How to do a clean reinstall of XP?

L

lisaleese

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Hi there :)

I have a Dell that I just got two weeks ago and ever since I've had some weird hiccups and while using my computer. I'd like to do a complete format and reinstall. How do I do this?

1. Do I just format c: the whole thing from a DOS prompt?
2. After that, do I just pop in the XP CD Dell sent to me and reboot from that?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I'd check with Dell 1st, they do some funny things with there Pcs, and dont always give you CDs of everything thats installed.

If its only afew weeks old, you can quite easily ask for a replacement or engineer to come fix it (depending on your garantee)

But if you know wyou have the software on CD, then yes.. goto the BIOS, and set the CD-ROM drive as the 1st boot device, pop in the XP cd and reboot.

When the install starts click install and you will be prompted to pick re-install or repair, pick reinstall/clean install.
 
whatever it is.... you can't format c: from dos.... since dos only recognizes FAT32 partition... your c: is most probably in NTFS... the easiest way to wipe out the partition is using fdisk utiliy. then you can do a clean installation using whatever you have.... i'd recommend installing xp pro retail version rather than using the cd Dell gave you...
 
lisa,

how knowledgable are you on computers and software? a complete reformat and install isnt for the average person. as l0gout said, you'd want to use a bootdisk and to use the fdisk utility. i hope at this point, you have everything that you want/need backed up on disc. if your drive is fat32, then once in fdisk, you'd just want to delete your primary partition. if your drive is NTFS, then you'll want to delete the non-dos partition.

from this point, all you have to do is make your cd-rom the first bootable device through the bios and then leave the xp disk in the cd-rom, boot up your computer and it should load the xp setup automatically. if you connect to the inet using a dhcp enabled connection, you dont have to worry. but i'd save your network settings otherwise.
 

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