A question for those that haved REinstalled XP

[Mike]

I'm about to Reinstall Windows XP, using the CD when i
reboot the system. Incase no one knows what i'm talking
about, i already have XP on my system, then i'm going to
have it removed, and reinstall it again. In this process
i'm hoping to erase my harddrive using a "petition" or
something like that term. I've done this before, and i
saw that word when i cleared my hard drive. MY question
is do i already have to remove everything on my
harddrive, so i won't lose existing disk space (What i
mean is will the old space get overridden) or do i not
have to worry about that?

 

[Tom Lake]

I'm about to Reinstall Windows XP, using the CD when i
reboot the system. Incase no one knows what i'm talking
about, i already have XP on my system, then i'm going to
have it removed, and reinstall it again. In this process
i'm hoping to erase my harddrive using a "petition" or
something like that term. I've done this before, and i
saw that word when i cleared my hard drive. MY question
is do i already have to remove everything on my
harddrive, so i won't lose existing disk space (What i
mean is will the old space get overridden) or do i not
have to worry about that?

If you delete the existing PARTITION, you won't lose any disk space to old
files. Everything will be OVERWRITTEN. Don't forget to format the blank
partition after you create it! Boot from the XP CD and you can perform a
totally clean install. If it's an upgrade version of XP, you'll need a Win
95, 98 or ME CD on hand to prove you own a previous Windows version.

Tom Lake

 

[Steve C. Ray]

I suggest you enlist the help of a knowledgeable friend to help you with
this. It is not a very difficult process, but you have to know what you are
doing. Getting some hands-on help will save you a lot of grief.

 

[Unnamed]

I'm about to Reinstall Windows XP, using the CD when i
reboot the system. Incase no one knows what i'm talking
about, i already have XP on my system, then i'm going to
have it removed, and reinstall it again. In this process
i'm hoping to erase my harddrive using a "petition" or
something like that term. I've done this before, and i
saw that word when i cleared my hard drive. MY question
is do i already have to remove everything on my
harddrive, so i won't lose existing disk space (What i
mean is will the old space get overridden) or do i not
have to worry about that?

Not necessarily. Just get XP to format the drive then install.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I'm about to Reinstall Windows XP, using the CD when i
reboot the system. Incase no one knows what i'm talking
about, i already have XP on my system, then i'm going to
have it removed, and reinstall it again. In this process
i'm hoping to erase my harddrive using a "petition" or
something like that term.

You have two choices. For either, Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard
disk, then boot the XP CD, start Setup (do not take 'Repair' at this
stage), then after the license agreement either:

take 'Repair Installation'. This will retain your existing software
installations and most settings. But Updates will have to be run again,
especially SP1; I would suggest this is the thing to try first, unless
you have other reasons to erase everything from the disk

Or

take New Install. When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC; select
and delete the current partition and make a new RAW one to be formatted
at the next stage. At this point you can delete other partitions (if
any) as well; and decide on the size that you want for the one for the
system, leaving the remaining space to be formatted from the resulting
installation when complete

It is important to enable the basic XP Firewall before you ever connect
to the net to get updates and patches, so as to be protected against
things like the BLAST worm.

To create a second partition once the XP is up, Control Panel - Admin
Tools - Computer Management, select Disk Management and look lower right
for the graphic of the drive. R-click in Unallocated space and 'create
Partition', continuing through to format.

If you do a repair install, it should normally retain activation - if
you format and start clean, you will need to do the activation again
within 30 days (see www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm and hint in Format Hard
drive)