Can't Format Partition

[dlh6213]

I wanted to clean up one of my drives (partition "f"), so I moved everything I wanted to keep to another partition ("h"), and deleted what I didn't want. I then tried to format the drive but got a message saying it couldn't be done (screenshots attached). I've done this before without any problems and I can't figure out what's wrong. I tried booting into Safe Mode, but got the same message. I then tried the Diagnostic Safe Mode, same thing again. Anyone know how I can format this drive?

Using WidowsXP Home

[Cain]

well, windows would seem to be telling you that something is cached or resides
on that particular partition that is required for day-to-day operations.

you can take care of this from the command line before windows starts.. but
that may not be the best plan of attack. if you have multiple partitions on a single drive and you can read it, whats the motivation to re-format it?
dual boot? or are you just cleaning house?

[kc0arf]

Hello,

It is possible you have a swap file on the volume you are trying to format. Or it could have a share sitting out there. But sharing should be off in safemode. I would bet my doughnut on a swap file sitting there.

Christian

[dlh6213]

Cain -- I have no problem accessing/using the drive; just doing some general maintanence. If I can't do it, it's no big deal, but I'd like to know why I can't.

Christian -- You were correct about the swap file; that never even occured to me (I didn't have it there last time I did this). The problem is, even after getting rid of it, it still won't format. I tried Safe Mode again, but still no luck.

Any other ideas?

[alc6379]

Try booting to the recovery console on your Windows XP CD. If you can get into it that way, you won't be using any swap space, and should be able to format it.

[dlh6213]

I haven't tried Alex's suggestion yet; here is some more info that may help generate more ideas. I changed the Folder Options to not 'Hide protected operating system files'. I was then able to see three items:

Recycler Folder -- 3 folders, 6 files, 24KB
System Volume Information Folder -- 0 folders, 0 files, no space used
Pagefile.sys (System File) -- 102,400KB

I tried to delete them but couldn't; tried it from Safe Mode, and still couldn't. Could this be what's keeping me from formatting? If so, how do I get rid of them?

[alc6379]

Cain -- I have no problem accessing/using the drive; just doing some general maintanence. If I can't do it, it's no big deal, but I'd like to know why I can't.

Christian -- You were correct about the swap file; that never even occured to me (I didn't have it there last time I did this). The problem is, even after getting rid of it, it still won't format. I tried Safe Mode again, but still no luck.

Any other ideas?

Did you delete the pagefile, or actually change the swap drive in memory options? If you delete the file, it comes right back, I do believe. If you need instructions on changing the paging drive, I can find some, or Google can help.

[dlh6213]

Did you delete the pagefile, or actually change the swap drive in memory options? If you delete the file, it comes right back, I do believe. If you need instructions on changing the paging drive, I can find some, or Google can help.

I changed it in the Memory options.