Reformat/Reinstall without floppy?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I'm away from home, where my XP full version CD is at the moment, so I can't
check this myself...

I need to reformat and reinstall XP on my laptop, which has no floppy drive.
So, I can't use the floppy I created, which contains the utilities I
normally use. Does the XP CD offer a way to do this, or do I need to create
a bootable CD of my own containing the appropriate utilities?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I'm away from home, where my XP full version CD is at the moment, so I
can't check this myself...

I need to reformat and reinstall XP on my laptop, which has no floppy
drive. So, I can't use the floppy I created, which contains the utilities
I normally use. Does the XP CD offer a way to do this, or do I need to
create a bootable CD of my own containing the appropriate utilities?

What utilities?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm away from home, where my XP full version CD is at the moment,
so I can't check this myself...

I need to reformat and reinstall XP on my laptop, which has no
floppy drive. So, I can't use the floppy I created, which contains
the utilities I normally use. Does the XP CD offer a way to do
this, or do I need to create a bootable CD of my own containing the
appropriate utilities?

If you have a legitimate and fully functional Windows XP CD - it is bootable
and contains just about everything you need to install Windows XP onto a
system. Exceptions might include drivers - expecially if you need some
controller driver for Windows XP to even see your hard disk drives.

 

[DL]

The winxp cd is bootable and contains all required to install/repair
Though the winxp cd only contains the default drivers, you would need to get
hardware drivers from your Laptop manu site

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

What utilities?

I probably should've made that singular: utility. The format command. I
don't recall if the XP install routine has the option of REALLY wiping the
HD clean, or if it just does an overwrite, repair, whatever. I want to start
with a totally clean hard disk.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

If you have a legitimate and fully functional Windows XP CD - it is
bootable and contains just about everything you need to install Windows XP
onto a system. Exceptions might include drivers - expecially if you need
some controller driver for Windows XP to even see your hard disk drives.

I know that much, but I want the hard disk wiped clean to begin with.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Is there an install option which completely wipes the HD clean, or is it an
overwrite/repair type of thing? I don't want the latter. I want the HD
totally wiped first.

 

[peter]

During the install process you will be given the option to format the
HD............
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
peter

 

[Bob I]

Does the laptop happen to have a "restore to factory" partition?

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

During the install process you will be given the option to format the
HD............
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
peter

Thanks, Peter.

This computer was polluted by a teenager over recent months, hence the need
for the flamethrower.

 

[David B.]

There is no 3rd party utility needed for this, the setup routine has the
option to format a partition, or delete and create new partitions.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

No. But, wouldn't that also restore all the crap originally provided by Dell
and many other computer manufacturers?

Footnote: I've already gathered all the latest drivers for the machine, in
preparation for this procedure.

 

[Bob I]

Then if you have it all on cds then you are good to go. The XP cd is
bootable so no issue there, just elect to format the partition.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm away from home, where my XP full version CD is at the moment,
so I can't check this myself...

I need to reformat and reinstall XP on my laptop, which has no
floppy drive. So, I can't use the floppy I created, which contains
the utilities I normally use. Does the XP CD offer a way to do
this, or do I need to create a bootable CD of my own containing
the appropriate utilities?

If you have a legitimate and fully functional Windows XP CD - it is
bootable and contains just about everything you need to install
Windows XP onto a system. Exceptions might include drivers -
expecially if you need some controller driver for Windows XP to
even see your hard disk drives.

I know that much, but I want the hard disk wiped clean to begin
with.

If you knew all that - then you know you can delete any and all partitions
by booting with the Windows XP CD. You can then create and format the
partitions as you see fit. The Windows XP CD contains all the tools you
need to do this.

 

[Xenomorph]

The XP CD has the ability to delete and create partitions, format the drive,
and rebuild the MBR.

Much like old DOS boot floppies.

 

[Xenomorph]

pirated / fake / illegal Windows CDs are usually bootable and contain the
same functionality of legit CDs.

 

[HeyBub]

I know that much, but I want the hard disk wiped clean to begin with.

There is no "wipe clean," as in a blackboard. Every possible bit position on
a hard drive contains either a 0 or a 1. There is no such thing as "absence
of bits/data."

There are utilities to write '1' in every position - or write '0' - but
there will always be something in every position.

The only issue is whether what's there makes sense to whatever's reading it.

FORMAT doesn't do anything to the bits on the drive; format only hammers the
directory structure. Data can be recovered from a formatted drive.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I probably should've made that singular: utility. The format command. I
don't recall if the XP install routine has the option of REALLY wiping the
HD clean, or if it just does an overwrite, repair, whatever. I want to start
with a totally clean hard disk.

All legitimate WinXP installation CDs are bootable and have the
capability of deleting, creating, and formatting partitions.

After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS
installation, simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be
offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part
of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of
boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

Then the backed up data can be restored and applications re-installed.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[JoeSpareBedroom]

There is no "wipe clean," as in a blackboard. Every possible bit position
on a hard drive contains either a 0 or a 1. There is no such thing as
"absence of bits/data."

There are utilities to write '1' in every position - or write '0' - but
there will always be something in every position.

The only issue is whether what's there makes sense to whatever's reading
it.

FORMAT doesn't do anything to the bits on the drive; format only hammers
the directory structure. Data can be recovered from a formatted drive.

I understand, and the goal is not security. My goal is to eliminate all the
crap installed by the previous user. If I was looking for ultimate security,
I'd be pursuing one of the products designed for that purpose.