Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (
More info?)
"mad0005" wrote:
> I was just wondering if there is a way to wipe my hard drive clean and then
> reinstall windows xp?? And if this is possible to do will my PC be right
> back to brand new???
Yes. Reboot from your Windows XP CD. When you get to the relevant menu,
select clean install. For extra "cleanliness," first delete the partition(s)
of the drive that you want to install Windows on, then "recreate" the
partition on that drive (the menus will tell you what to do -- it's much
easier than it sounds). Reformat the drive (I would recommend NTFS, but for
extra "cleanliness" don't select the "quick" option). Depending on the size
of your drive, reformatting may take an hour or more. Be patient and let it
finish, then continue with reinstallation by following the prompts. [Note:
if you are positive that your hard drive does not contain errors, then you
can choose the "quick" option. But I wouldn't recommend it if, as you say,
you really want to wipe the drive clean and start fresh.]
Bear in mind that all of your programs and data will be wiped out on the
partition that you are installing Windows on, so save everything that might
be important to you (e.g. videos, downloaded music, downloaded programs,
pictures, documents, e-mails) to a separate partition, hard drive, or CD
before doing all this. Once Windows XP is installed, activate it and update
it through Windows Update, then reinstall your programs and data.
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