Reformatting Hard Drive

[Chad]

I am having a number of problems with my computer related
to programs that I have uninstalled. Somewhere, deep in
the registry files and other locations, remnants of these
programs exist that are causing multiple problems with my
computer.

I desire to totally whipe my hard drive, reformat it, and
then reinstall Windows XP from scratch but I am unsure
how to go about doing this or what the potential risks
are.

There is nothing on my computer that I need to save. So
I am not worried about losing data.

Thanks for any help provided.
Chad

 

[Chris Lanier]

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.

****All Courtesy of Nicholas

 

[Trent©]

I am having a number of problems with my computer related
to programs that I have uninstalled. Somewhere, deep in
the registry files and other locations, remnants of these
programs exist that are causing multiple problems with my
computer.

This might be a good time to learn more about your computer...and just
fix the problems.

I desire to totally whipe my hard drive, reformat it, and
then reinstall Windows XP from scratch but I am unsure
how to go about doing this or what the potential risks
are.

Re-activation? Also, you could possibly have hardware/driver
problems. A lot depends on how much of a problem you had the first
time.

There is nothing on my computer that I need to save. So
I am not worried about losing data.

Then I'd go back further than a reformat. I'd do a re-partition.

Good luck.


Hope ya'll have a nice weekend...

Trent


Proud member of the Roy Rogers fan club!

 

[Alex Nichol]

I desire to totally whipe my hard drive, reformat it, and
then reinstall Windows XP from scratch but I am unsure
how to go about doing this or what the potential risks
are.

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.