Formating C: drive and reinstalling windows Xp home

[andrew burk]

i have this problem..i want to format a hard drive con
the pc there is also a second drive..smaller for i
believe system backup) the examples i found in microsoft
help state go to system resources..or
diskmanagment..etc..and do from there..but i cant cause
it says something like cant disengage current drive..ie i
understand this its kinda like asking the OS to kill
itself..so i make a startup disk..by right clicking a:
drive..then boot the system to the floppy getting a:
prompt..now either staying there or going to c: drive no
matter when i enter format c: or with the / etc it says
bad command or file

then i tried to place the windows Xp installation cd and
boot from there..and seeing if it would give me an option
to install Xp outside the current windows..but the PC
just boots past it and onto windows Xp itself..no chance
to use the boot into there..

i emailed the main board company and they gave me
instuctions to go make a startup disk from previous
versions of windows..and i cant..i dont have any of those
around..

i was told that this had something to do with NTFS/Fat32
etc..but dont have to much knowledge about them at all..

anyhelp would be appreciated..

andrew

 

[Andrew E]

Reboot computer,or start with xp cd installed,the text
appears on top,press any key to boot to cd,press key,
select recovery,if asked for password,press enter key,
at recovery,type:FORMAT C: /FS:ntfs or type:FORMAT /?
for help,typing:HELP gets you all cmnds.

 

[Guest]

your directions are a little vague for someone like me
with little PC knowlegde. But one thing..i said i cant
get it to boot off of the cd..when i change the boot
options to cd drive first..it completely misses it when i
have the windows xp home instal cd in it.

a little more info for help..please..otherwise thanks so
far

 

[Michael Stevens]

your directions are a little vague for someone like me
with little PC knowlegde. But one thing..i said i cant
get it to boot off of the cd..when i change the boot
options to cd drive first..it completely misses it when i
have the windows xp home instal cd in it.

a little more info for help..please..otherwise thanks so
far

Andrew,
See the link below and check out the options to a format/reinstall. It is
not always necessary to start from scratch.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address box.
Should I format?
http://michaelstevenstech.com
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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