Use the following procedure to reformat your drive and perform a
"clean install" of Windows XP:
The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:
NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.
1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first bootable device".
===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===>
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.
5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]
6. ** Immediately after installing Windows XP, turn on XP's Firewall **
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".
8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.
9. If you happen to run into any installation difficulties, use the following resources:
How to Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310064
Troubleshooting Windows XP Setup
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm
[Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]
--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
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|
| Are you saying that if you select "New Installation", it does not format the
| target partition for you? I am in the same boat, as I have a PC with WinME
| that has been replaced with a new XP PC. But I would like to upgrade the
| older PC to XP and give it to another family member as a "clean PC". It's a
| P3-600 with 128Mb so I'm sure it is h/w compatible.
|
| So how do I go about reformatting my hard drive and installing the XP
| upgrade? I assume that I'd have to floppy-boot into some DOS-type mode
| because you can't reformat the drive that the O/S is running from, right?
| And then I have to have enough of an O/S loaded to start the XP upgrade from
| the CD-ROM. Plus I assume that the XP Upgrade is going to ask for proof of
| ownership of a previous version (I do still have my original ME CD, but the
| O/S itself will have been blown away from the disk by this time).
|
| Maybe I've been around these O/S's for too long (starting back in the
| DOS-only era) and am getting too hung up in minor details that don't apply
| anymore, but I'd like to get an idea of what I'm going to have to do. I do
| have Partition Commander so I can manually do whatever it takes, but I
| assume there's a more "approved" way of doing it. Thanks!
|
| Doug G
|
|
