I would like to wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall XP

[Matt]

I would like to wipe my hard drive completely and totally
restart with a clean xp. I have tried to reinstall XP by
itself but many of my previous data and programs are still
there. I don't know how to do this. Any help would be
great. Thx.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If you wish to reformat your hard drive (thus wiping it clean) and reinstall
Windows XP, follow this procedure:

The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

1. It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except for you mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

2. Open your BIOS and set your CD Drive as the first bootable device.

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

3. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
4. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
5. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

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

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

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| I would like to wipe my hard drive completely and totally
| restart with a clean xp. I have tried to reinstall XP by
| itself but many of my previous data and programs are still
| there. I don't know how to do this. Any help would be
| great. Thx.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I would like to wipe my hard drive completely and totally
restart with a clean xp. I have tried to reinstall XP by
itself but many of my previous data and programs are still
there.

You do it as part of a reinstall of the system after booting the XP CD
direct. Enter Setup, and after the license agreement 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

THe important point is the delete. Without that it will just go ahead
and make a new install over the top of the old one