Due to my home desktop machine frequently freezing
inexplicably (only recently and only when connected to the
internet (via a Belkin router attached to a Motorola surf
modem)), I now wish to do a fresh reinstallation of
Windows 2000 Professional, including a reformat of the
hard drive and its existing partitions, removal of all
registry settings, removal of all user accounts and so on.

I have seen other postings regarding similar installations
which call for booting and installing from CD-ROM,
reformat of hard drive, aborting of current installation
and then repeating the installation process only this time
through to completion. Is this what I need to do in this
case?

Can microsoft reply with a simple step-by-step guide which
illustrates the process and says what is and isn't
retained during installation (for example, can I use the
same names my machine and domain as I did before and can I
create the same user names? I specifically don't want them
retained from one installation to another because of all
the crap files that lurk under the user accounts in
\documents & settings\).

Thanks for any advice given.

Simon

I am not from Microsoft, but hope that I can help you anyway.

Your idea of what you need to do is basically correct, but you don't need
to abort the installation and start over again.

Boot from the CD and start a new installation. When asked where to install
Win2000 you will have an option to delete current partition(s). Do this,
then create a new partition and select to install Win2000 in this
partition. It will be formatted in the next step, meaning that everything
you previously had installed, including accounts and the "Documents and
Settings" folder, will be removed.

As long as you don't have a domain setup (another computer acting as a
domain controller) you can name your computer and any accounts as you see
fit, even exactly the same names.

Best regards

Bjorn
--
Bjorn Landemoo - (E-Mail Removed) - http://landemoo.com/
Microsoft MVP - Windows Server Networking

"Simon Lillystone" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Due to my home desktop machine frequently freezing
>inexplicably (only recently and only when connected to the
>internet (via a Belkin router attached to a Motorola surf
>modem)), I now wish to do a fresh reinstallation of
>Windows 2000 Professional, including a reformat of the
>hard drive and its existing partitions, removal of all
>registry settings, removal of all user accounts and so on.
>
>I have seen other postings regarding similar installations
>which call for booting and installing from CD-ROM,
>reformat of hard drive, aborting of current installation
>and then repeating the installation process only this time
>through to completion. Is this what I need to do in this
>case?
>
>Can microsoft reply with a simple step-by-step guide which
>illustrates the process and says what is and isn't
>retained during installation (for example, can I use the
>same names my machine and domain as I did before and can I
>create the same user names? I specifically don't want them
>retained from one installation to another because of all
>the crap files that lurk under the user accounts in
>\documents & settings\).
>
>Thanks for any advice given.