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What is the easiest way to perform a clean install with XP

M

MowSow

Golden Member
I finished backing up all my files/MP3s .. bookmarks and outlook express mail list .. (please remind me if I forgot anything important I should back up also). Now I want to format and install XP Pro. What is the best way to do that .. how many partitions shoukd I make on a 40Gig drive ...I do have partition magic 7.0 if that helps ...
I don't know if this PC will boot from CD because it is not mine .. I am doing that for a freind !!
Thanks for the advice ...
Matt
 
Unless you're going to dualboot create all the partitions with XP. I usually give ~5G to the OS because I put the majority of my programs and data on another partition. Since you're using 1 big drive (and IDE at that) it doesn't really matter how you partition it, it's almost completely preferance.
 
If you're doing it for a friend, ask HIM how many partitions he wants.
If he doesn't know anything about partitions, then don't worry about it.

Where did you back up the files to?
 
Thanks for your input ... the drive is a 40 gig not 1 gig .. I think I will be doing a 10 gig OS and a 30 gig for storage and MP3s.
I am still saving the files .. I am burning everything to a couple of CDs ..
I am still not sure how I will be formating the drive ... maybe download a Win98 boot floppy and format then install XP from the CD. I am not sure if I boot from the CD will the XP CD let me format the drive and parition it !?
 
To do a clean installation, I would recommend using the book disk from the operating system that is on the machine before the upgrade. Run fdisk to delete all partitions. Then recreate the active partition. There really isn't any reason to have more than one partition unless you are running more than one operating system.
The Windows XP installation CD has a program on it for saving all your files and settings so once you run that, you won't have to worry about that headache anymore. Read the readme files on the CD to learn more about that.
Let XP format the C drive for you. Short of discarding all your previous settings and files, it's the cleanest way I know of to install XP.
Hope that helps you some.
🙂
 
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