Reformat old T42 drive

[sktn77a]

Ok, OK, I know this has been discussed before but I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere with the "search" function (?) I replaced the hard drive in my son's thinkpad and now have an 80gb drive with 71gb available and 5 gb hidden partition for R&R.

How do I re-partition the drive to be a single partition with the drive out of the computer? (ie in windows or DOS - I don't want to buy Partition Magic or other commercial software). I have the drive in a USB enclosure and can read/format the primary partition but can't seem to do anything with the hidden partition.

[JHEM]

Put the HD back in the T42 and BOOT into the BIOS.

Unhide the recovery partition in the BIOS and you'll be able to FDISK and FORMAT the entire drive.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55142 under Security, Predesktop Area

Regards,

James

[sktn77a]

Thanks James. I was kinda hoping there was some hidden windows command to avoid taking his computer for the hour or so I would need it (heaven forbid they have to do without IM for more than 2 seconds!!!)