[AFIsoldier]

i got an old 1 gig western digital and want to use it as a slave for them gay programs lying around my desktop...but...i think it has programs on it and idk how to delete it cause it wont let my computer load...could i just use a magnet or something or is that harmful?

[zabomb4163]

i'd recommend against doing that. remember, hds measure the polarity. going over it with a magnet would just scramble everything and possibly damage it permenetely.

[AFIsoldier]

then how should i go along with removing all that data on there...or...scrap the idea?

[Ffats]

You could format the disk.

If it doesn't show up in Windows (with the file system still in tact), then you'll have to get a low-level format utility from Western Digital. Be sure to write down the model/make of your HD and then search their website for the utility that can control your model.

[Cjwinnit]

Originally posted by AFIsoldier
then how should i go along with removing all that data on there...or...scrap the idea?

Fairly simple.

Take the other HDD's in the computer out and leave the WD 1 gig drive in.

Booting from a bootable floppy (if you can't make one, go here and download one) get into a DOS shell.

type: "Format C:"

[Xaotic]

I'd be careful in what I attached that drive to. Most likely, it's a PIO mode device and will drop the entire channel into PIO mode. The best case if this happens is 16MB/s. If it detects in PIO in BIOS, absolutely do not attach it with the HDD, unless you are really fond of killing disk subsystem performance. Optical drives fare a bit better, but still take a performance hit. Usually from multiword DMA or UDMA 3(ATA33) down to PIO modes. Anything that doesn't run at least UDMA 3, I usually toss in the trash. If it's only a gig of data a couple of CDs will be faster and cause less performance issues.