How do I do a clean install?

[Stephen]

Hi

I have got to reinstall XP Home.

Ever since my system crashed a while
back I have had nothing but problems.

When I used my OME XP CD ROM to try and
repair it - XP screwed up and placed 4 copies
of XP on my drive.

As time has gone on I have tried to remove
the unwanted copies - but now my system
has become unstable.

I think I need to reinstall a CLEAN copy and
start from scratch - but I have a problem . . . .

My main drive (C) was partitioned by the manufacture.

On the partition (D drive) sits the following folders;

BIOS (empty)
FLASH
PCDR
SETUP

If I perform a 'clean' install it will wipe out D drive.

I can back up D drive onto a RW CD - but I am
worried that nothing will work while trying to
install XP because the D drive looks like it
contains some important files.

The D drive is only 39.0MB - and the above files
use only 7.05MB

I have 3 questions;

1) Should I format C drive and start again.
(I have never done this before - it's a bit daunting!)

2) Will I be able to install XP without the files that reside
on D drive - so that I can copy them back when XP
is up and running again.

3) Over the past year I have downloaded loads of
fixes and patches from Microsoft to keep XP in tip
top condition (a lot of good that's done me).

Is there a way to save patches (including service pack 1)
without having to download them all again.


Any other help with this task would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance - Stephen

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

The following article will help you with a 'Clean' install of XP:

"Clean Install Windows XP"
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html