How do i format my pc?

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GdG

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#1 GdG
Member since 2003 • 913 Posts

Hey,

i want to format my pc its currently windows xp, where do i go and what do i do? Thanks!

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Axed54

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#2 Axed54
Member since 2006 • 2963 Posts

Reformat the Hard Drive in Windows XP

  1. To reformat a hard drive with Windows XP, insert Windows CD and restart your computer.

  2. Your computer should automatically boot from the CD to the Windows Setup Main Menu.

  3. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.

  4. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.

  5. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.

  6. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition.

  7. Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size.

  8. Select the format option that you want to use for the partition (Recommended: NTFS), and then press ENTER.

  9. You have now sucessfully reformatted the hard drive with Windows XP.
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Kiwi_1

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#3 Kiwi_1
Member since 2003 • 2963 Posts

1. Let's make sure you know that the Hdd is the only part to be formtted, not the entire PC, and that the procedure removes all that is stored on the partition that is reformatted (it is already formatted, so it doesn't need that, what it might {maybe not} need now could be the re-format).

2. Windows refuses to commit suicide. You cannot load the OS from the Hdd and then try to have it kill itself off.

3. You need DRIVERS that do not come on the Windows CD, so you will be smartest to collect them all and burn them to CDs first, before doing anything drastic.

4. If the reformatting is because a current OS install is seriously compromised, and you don't care what is stored on the drive, then the tools you need are on the Windows OS' install CD. Here is the best (well, one of the best) descriptions of the procedure called a "Clean Reinstall":

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/clean1.html