can't delete partition

[Brian Driehorst]

Ok my computer crashed so I figured it was time to update
to XP. When I was setting it up, however, it wouldnt let
me erase the existing partition because it said it
contained necessary setup files. now, XP works fine but I
only have 1/5 of my hard drive left. it just installed it
right on top of all my old shit and to make it worse, I
can't even access my old stuff. Please help.

 

[Thorsten Matzner]

Ok my computer crashed so I figured it was time to update
to XP. When I was setting it up, however, it wouldnt let
me erase the existing partition because it said it
contained necessary setup files. now, XP works fine but I
only have 1/5 of my hard drive left. it just installed it
right on top of all my old shit and to make it worse, I
can't even access my old stuff. Please help.

Boot your computer from a DOS disk (available from www.bootdisk.com)
and remove all the partitions from the HDD. Then boot from the Windows
XP CD and set up the HDD and install the OS.