formatting c drive from Xubuntu

It depends what do you want it formated for? File system?

The fastest and safest way (but please....BE CAREFUL) is to install and us gparted, a graphical interface to partition management.

Try this:
     sudo apt-get install gparted

then you can execute it with:
     sudo gparted

or using system menus

i tried sudo apt-get install gparted............but got his..........

vivek@vivek-desktop:/$ sudo apt-get install gparted
[sudo] password for vivek:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package gparted is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package gparted has no installation candidate

now what........??

actually....i had XP unlimited at the beggining...then i installed Xubuntu....
After this i wanted to install XP professionnal SP2 in place of XP unlimited...so went for a setup..but while installation some dll files were not copied....
this prevented me frm running another setup ..error message was 'hal.dll' missing
moreover i was not asked for selecting boot to Xubuntu
so i was forced to use XP pro ....i installed adobe indesign and restarted my comp..but now it was not even booting to XP pro...error message--'error in software
load needed dlls for kernal....
therefore i installed Xubuntu again without formatting on F drive(in which Xubuntu was origanlly present)
Now i want to format C drive...........but how.........??

Try this before trying to install gparted:

     sudo apt-get update

Then try again with:

     sudo apt-get install gparted

If you get same error as before, maybe you have a problem in your repository list. Can you post the content of /etc/apt/sources.list file?

my sources.list file is empty.............

i downloaded gparted-0.3.3 and tried to install it by using ./configure but i think it was unsuccessful...i got this....

vivek@vivek-desktop:~/Desktop/gparted-0.3.3$ ./configure
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... no
checking for mawk... mawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables...
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking for g++... g++
checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... yes
checking whether g++ accepts -g... yes
checking dependency style of g++... gcc3
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking for BSD-compatible nm... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking how to recognise dependent libraries... pass_all
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking dlfcn.h usability... yes
checking dlfcn.h presence... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... g++ -E
checking for g77... no
checking for xlf... no
checking for f77... no
checking for frt... no
checking for pgf77... no
checking for cf77... no
checking for fort77... no
checking for fl32... no
checking for af77... no
checking for xlf90... no
checking for f90... no
checking for pgf90... no
checking for pghpf... no
checking for epcf90... no
checking for gfortran... no
checking for g95... no
checking for xlf95... no
checking for f95... no
checking for fort... no
checking for ifort... no
checking for ifc... no
checking for efc... no
checking for pgf95... no
checking for lf95... no
checking for ftn... no
checking whether we are using the GNU Fortran 77 compiler... no
checking whether accepts -g... no
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 32768
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking for objdir... .libs
checking for ar... ar
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking for strip... strip
checking for correct ltmain.sh version... yes
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
configure: creating libtool
appending configuration tag "CXX" to libtool
checking for ld used by g++... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking for g++ option to produce PIC... -fPIC
checking if g++ PIC flag -fPIC works... yes
checking if g++ static flag -static works... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
appending configuration tag "F77" to libtool
checking locale.h usability... yes
checking locale.h presence... yes
checking for locale.h... yes
checking for LC_MESSAGES... yes
checking libintl.h usability... yes
checking libintl.h presence... yes
checking for libintl.h... yes
checking for ngettext in libc... yes
checking for dgettext in libc... yes
checking for bind_textdomain_codeset... yes
checking for msgfmt... no
checking for perl... /usr/bin/perl
checking for XML::Parser... ok
checking for iconv... /usr/bin/iconv
checking for msgfmt... msgfmt
checking for msgmerge... msgmerge
checking for xgettext... xgettext
checking for uuid_generate in -luuid... no
configure: error: *** uuid library (libuuid) not found
vivek@vivek-desktop:~/Desktop/gparted-0.3.3$

i installed some packages and then it was like this..........

vivek@vivek-desktop:~/Desktop/gparted-0.3.3$ ./configure
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables...
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking for g++... g++
checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... yes
checking whether g++ accepts -g... yes
checking dependency style of g++... gcc3
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking for BSD-compatible nm... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking how to recognise dependent libraries... pass_all
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking dlfcn.h usability... yes
checking dlfcn.h presence... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... g++ -E
checking for g77... g77
checking whether we are using the GNU Fortran 77 compiler... yes
checking whether g77 accepts -g... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 32768
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking for objdir... .libs
checking for ar... ar
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking for strip... strip
checking for correct ltmain.sh version... yes
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
configure: creating libtool
appending configuration tag "CXX" to libtool
checking for ld used by g++... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking for g++ option to produce PIC... -fPIC
checking if g++ PIC flag -fPIC works... yes
checking if g++ static flag -static works... yes
checking if g++ supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking whether the g++ linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
appending configuration tag "F77" to libtool
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for g77 option to produce PIC... -fPIC
checking if g77 PIC flag -fPIC works... yes
checking if g77 static flag -static works... yes
checking if g77 supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking whether the g77 linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking locale.h usability... yes
checking locale.h presence... yes
checking for locale.h... yes
checking for LC_MESSAGES... yes
checking libintl.h usability... yes
checking libintl.h presence... yes
checking for libintl.h... yes
checking for ngettext in libc... yes
checking for dgettext in libc... yes
checking for bind_textdomain_codeset... yes
checking for msgfmt... no
checking for perl... /usr/bin/perl
checking for XML::Parser... ok
checking for iconv... /usr/bin/iconv
checking for msgfmt... msgfmt
checking for msgmerge... msgmerge
checking for xgettext... xgettext
checking for uuid_generate in -luuid... no
configure: error: *** uuid library (libuuid) not found

You said: "my sources.list file is empty............."

I think it's not a good startin point on a ubuntu/debian system :-(

If you want to try, here's my /etc/apt/sources.list content (after putting this in your file, you have to lauch "sudo apt-get update"):

deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy main restricted
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy main restricted
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates main restricted
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates main restricted
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates universe
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates universe
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy multiverse
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy multiverse
deb http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates multiverse
deb-src http://it.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy-updates multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu gutsy-security multiverse

thank u very much...my problem is solved