reformat / wipe computer hard drive

[Guest]

i'm taking home a computer (laptop) from work, but before i do, i want to
remove everything that was on it, programs, personal info, etc. so that i can
start from scratch.

the os was win2k, then upgraded to winXP pro. i have tried to use the
original disk that came with the computer to wipe & restore the computer, but
it says that a newer version of windows is detected and i can't use that
disk. when i use the upgrade disk, i can only browse the files & there is no
option to restore/wipe the computer.

thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Danny Sanders]

You would have to boot from the CD in order to format the drive.

It sounds like you are putting the CD in after the OS has loaded.
This wont work because asking Windows to format the drive it's running from
is like asking you to walk out on a tree limb, turn around, and saw the limb
off.

Make sure your computer BIOS is set up to boot from the CD drive before the
hard drive.

hth
DDS W 2k MVP MCSE

 

[Rich Barry]

You could either create a bootcd http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ or
if you have a floppy drive go here and get a
boot disk. www.bootdisk.com

 

[Guest]

and you do this.......how?

You would have to boot from the CD in order to format the drive.

It sounds like you are putting the CD in after the OS has loaded.
This wont work because asking Windows to format the drive it's running from
is like asking you to walk out on a tree limb, turn around, and saw the limb
off.

Make sure your computer BIOS is set up to boot from the CD drive before the
hard drive.

hth
DDS W 2k MVP MCSE

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

i'm taking home a computer (laptop) from work, but before i do, i
want to remove everything that was on it, programs, personal info,
etc. so that i can start from scratch.

the os was win2k, then upgraded to winXP pro. i have tried to use the
original disk that came with the computer to wipe & restore the
computer, but it says that a newer version of windows is detected and
i can't use that disk.

That's because SP1 or SP2 was installed, and your CD is without the service
pack.

But it doesn't matter, because if you're getting that message, you're not
doing a clean installation correctly. When you do a clean installation, it
formats the drive, and doean't look at or care what's already there.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to
accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the
existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


when i use the upgrade disk, i can only

 

[Evolution]

You need to do a clean installation like what everyone else suggested.
-Turn on computer
-Pop in CD
-Reboot with CD inside
-Hit F2, Del or whatever your computer requires you to press to get into the
BIOS
-Change the boot order so that the CD-ROM boots first, not the hard drive
-Follow instructions or vist the websites posted earlier

The CD you have probably has only SP1, but your laptop has SP2, which is
probably why it gave you the message that a newer version of windows is
detected and stuff. If you want to, you can slipstream SP2 with the XP disc
you have so it saves you time. Here is the website on how to slipstream SP2
with XP Professional:
http://theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

If that is a lot of hassle to you, then just proceed with the instructions
provided by my post or the others and do a clean installation by booting off
of the CD. You can later install SP2 at your own convenience. Hope it works
out!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

i'm taking home a computer (laptop) from work, but before i do, i want to
remove everything that was on it, programs, personal info, etc. so that i can
start from scratch.

the os was win2k, then upgraded to winXP pro. i have tried to use the
original disk that came with the computer to wipe & restore the computer, but
it says that a newer version of windows is detected and i can't use that
disk. when i use the upgrade disk, i can only browse the files & there is no
option to restore/wipe the computer.

thanks for any suggestions!

Simply boot from the Win2K installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)


--

Bruce Chambers

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