putting
the lines on the page ready to fill (Macs call it initialization and
then format).
So is fdisk just for partitioning?

No. Fdisk modifies the MBR when completing adding or removing a partition.
And, creates an initial MBR when creating a partition. Will write over a
present MBR after wiping a partition and creating another to replace it.

Is this done using DOS and what do I do. At prompt put in a line
command like C:/format to start the wiping clean of C drive then what

Fdisk is intuitive to an extent. It offers options of what to do, and
offers the layout of current presence of partitions that may exist already.

do I do to format it do I do C:/format? I have two floppies I go online

The source of "format" cannot be C: if you're formatting the C: partition.

for the Seagate drive that is a wizard does any one have any idea if it
will do both for me in preparation to insert the windows 989se install
disk?
If I do not use the disks that I got from Seagate do I do it with a win
98 install CD in or a bootable floppy and does that floppy have to have
format or fdisk application on it too or is it just a command that the

A 98/98SE startup diskette/floppy is adequate. Fdisk itself may not be
depending on the hard drive capacity, and your bios, and how large the
partition(s) needed.

computers ROM will have on it and run?

The system bios has no play implementing partitioning or formatting. The
ascertation of the bios interpretion of the hard drive size has some regard.

If I do not want to partition what order do I have to do first before I
install the win 98se system in other to start fresh so to speak? Or do

On a bare hard disk, you start with the first partition intended (C. A
partition must exist to install windows 98/98SE. The partition must be
both: 1. Primary/ 2. Active. Fat/Fat32 only. Then, its formatted.

I have it backwards do I make a partition then format it?
PS I realize I also will need the drivers for all the other hardware I
run on the computer after win installs.


If the hardware is not automatically recognized by the installation and
contain those drivers, yes, you will need the corresponding drivers. In
some cases, inadequate drivers or settings may be loaded during the OS
installation for degraded operation. For example, use of DMA.
--
Jonny