Can't Reformat

[rstoddard]

I have a computer using Windows XP that I want to reformat. I've done this before and have never had a problem.

The command "format c:" has worked all the time. Now, with this computer, I get this message after answering "Y" to reformat:

"Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume?" So, I answer Yes and absolutely nothing happens, not even a message

Is there any way that I can get around this?

[patio]

You cannot format a drive that is in use...
Boot to your XP CD and do it from there...

[michelsmith]

Power the computer on and wait for the Microsoft Windows operating system to finish loading. Click on the "Windows" logo at the far left end of the bottom of the desktop to bring up the Start menu.
Click on the "Control Panel" link to bring up a new window full of options. Double-click on link at the top of the list named "Administrative Tools." Wait for a new box to pop up asking what action to take and click on "Continue."
Double-click the first link titled "Computer Management" and then again click on "Continue" when a box pops up. Wait for a new window to appear and then scroll down through the list of options on the left pane. Click on the plus sign next to the "Storage" option and then click on "Disk Management."
Find the hard drive you want to format in the list of drives in the center pane. Right-click on the drive and choose the "Format..." option from the new menu that will appear.
Choose the "NTFS" option from the drop-down menu labeled as "File System." Leave the "Allocation Size" option at "Default" and then click on the "OK" button to begin the formatting process

[Abbarla]

why you want to format it? any reason?

[Allan]

Ignore the above two posts. Patio is correct, you need to boot to the OS cd and format at boot.

[rstoddard]

Please excuse delay in my response; I work a lot of hours.

Yes, Patio's solution worked, after several tries (it was stubborn and kept booting from the hard drive no matter what I did).

I tied michelsmith's method, but the format command was grayed out, so I couldn't proceed.

Any way, it's worked and I thank everyone for their help.