reformatted my winxp pro pc, now can't reload it back on.

[kenyatte wilson]

i am having a problem reformatting my pc with xp pro.
it's a compaq evo machine p3 1.7 gig. i finally figured
out how to actually format my system hard disk by using a
win 98 boot disk, fdisk, making it fat32 and did a format
c: command. I do have a second hard disk if that makes a
difference. i thought that was the hard part. after it
formatted the system hard disk, it went to the c prompt.
it gave me an error of invalid disk, replace disk and
press any key. my pc came with a winxp restore disk so i
tried loading it. didn't work. i typed setup and dos
gave me another error stating connot run program in dos
mode. something to that effect. i've been going to sites
trying to find a solution but i'm lost. could someone
help please.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

i am having a problem reformatting my pc with xp pro.
it's a compaq evo machine p3 1.7 gig. i finally figured
out how to actually format my system hard disk by using a
win 98 boot disk, fdisk, making it fat32 and did a format
c: command. I do have a second hard disk if that makes a
difference. i thought that was the hard part. after it
formatted the system hard disk, it went to the c prompt.
it gave me an error of invalid disk, replace disk and
press any key. my pc came with a winxp restore disk so i
tried loading it. didn't work. i typed setup and dos
gave me another error stating connot run program in dos
mode. something to that effect. i've been going to sites
trying to find a solution but i'm lost. could someone
help please.

Formatting a PC with WinXP installed is actually easy,
if you do it by the book:
1. Boot your PC.
2. Press the Delete key to get into the BIOS. (On some PCs
you need to press a different key).
3. Find the place where you can specify the boot order. Set
it so that the PC boots from the CD drive.
4. Pop in your WinXP CD.
5. Reboot the PC. WinXP Setup will now start.
6. When prompted, allow the disk to be formatted.
7. Install WinXP.

 

[hawk]

You say "WinXP restore disk". I assume this is not a WinXP
installation CD, but a CD that came with your computer to restore the
system to factory condition? Do the restore instructions say to boot
from that CD? If yes, follow the instructions in the other reply.

When you used "format c:" you created a hard drive without an
operating system. You won't be able to boot to "C". If you use the
command "format c: /s", you will get a bootable but blank hard drive.

Regards, hawk