computer peeps...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 30,331
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From: Montréal, Canada
computer peeps...
ok so i will reformat my hard drive. I must say i am not much of a computer geek and so i was wondering if anyone could tell me where I can get a step by step of everything i should do before hand. I have a copy of XP (i lost the original and made this back up...) any help would be cool. Oh i dont really have any important files so real need for backup...
i am legend
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,104
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From: northwest NC
you don't need any step by step instructions if youre doing a complete format. the cd does everything for you, just make sure you have your installation key ready, and when xp asks if you want to upgrade or do a full install do the latter.
Old School Crew
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 5,251
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is it a copy of a real disk, or one your burned from an image... I don't give a shit either way, but it matters - if you burned it yourself and its not a direct copy then you need to make sure you get the xp boot files and yo uwill need to reburn the cd using them and a special method... update me.
IM me if you want more specific help with stuff you can't post here: ManInCamo
do not follow directions IN window when you put the cd in. thats good for an upgrade, not for a reformat.
otherwise, when you restart your PC, with the disk in the drive, it will say "press any key to boot from cd" if you get to a windows load screen that means you missed your mark, restart, try again. if you never see this text prompt, either you need to reburn your cd with the boot files correctly, or you need to go into your BIOS settings and put your cd drive boot ahead of your HD0 boot.
press a key when it says to. from there it will go to a blue screen (not a bad one) and will load some files, and everything you need is available on screen. you will want to delete the old partition, reformat the partition in NTFS format, NOT FAT32 and install XP on that partition you just reformated in NTFS.
its all pretty simple.
IM me if you want more specific help with stuff you can't post here: ManInCamo
do not follow directions IN window when you put the cd in. thats good for an upgrade, not for a reformat.
otherwise, when you restart your PC, with the disk in the drive, it will say "press any key to boot from cd" if you get to a windows load screen that means you missed your mark, restart, try again. if you never see this text prompt, either you need to reburn your cd with the boot files correctly, or you need to go into your BIOS settings and put your cd drive boot ahead of your HD0 boot.
press a key when it says to. from there it will go to a blue screen (not a bad one) and will load some files, and everything you need is available on screen. you will want to delete the old partition, reformat the partition in NTFS format, NOT FAT32 and install XP on that partition you just reformated in NTFS.
its all pretty simple.
Sinner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 6,599
Likes: 0
From: NoVA
Originally Posted by ManInCamo
is it a copy of a real disk, or one your burned from an image... I don't give a shit either way, but it matters - if you burned it yourself and its not a direct copy then you need to make sure you get the xp boot files and yo uwill need to reburn the cd using them and a special method... update me.
IM me if you want more specific help with stuff you can't post here: ManInCamo
do not follow directions IN window when you put the cd in. thats good for an upgrade, not for a reformat.
otherwise, when you restart your PC, with the disk in the drive, it will say "press any key to boot from cd" if you get to a windows load screen that means you missed your mark, restart, try again. if you never see this text prompt, either you need to reburn your cd with the boot files correctly, or you need to go into your BIOS settings and put your cd drive boot ahead of your HD0 boot.
press a key when it says to. from there it will go to a blue screen (not a bad one) and will load some files, and everything you need is available on screen. you will want to delete the old partition, reformat the partition in NTFS format, NOT FAT32 and install XP on that partition you just reformated in NTFS.
its all pretty simple.
IM me if you want more specific help with stuff you can't post here: ManInCamo
do not follow directions IN window when you put the cd in. thats good for an upgrade, not for a reformat.
otherwise, when you restart your PC, with the disk in the drive, it will say "press any key to boot from cd" if you get to a windows load screen that means you missed your mark, restart, try again. if you never see this text prompt, either you need to reburn your cd with the boot files correctly, or you need to go into your BIOS settings and put your cd drive boot ahead of your HD0 boot.
press a key when it says to. from there it will go to a blue screen (not a bad one) and will load some files, and everything you need is available on screen. you will want to delete the old partition, reformat the partition in NTFS format, NOT FAT32 and install XP on that partition you just reformated in NTFS.
its all pretty simple.