Format command

This is stumping me and it should be so very, very simple.  I want to dispose of my Win 95 system but reformat the hard drives first.  Put in the boot disk and in DOS.  I've very carefully reviewed the format command info and do exactly what it says and still get "bad command or file name" every darn time.  For instance A:\> format d: (no spaces except between format and drive).   Other commands seem to work, but it just won't take format from the A, C or D drives, whether or not I have a "\" after the destination drive.   This is such a mundane thing but I am tearing my hair out!  Help!  Sue

Normally C: is the boot drive. Unless you have it slaved in another computer you would format c:

[Moderator]

At the A: prompt type C: and hit Enter...then hit dir /p and hit Enter...this should show you the contents of the first hard drive...
Do the same for the other drive letters and you should be able to tell if it's the hard drive or an optical drive.
As 2K said C: is normally the boot drive and actually for Win 95/98/ME/ it needs to be C: to run.

Come on folks, read the *censored* question! He's getting "bad command or file name".

That suggests that DOS cannot find the format.com program, either because it is missing or wrongly named. Sooz, look on the boot disk for a program file called format.com. If it is missing, you can find it on a W98 install disk in the "Win98" folder.

This is what you should have on a Windows 98 boot floppy.

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Here's what's on a win98 startup floppy, made from a working 98se.

Volume in drive A has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 288A-8B81

Directory of a:\

23-04-99 22:22 1,103 AUTOEXEC.BAT
23-04-99 22:22 629 CONFIG.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 1,416 SETRAMD.BAT
23-04-99 22:22 14,764 README.TXT
23-04-99 22:22 6,855 FINDRAMD.EXE
23-04-99 22:22 12,663 RAMDRIVE.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 14,386 ASPI4DOS.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 21,971 BTCDROM.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 29,620 ASPICD.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 30,955 BTDOSM.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 35,330 ASPI2DOS.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 37,564 ASPI8DOS.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 40,792 ASPI8U2.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 64,425 FLASHPT.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 93,242 EXTRACT.EXE
23-04-99 22:22 63,916 FDISK.EXE
23-04-99 22:22 68,871 DRVSPACE.BIN
23-04-99 22:22 93,890 COMMAND.COM
23-04-99 22:22 33,191 HIMEM.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 41,302 OAKCDROM.SYS
23-04-99 22:22 272,206 EBD.CAB
23-04-99 22:22 49,575 FORMAT.COM <------------------------------IS THIS ONE PRESENT?
22 File(s) 1,028,666 bytes
0 Dir(s) 200,704 bytes free


Come on folks, read the *censored* question!

Maybe you should read the question. Format d: will not get the job done.

Come on folks, read the *censored* question!

Maybe you should read the question. Format d: will not get the job done.

I did read the question. The message that sooz actually got was "bad command or file name". That means that, assuming she typed the command correctly (she did, according to what she posted) the DOS program format.com is neither in the logged-in directory or anywhere on the PATH.

For instance A:\> format d: (no spaces except between format and drive).   Other commands seem to work, but it just won't take format from the A, C or D drives

The command was certainly typed incorrectly (format d:). It won't take the command from A, C, or D, either because D isn't present or is a non formatable drive.

For instance A:\> format d: (no spaces except between format and drive).   Other commands seem to work, but it just won't take format from the A, C or D drives

The command was certainly typed incorrectly (format d:). It won't take the command from A, C, or D, either because D isn't present or is a non formatable drive.

This is like pulling teeth!

Her error message said "bad command or filename".

Look. I have no drive Q. This is what I got...

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c:\>format q:
Specified drive does not exist.

Let's wait until sooz posts back, then we'll know, hopefully.

So she tried to format her CDrom drive.

So she tried to format her CDrom drive.

You don't give up, do you?

My CD ROM drve is letter X

Disk is bootable CD-ROM.

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c:\>format x:
The type of the file system is RAW.
Please use the /FS switch to specify the file system
you wish to use on this volume.


The machine in question is windows 95. Is yours? The error message can vary from one OS version to another. On a W98 machine, CD-RW is d:, sitting idle with no disk inserted, format d: returns "Cannot format network drive". The machine does not have any network drives.

Stop quibbling.

From MS

How to Format a Hard Disk

NOTE: If you receive a "Bad command" or "Bad file name" error message, you may need to extract the Format.com tool to your boot disk.

Many sources...

NOTE: If you receive a "Bad command" or "Bad file name" error message, you may not have the Format.com program on the floppy.

Thats no different from some other commands that microsoft said "the syntax is wrong" and "the command won't work". They were wrong on both counts. But one thing is right, if format.com is missing it will give that error message. That doesn't mean its the only thing that can cause it.

My understanding of the original question is that the user probably wants to "format" the drive to permanently erase all information on the hard drive. 

I want to dispose of my Win 95 system but reformat the hard drives first.

If this is the case, then the FORMAT command will not achieve the desired result.  In this case, you would want a disk wiping utility.  My disk wiping utility of choice is DBAN (http://dban.sourceforge.net/) which can create a bootable CD or floppy to get the job done.

Sooz: Is your goal to simply format the computer hard drive? Or do you want to permanently erase the information on your drive before you dispose of your computer?

Thanks so much to all of you for trying to solve my problem! 

I definitely want to wipe out the hard drive for disposal.  I did a search on the internet before starting this project and there are tons of sites that say all I have to do is reformat the hard disks (2 each).  I don't mind downloading a freeware program to get the same thing accomplished, assuming the two methods give the same results ().   After this I need to wipe out my old Win 98 computer too. 

There were two methods I found for creating a Win 95 boot disk but only one was feasible in my situation.  The first one called for going to Start--Settings--Control Panel--Add/Remove programs and selecting Startup Disk to create one from the original Win 95 CD which I no longer have.  So I went to method #2 which had me open My Computer (can't find my notes on where I went after that) and then format a new disk clicking "create a systems disk".  Is a systems disk the same as a boot disk???  Anyways, I checked the dir for that disk (as Contrex suggested), and there was only one file named command.com.   So that probably explains my format command problems.  So what direction do you suggest now?  Thanks again, Sue