Reinstalling Windows XP

[Ray]

Hi
I have to format and reinstall Windows Xp on a computer. It is riddled with worms and viruses (my grandson's). I have done this on Win95, WinMe many times but never on XP. Someone told me that I have to turn off my System Restore before doing the format....is this true? If so I will have to figure out a way to get to the System Restore Feature as the computer doesn't do much at all....

 

[mstech316]

to answer our answer you don't have to if you are going to basically reformat the drive to install winxp. when you format the hard drive you destroy all the data on the drive all the files including system restore etc. just make sure you try to backup anything that you can't replace like doc and mp3's etc before you do the reformat. best way is to make the bios boot from xp install cd and when prompted reformat the drive to either fat32 or ntfs... hope this helps if you need a guide goto www.bootdisk.com they have a manual on how to install xp

I have removed your e-mail address. This is because, it`s not a good idea to display your e-mail address on a public forum. Unless you like spam lol.

 

[Ray]

Hi mstech316

This is what has happened so far:
I was under the understanding that all you did was put the XP disc in the DVD and reboot and then I select DVD as the 1st boot device and then it boots from the XP cd and then I get the Windows Setup screen and then I select clean install and then it loaded all the drivers and files needed to do this and then it gives me an agreement screen and you answer I Agree F8 or I do not agree "Esc".......easy eh........So I hit F8 and nothing happens it just stays like that forever...waited 10 minutes (twice)....but then I decide to hit 'Esc" and that works so it's back to where I started.

 

[Tedster]

your computer should load directly off the CD. viruses and such should affect the installation process because the OS hasn't loaded.

 

[Ray]

Then why is it stalling when I hit the F8 key to accept the microsoft agreement? Is there a work around for this?

 

[Tedster]

is yours a legit copy?

 

[Samstoned]

to answer our answer you don't have to if you are going to basically reformat the drive to install winxp. when you format the hard drive you destroy all the data on the drive all the files including system restore etc.

I have removed your e-mail address. This is because, it`s not a good idea to display your e-mail address on a public forum. Unless you like spam lol.

it does not destroy the data on the drive
the formatting that you will be doing just writes a sector to disc the disc has no data and acts like an empty disc
the data is still on it
if you have a virus and are trying to reinstall the virus may lock the process
you need to get a 0 wipe utlity and write 0's to the whole drive this will erase all data on drive even the virus can't stop it.

and knitting and knitting

 

[Vigilante]

And you can do the "0"s wipe with this handy CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Download the ISO, burn it to CD, boot off the CD, and in one of the hard drive tools screens, you'll have the option to zero out the drive.

As for the stalling, maybe it's hdd related, because I think after accepting the license, it goes to the screen to select a partition. So the hdd could be an issue.
But also, if you have SATA hard drive, you need to load the driver for it from a floppy. You see this option when setup first starts it says "press F6..." at the bottom. If you have SATA and a driver floppy, you need to press F6 here to load it. If you have IDE, never mind.