Can't Format C

[caroundw5h]

c:\>\FORMAT C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)? Y
Verifying 38146M

Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first.
ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID.
Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N) Y
Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use.

This is the message i get when i try to format hardrvive. WTF? is there some service running i don't know about. I disabled norton antivirus, thats the only thing i know that runs in the backgound.
Any one has any ideas?

[Thantos]

Off the top of my head I'd have to say the program that is using the device is ......... WINDOWS!!!!

[caroundw5h]

Off the top of my head I'd have to say the program that is using the device is ......... WINDOWS!!!!

do you have a solution or just a quip? christ this board!!! c'mon man!!!!

[Thantos]

Mainly just a quip. Yes I have a solution but you won't like it.......

Boot off:
A) A cd
B) A floppy
C) Another Harddrive

Think about it, windows may be stupid but it won't let you destroy the data that needs to keep itself running.

[Waldo2k2]

boot off the windows install disk

what's so hard about that
(had to keep the quips rolling)

[Thantos]

quips for everyone

(and since people don't like one liners)

Are you really really really sure you want to format c?

[caroundw5h]

well at least you guys are mature enough to give me a solution. i realsise alot of you are real pedants and need new stuff to keep your brains going but christ!!!.

anyways thanks for the info, i figured it out though. at the same time i was searching and found some code that was supposed to format the c drive. something like:

  *command = "foramt c"
system(command)
ans = "y"
system(y)

yeah forget about the synatx errors and all of that. would that code - WRITTEN PROPERLY- work on xp, since xp doesn't seem to want to allow you to format the hd from the command propmt. windows 98 allowed it, but i don't know about 98se,2000 or me. any clues?

[major_small]

alright, to help you with your malicious code, here's what you do:

1) create a dos boot disk
2) open (or create) autoexec.bat
3) add this to the end of it: myprog.exe
4) add myprog.exe (the program you wrote with the system commands) to the disk
5) restart the computer with the disk in the drive

what will happen: the computer goes to the A: to boot, since it's a bootable disk, it does so, and DOS searches the autoexec.bat file for what to do... the autoexec.bat file tells it to run your program, and your program tells command to format the C:... this won't work because you don't have the formatting utility on the disk...

now what you do, since you really don't want to format the drive, you just want to fck with somebody, you can just use fstream to open the crucial files on the drive and erase them (ios::trunc, put in a zero or something)... I'll leave that part up to you... find the files needed to boot into whatever version of windows you're working on...

now follow the steps above, putting in the new program (still named myprog.exe)... now when the person tries to turn on the system, it will crash and they'll have to recover their OS... yay for you... you're a hacker

[Hunter2]

major_small: Delete and a bad reputation for you, you're contributing to the cause of 'cracking', erroneously called 'hacking' by many, which is disallowed on this board and highly frowned upon

[RoD]

no i think your missing the point, you need format the hdd outside of windows entirely. Before window sloads, your going to need a bootdisk

[ober]

You CANNOT format a disk you are currently using. If you are in Windows... and try to use the command prompt to format, it WONT work. No amount of C code will do it. When you run the format command in DOS (AKA not the command prompt in windows), you MUST do it from the floppy drive or a cd drive. It will not work from the hard drive because format removes all the data from the drive... hence it would try to remove the program that you were using to format with.


Understand?

[EvBladeRunnervE]

uhm... if I recall right, there are arguments to format that allow you to pretty much go "screw running processes"....

[caroundw5h]

okay okay!!! how is it that i was able to format a windows 98 at the cmd prompt with format C then, all it did was ask to load the recovery disks. also why would that individual give that code *above* if wouldn't work by just simply clicking on it.

I understand all about the services on windows running in the background and all and it not being able to format. makes sense but why does that work with win98 then? thanks

[RoD]

because recory disks reboot the computer into DOS, you werent running windows when you did it, period.

No, that code does not say "screw the services"

[Waldo2k2]

well, if win98 would let you do it, that's because it's win98. XP is supposed to be more idiot proof.