REFORMATTING A TWIN DRIVE MACHINE

good evening everyone I need a little help please my pc has two hard drives now I use one for the normal pc things and the second drive I use only for games ok.
now I want to format the pc side and when I go into ms dos screen and try to start formatting it says it cant start because it is being used by another process. can anyone explain the precise proceedure for me please.
also is there another way to go into the ms dos screen other than via the start button

 

do the format in windows,go to control panel,administrative tools,
computer management,disk management,in the right window right click on ye drive ye want to format..in any area of the white or blue part and click format.

to format the system side use your install disk to format..or f-disk..
the above is to format the secondary hard drive or usb hard drives..

 

If your installing a new Operating System then use it's installer to format the drive (if your installing it on the drive you want formatted). Use fdisk to partition the drive into chunks.

 

just a chance to say a huge thank you for the help I received from from replies to my querie thank you all so much you were a great help to me I am sorry I have taken so long to say thank you.
however may I be so bold as to ask why since I decided to go back to using one drive I dont seem to get a true reading by this I mean my new h/d is 300gb but it only reads 127gb I am not too clever as to what I need to do so as to rectify this thanking you in antisipation

 

thank you for your latest help I have d/l all the pages that I read and next time I visit my brother we will have a go at the possibility of fixing whatever is wrong

good health

 

I forgot to ask how large shall I make the ms-dos partition thanks again

 

this is the tool i use for all brands of hard drives
using the program ye can add as meny partitions ye want..

# Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2 for Windows
# Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2 for DOS (CD)
# Data Lifeguard Tools 11.0 for DOS (CD)
# Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (Floppy)
# Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)
# Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2 for DOS (Floppy)
# Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows
# Data Lifeguard Tools 11.0 for DOS

http://support.wdc.com/download/downloadxml.asp



1. Download the dlgsetup11_win.zip.
2. Extract and run the Dlgsetup11_win.exe file.
3. Read and accept the license agreement to continue.
4. Once installed, you will be prompted to run the program or may run the program manually from either the programs menu or from the shortcut on your desktop.
5. You will see the following options:
* VIEW INSTALLATION TUTORIAL - Instructions on how to connect your new hard drive to the computer.
* SETUP YOUR HARD DRIVE - Setup a hard drive already connected to your computer.
* DRIVE-TO-DRIVE COPY - Copy all the files or a specific folder from one drive to another.
* HARD DRIVE INFORMATION - Jumper Settings and other technical information about your hard drive.
6. Select the task you wish to perform.