the drive is corrupted beyond repair
i would format it if i could
So is what you mean that you want to format and reinstall Windows,
rather than "clean" the disk"?
If so, note that the message that "the OS already has a later version"
is appearing because you are doing this incorrectly. When you do a
clean installation properly, it begins by formatting, and what is
already on the drive doesn't matter; it doesn't even matter whether
there is *anything* on the drive.
Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).
You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
or here
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm
or here
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
or here
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
But before you do any of this, I would still like to know what you
mean by "corrupted beyond repair," how you know that, and be sure that
it needs to be done.