Want to do a CLEAN Re-Install of XP -- Will this work ?

[JJordan]

I have read several posts saying you can reformat your hard drive when you install XP, but I tried everything I could last night and it would not let me reformat or delete partitions or anything -- all it would do is install. When I boot up, it shows two options -- Windows or Windows XP Pro (I have a retail full version installation CD of XP Pro By the way). I want to delete it all and start over so I have a fresh clean install of XP only . I have NOT activated the install.

Can I use a Windows 98 Boot disk and reformat the HD and start completely over booting from teh CD-Rom to the newly formatted C Drive. I never figured out how to get to the format comand with a Windows ME boot disk (and don't have one any more any way) so I want to use my Windows 98 formating. When I am done, will I have a clean drive with XP only on it tha I can then activate.

I did this on my secondary computer to try and figure out how to get it insatlled cleanly -- After I get it figured out -- I can put XP on my primary computer and activate it.

 

[renorocks]

I think you are missing a step / mis-reading the install prompts from your XP install disk. You can install a fresh copy. Watch carefully what it's asking you. When it displays the partition(s) that are currently installed on your system you should highlight one at a time then hit the "D" key, it may also ask you to hit the "L" key as a safety precaution, then the "ENTER" key. Perform this procedure on all partitions untill it displays your whole drive size as one big unformatted partition. You then hit the "C" key to create a new partition where you will install the Operating system, you can make this partition any size you wish. It will then ask you to choose the partition to install XP on, since you only have one partition created, you highlight that one. It will then ask you NTFS or FAT32. I strongly suggest NTFS. After you have installed xp, you can go to the "manage" menu and then "disk management" to create more partitions if desired.

If Xp does not show the above, you can always wipe out your partitions from a win98 boot disk using the fdisk command. There is no need to create a new partition and format it in win98, just wipe them out. Then try installing xp.
If you cannot wipe out your partitions using the win98 boot disk & the fdisk command, you have something strange going on. I have seen this on rare occasions. I have used Partition Magic to wipe out partitions where fdisk does not work.

Good Luck:
J

 

[JJordan]

I am sure that somewhere I AM missing something but when I got to the screeen you mention -- it showed two partitions, C and D (my old rvie is partitioned. When I tried to delete the C partition, hitting D it said it could not do that because XP had copied set-up filed to that drive. That was where I hit the snag. Admittedly, I did not try deleting D first since the reaon for not deleting C was files needed for install on that drive. ???????

 

[renorocks]

You got me there. I'm not sure what it's trying to tell you without actually being there to see your machine. If all else fails, instead of pulling your hair out, just use your win98 boot disk with the fdisk command. You probably already know this, but I have to say it....All of your data in the partitions you delete will be gone when you do this, so if you need to back up please do so before wiping your partiitions.

Good luck
J

 

[JJordan]

I tried the windows 98 boot disk, but for some reason, the CD will not boot up and if I get to a DOS prompt, setup for XP will not run in DOS -- witout the srat disk, I could not get a CDROM. I created the 6 disk XP Pro start up disk and it seems to be working. It is formatting the drive now so I assume it will install after that. I cannot, however, figure out why it did not boot from teh CDROM ......

 

[vsfoxe]

renorocks: Your post here helped me to get the partitions arranged the way I wanted them. I had been trying off and on for 5-6 days with no success. After reading your post, everything came out right, first time out! THANKS!!!

 

[spamsk8r]

If you're only going to have one partition, i suggest you get a windows 98 bootdisk from someone, and just fdisk the whole drive, delete all partitions, and then just set one primary partition, but don't format it, Windows XP will do it for you. Thats the easiest way that I can think of.

Geoff