Startup Disk

[Mark Wilmes]

Microsoft MVP,

How do you create a startup disk in Windows XP
professional? Does it contain a version of fdisk and
format so can setup a new hard drive before installation
of Windows XP? Or is all the drive partitioning done as
part of the WindowsXP setup program?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Will Denny]

Hi Mark

If you boot your PC using the XP CD, the setup program will give you various options. The following article by MVP Michael Stevens will help you:

"Clean Install Windows XP"
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Will

 

[Alex Nichol]

How do you create a startup disk in Windows XP
professional? Does it contain a version of fdisk and
format so can setup a new hard drive before installation
of Windows XP? Or is all the drive partitioning done as
part of the WindowsXP setup program?

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

You can make a basic bootable floppy by My computer - r-click the drive,
Format and take 'MSDOS Startup disk'. But it has none of the 'external
commands' like Format.com, and is more for use if you want to run some
third party program, like a BIOS flash