Trouble with reformatting Windows XP hard drive

[imported_DoctorK]

Ok so my computer needed to be reformatted and I also put it into a new case today with an extra stick of RAM and a new PCI-to-USB 2.0 card.

I got a new copy of Windows XP and went for it. I changed my BIOS boot sequence to my CD drive first, however the first time I booted it went to Windows, and wouldn't boot directly from the CD...and I even tried disabling the hard drive altogether in the BIOS and only having the CD drive as an option, but it still went to Windows first...so I clicked on the CD drive and went to the option of installing windows.

The first time around it went through the installation process but when I had to pick which partition to install and picked C:, it said I had a copy of Windows on there and it might cause problems having 2 OS's installed on one partition...

I basically wanted to clear out my one hard drive and just do a fresh install.

So after it installed I still had all my old program files and folders, which I dind't want.

I even tried a 2nd time, went into the Recovery screen and tried to format C by doing format c: /fs:ntfs

But the same thing happened, it said I have an OS already installed on the C: partition. I tried deleting the partition but it gave me the message "Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected partition. The selected partition contains temporary setup files required to complete the installation"

So how do I just totally wipe out my hard drive and do a fresh install of Windows on it if I already had one on there? I'm confused...

Thanks

 

[P0ldy]

Just as you did before. Make sure you boot to CD (in fact, there's not even a reason to have second or third boot device marked as 'hard drive' in this case), instead of install on C: with the current installation on there, [Quick] format C: with NTFS, then it should install fine. That error message is strange, you might want to disable page file in My Computer > Advanced > Advanced > Virtual Memory.

 

[boomerang]

If your computer BIOS won't cooperate and allow you to boot off the CD (as yours won't), here's an easy way to take care of it.

Download delpart.

You can put it on a boot floppy. Boot to a prompt and run delpart. Follow the directions and I guarantee your XP installs will be gone.

 

[WebDude]

It's strange you can't get your system to boot from the CD drive. As a test, I would temporarily remove the HD from the system (disconnect the data and power cables) and then try to boot from the XP install CD (making all the changes you need in the bios). If you still can't boot from the CD, there's something wrong with either your mb or the CD drive.

 

[boomerang]

I've seen this before a number of times. I believe it has to do with the amount of time the BIOS allows for a response from the CD drive versus the actual response time of the CD drive itself. The BIOS times out before the drive can respond.

That's my theory anyway.

I believe if he does disconnect the HD, it will boot off the CD. With no other bootable drive in the system it will eventually boot off the CD.

All this is just my take on things. But I have seen this very problem several times before. And it's frustrating.

 

[imported_DoctorK]

Well just a quick FYI, problem is solved.

I downloaded MaxBlaster 4.0 from Maxtor.com and it created me a nice bootable floppy, which I then used to easily format my HD and I got XP installed like new.

Thanks for the help though!