hi as mentioned in my other posts laptop is screwed i have no vista disc with me as i am in canada for 6 months and to be honest i aint got a clue if it is at home or not i can do the F12 and F2 but cant find anything to help me how can i format the hdd without loosing vista there must be a way the laptop is only 10 months old and is my life line come on guys i know your good at this stuff thanks in advance dan

What is the make and model of the laptop?

If it is only 10 months old it probably has a Recovery Partition.

Also if it is only 10 months old it is probably under warranty.

toshiba equium a300d-13x psak2e-001003ks yeah but do i require a disc to do this

From my research you need the Vista DVD.

Also I note a one year warranty on that model and I'd suggest utilizing that option.

Contact Toshiba

great thanks for your help but wont be back in the uk for another 6 months looks like a new laptop is on the list thanks again

You can try a Linux OS Live CD such as Ubuntu to access data on the drive plus have a temporary OS:

Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu