Hi guys,
All of the posts have been informative, but I did all these things,
and it still won't boot from the DVD drive. The drive worked earlier
this week, but I am thinking it might be the problem. Wouldn't
Windows tell me if there was a problem with the drive? I have
received no error message...
Well, I'm only one of the guys, and I'm not quite sure why you're
replying to me since I'm the one who was trying to talk you out of
reinstalling your OS! But since you seem determined to try the nuclear
option, let's tackle that.
(First, why do you think there's something wrong with the optical
drive?)
What is the make and model of your PC? That will determine how to
instruct your PC to boot off your CD-ROM drive. This page should help:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
You have received many posts with instructions or links to instructions.
If you choose to reply to my post, it would be helpful if you and I are
on the same (Web) page:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
If you hit a snag anywhere along the way, please indicate at which step
it happened.
And as others mentioned, make sure you have all the necessary drivers
and installation files of your programs. Also, make sure to save all
your data and settings (including e-mail files, bookmarks, etc.).
Backing up to an external USB hard drive is the easiest way, but you can
also burn disks.
But one last chance: You probably don't need to perform a clean install!
If you tell us what your *specific* problems are, I'm sure you will get
good advice on how to fix them.