Help with reformatting hard drive and reinstalling xp pro

  • Thread starter Thread starter Melinda
  • Start date Start date
M

Melinda

My brother built, installed, and configured my system for
me (then left me high and dry - no help).

He installed a restore program ("restore it" from a
company named farstone) before he installed xp pro and
everything else so my computer always boots up with this
program first and almost always this program finds some
problem and requires that I constantly start up with the
last known good configuration. Anyway that's just one of
the many problems I'm having and so I need to start from
scratch.

Unfortunately I have never reformatted a hard drive nor
done a installation in my life. I don't know where to
start and what steps I need to take in order to prepare
to take on this task.

I need to know the following:

1. How to back up my outlook contacts and messages to a
CD. (I believe I know how to handle my other files)

2. How to reformat the C: drive.

3. How to and in what order do I begin to reinstall
Windows XP Pro and the drivers, etc. (isn't there some
kind of proper order?)

Thanks in advance. Whatever help you can provide will be
greatly appreciated.
 
To compact and back up e-mail folders

1.. Select an e-mail folder.
2.. On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Compact.
3.. To back up the folder, find the folder file, and then copy it to a
backup folder, floppy disk, or network drive. Outlook Express e-mail folders
have a .dbx extension (for example, "Sent Items.dbx").
Notes

a.. Some message files might be too large to back up onto a floppy disk.
b.. If you are using a program other than Outlook Express to send e-mail
messages to newsgroups, check your e-mail program's documentation for
information about compacting and deleting e-mail folders.
The above was pasted from Outlook Express help. As for formatting and
installing XP, you need to make sure your system is set to boot from the
Windows XP CD. This is done in the BIOS by changing the option to boot from
the C: drive to the CD drive on your system. When that is done, insert the
Windows XP CD and reboot. The installation is fairly easy to follow. Do a
Google search for the terms "formatting hard drives" and "clean install of
Windows XP". That should give you plenty of information to help you out.

Don't install that restore program your brother supplied. Windows XP has
its own restore feature if you want to use it. Good luck!
 
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