reformat c: drive.

[jim]

I need to reinstall windows xp(home edition) clean
but don't want to lose access to my cd rom and 3 1/2
floppy drives in the process. How do I reformat my C:/
drive without loosing access to these two devices.

I will have to reload windows 95 first as this is the
only full version of windows I have, and will have to use
both the before mentioned devices to reload.

Thanks; jim

 

[Chris Lanier]

you dont need to install Windows 9x first.

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. Open your BIOS and set your CD Drive as the first bootable device.
2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your omputer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. 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.

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. After installing Windows XP, 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.