bigballer044 Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 i need to know how to reinstall windows xp. i have reinstalled after it crashed before and i have all the cd's. i just need to know how to get rid of the existing files and stuff on the computer. i want to totally reinstall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Go into your BIOS and set your CD drive as first boot drive, save and exit. Insert XP disk, turn off and restart PC it will boot from the disk. Let it install files then choose clean install and it will format the hard drive then install on a clean drive. Twice during the install your machine will reboot and you will see the meassage on screen 'Press any key to boot from disk' Do NOT touch the keys, or it will end up in an endless loop of booting. Just leave it alone and it will carry on taking info from the drive.Once you have finished go back into BIOS and set your hard drive as first boot, save and exit.. It will come back to you as you see it on screen but its all easy to follow. Good luck. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigballer044 Posted September 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 BIOS is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Djohn's answer is very sound, of course, but I differ in one very small respect when installing XP.When I'm setting up the BIOS to boot from CD, I also ensure that the hard drive is second boot device. That way there is no need to go into the BIOS again after the install as, provided there is no bootable CD in the optical drive, it will look to boot from the next device on its list - the hard drive.Small point but this can be a convenience if you need to boot from CD in an emergency such as a re-install from an Acronis (or similar) backup which uses its own boot CD or if you want to use another operating system (Linux type) that runs from CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigballer044 Posted September 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 im trying to say what is BIOS and where is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 It's the first thing that happens when you switch on your computer. Usually if you press the Del key just after switching on then that will give you access to BIOS (basic input/output system) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 16, 2006 Report Share Posted September 16, 2006 Sorry, your question and my post were done at almost the same time and I missed it.As doug says you access the BIOS by tapping (usually) the delete key as the computer starts up.It would be better if you could consult the motherboard manual for the details of your BIOS as they vary slightly maker to maker and model to model. Do you have the manual or do you know the motherboard maker/model number?One thing has occurred to me - do you have a "real" XP disk or is it some kind of recovery system that came with the machine? If the latter, it may be that you cannot carry out a full re-install. It would be a help if you could give some more details of your machine and what disks you have to help re-install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaZ Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 i always fdisk my HDD{s) first. Just because i can and it restors it to factory settings, then i install windows. I also use [KillDisk] which is a low level format hard-drive eraser and this will ensure all your old stuff is GONE.... but thats just me, normal people dont need to do it this way.. lol.Thankyou... [NaZ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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