reformat, reinstall

[Guest]

As I'm 100% disabled, in the past my employers' system administrators bought and setup my computers. Now I'm on contract. My last computer was bought with system commander and windows xp pro. Of course, I wouldn't give them my universal subscriber dvd, or even mention that I was a subscriber.

It turned out the xp pro was cracked. I reported it to microsoft. No matter. I set up another partition and installed my own xp pro. Worked fine.

Meantime a neighbor has been fixing my computer. Last time he asked for the hebrew office dvd. So much for him.

Now it's definitely time to start clean, using virtual pc.

Trouble is, I don't know how to reformat the disk I am using. The other disk, easy. The disk I'm on, how. If by a floppy, what do I put on the floppy. After reformatting, how do I install windows, since the dvd driver won't be installed.

I've been careful. Saved all my data, have all my drivers, backed up everywhich way, all my install disks, down to winzip, all my serial numbers.

Any help will be appreciated.

dennis

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

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:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

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

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

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
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 Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

7. 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

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| As I'm 100% disabled, in the past my employers' system administrators bought and setup my computers. Now
I'm on contract. My last computer was bought with system commander and windows xp pro. Of course, I wouldn't
give them my universal subscriber dvd, or even mention that I was a subscriber.
|
| It turned out the xp pro was cracked. I reported it to microsoft. No matter. I set up another partition
and installed my own xp pro. Worked fine.
|
| Meantime a neighbor has been fixing my computer. Last time he asked for the hebrew office dvd. So much for
him.
|
| Now it's definitely time to start clean, using virtual pc.
|
| Trouble is, I don't know how to reformat the disk I am using. The other disk, easy. The disk I'm on, how.
If by a floppy, what do I put on the floppy. After reformatting, how do I install windows, since the dvd
driver won't be installed.
|
| I've been careful. Saved all my data, have all my drivers, backed up everywhich way, all my install disks,
down to winzip, all my serial numbers.
|
| Any help will be appreciated.
|
| dennis