Do I just insert the xp disc & reboot?
205914
The first thing you should do is make sure you have ALL the drivers your computer needs to work!!  i.e. network card, sound card, video card etc...(they may not all be on your windows disk) then when your sure you have everything (very sure),Pop in a windows start up disk (Floppy A type) restart your comp. After a min. or so you will have some options appear, Select..[Start computer without CD-rom support.]After some time you will see a command prompt like this..\n\n A:/\n\nmake it look like this..A:/format c:\n\nthen hit enter and follow the prompts, it should take about an hour or so. After its done start your computer with the Floppy disk again and select [Start computer with CD-rom support] it will tell you the letter of your CD rom. If your CD-rom is "E" than make your prompt look likt this...\nA:/E:/setup.\n\n     Good luck\n       -Mark
485485
You should have no problems whatever with current files, accounts, etc.  It is always a good idea to back-up your system on external media (data DVD, CD, External HD, etc...)  \n\nWhatever you do...do not turn off power (power-cycle) your computer while updating...even at the end of the instalation process...you must let it shut-down (it will prompt you at the appropriate time to do this or do it itself) and boot up or XP will no longer work.  It trashes the System32/config files.  you have to repair from the intall CD...and you then may loose the "my documents" portion of your system.  \n\nI don't mean to scare you with doom and gloom, but if you have a system that came with Xp on the HD on a "Secret Partition" then you will need find a viable copy of XP or Buy one...because Microsoft will laugh at you if you call them with this particular problem.
611819
1.  Buy Windows XP Upgrade Edition (recommend Professional, but Home edition is fine).  Pro:\n\nhttp://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=477481/sort_type=bottomline\n\n2. Pop it in your CD drive and boot computer.\n\n3. Follow prompts and answer questions that come up during setup wizard (simple).\n\n\n2b.  If your computer doesn't boot from CD or prompt to hit a key to boot, then you may need to set your CD as a boot drive in BIOS.  If that happens, you'll need additional instructions.  Post here.
302011
yes before formatting u can copy ur boot file that is basically boot.ini present under c: drive. boot ur system with bootable disk and copy that file to d: or e: drive so later u can bring back.\n\nif u dont want to copy then just format ur c: drive and after installing again xp on c: u have to manually enter few lines in boot.ini to recognize ur d: partition operting system.\n\nin both the way u can do so dont think so and go ahead....if facing any problem ping (PM, IM) me and remember frist backup all of ur data on c: before formatting c: drive.\n\ngud luck!!!
415543
Put the XP CD in the drive and boot from it.  Go through the steps to install the operating system.  You will be asked to format the C: drive or leave it.\n\nReference step 10 in http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html\n\nYou can also use a tool like Darik's Boot and Nuke (dban) - which is available as a bootable CD.  It will thoroughly wipe you hard drive making it virtually impossible to recover any data that was once on it.  see: http://dban.sourceforge.net/\n\nLastly, if you don't know how to CORRECTLY burn an ISO image, reference the instructions for your particular burning software here:\nhttp://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm
119631
The best thing to do in this case is for you to reformat like the others have suggested and install a fresh copy of XP but if you have never done this it might throw you at first. With your machine on, stick in your copy of XP in then reboot. Then after it starts to reboot it will ask you "press any key to boot from CD" Press any key at this point and then wait for it to inspect your systems hardware then it will load some common drivers etc. After that it will look to see if you have any previous versions installed. When it shows you those other versions it will ask you if you want to continue installing Windows on this drive or something like that. At this point you want to get rid of the previous versions and any partitions. If you read carefully you can delete any other versions and/ or partitions and then install a fresh copy of XP. Make sure that you have gotten rid of all other OS's and partitions and if you have it will say "to install on this partition press enter" and you should see "new(raw)" and then however many MB's your drive is. At this point press enter and it will ask you "install XP NTFS or install XP NTFS(quick). Use the first one "install XP NTFS" Press enter and it will start to format the drive and then let it install XP and your all set.
135579
Well there are many steps to this. I have done it once before successfully by using the steps on a link I found on http://www.bootdisk.com\nYou can also visit this site for instructions.\nhttp://old.bink.nu/xpbootcd/
667964
What you are doing here is a 'Clean Install', the Windows XP CD is bootable.  Simply start up the computer, instert the CD and it should display the following message:\n\n"Press any key to boot CD"\n\nYou have 5 seconds to press a key, then follow the installation instructions as you go along.\n\nIf you want more information, or you'd rather do it with floppy disks theres more information here:\n\nhttp://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
109314
If you already have Windows XP installed on another hard disk, make it master disk (change the jumper settings). When you boot your PC, it will boot into Windows XP.\n\n\nOtherwise, if you don't care about your data, just insert Windows XP CD (after setting your BIOS to boot from CD) and follow the steps.\n\nIf you have some important data, first take backups (on another hard disk/CDs/tapes etal), and then insert the Windows XP CD and follow steps.\n\nBy the way, why on the earth do you want to install Windows XP? Try Debian GNU/Linux or Ubuntu -- they are the best!
32911
I had a similar (not exact) problem when I installed mine- what I did was put the xp installation disc back in the drive and when it restarted itself- it autoran the cd- I unplugged my computer and manually opened the drive to put it in- when I plugged it back in and turned it back on the disc ran itself and I was able to re-install it.
224606
If you want to start over then just reformat the drive and reinstall Win XP
488494
A clean install is not always necessary, slightly better stability and performance can be expected when XP is installed to a clean hard drive or partition. \n\nIts nothing to do if u want to take the hard drive.
74321
Ok.\n\nYes, truly you'll need the Windows XP CD (w/ Serial Key) or use your computer's recovery CD (DVD) to accomplish the restoration of your Operating System...\n\nHowever, what I am concerned about at this point is the virus that you received. The biggest thing that you should be considering is not how to reinstall XP, but in how are you going to protect your computer from future intrusion. \n\nNorton is the status quo at this point, and Norton Internet Security 2006 is nothing less than awesome... It uses more RAM it seems than the previous versions, but it is loaded with protective measures (incl. anti-spam and anti-spyware filters) that should be considered in this day and age of virus-hobbyists. By no means am I inferring that this is the only program that you should need for protection, but it's a great start. In addition I also use "Lavasoft Adaware Professional" and "Spybot Search and Destroy"--which are both free--to clean up anything that may have gotten through (which isn't common, but I am a freak when it comes to the idea that a company is using bandwidth that I pay for to monitor me and advertise to others...)... \n\nThe firewall that is included with Windows XP, even with the SP2 updates and such always seems to be behind the times with me. Furthermore, I believe that every patch that Windows gives out cripples the operating system more and more. On my computer I haven't updated further than the original SP1 update, and my computer runs without a problem. Of course I use other third-party software for protection against malware, but, again, my computer works without a problem, and I foresee no future issues. \n\nGetting back, before you utterly waste your time with re-installing Windows XP, which will be self explanatory once you insert the CD, you should begin developing a plan of action to keep your computer protected from future problems such as this one... \n\nOh yeah, something else that you might want to consider is going into your system bios and changing your "boot order" to make the CD-rom boot up first. Your system bios is accessible when you first turn your computer on. Amidst all of the seeming jibberish that comes on the screen when you first start your computer (before the "Windows XP" load screen), there should be a message regarding entering system setup/bios/configuration that coincides with pressing a particular key to accomplish it. The most common keys for this is "Del" "F1" "F10" and F2". For my computer, it is Delete or Del... \n\nOnce inside, again, go to each menu until you see something referring to "Boot Sequence" or "Boot Order"... There press the appropriate key to make your CD-Rom the 1st in the order. Otherwise, the computer is not going to allow you to access the Windows XP CD until you are in Windows. From my experience, you can not reinstall windows from inside of windows because of the fact that the system files that you are attempting to uninstall for reinstallation are in use. As I am sure that you've encountered when mistakenly trying to move a file that you are using...it's not going to happen...\n\nOk, that's enough. There is much information and ideas that I could give you regarding this process, but those are the basics. Any further questions, feel free to contact me...\n\nHope that helps...
9675
If you can use the partition, as in start up on it. Then just start the computer.. copy everything you want to a cd-rom, flash-drive, or whatever medium youy plan to use to save contents. \n\nThen boot from the XP disk: to do this, you will have to go into your bios, and change the boot order to check to cd-rom drive first... \n\nWhen the system boots from the disk, it will take you into Windows setup, where you can choose to remove the partition,  format, and install a fresh clean copy.
636754
Totally do-able.  Fred Langa, of InformationWeek, wrote a stepy by step guide to boot from a thumb drive. I know you want to use a external hard drive but the basic procedure is the same.\n\n"Fred Langa offers a step-by-step and illustrated guide on how to boot XP from an ordinary USB drive." --Fred Langa  (http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=177102101)
495614
Hello, \n\nOK there are two ways depending on your situation. If you have one computer and you want to wipe the Hard Disk and do a fresh install of Windows (I just did that two days ago) to get rid of all that annoying junk, slowness and even viruses then the answer is yes. You have to boot from the WinXP Pro CD. When going through the setup process some of the first options you will find are which partition you want to install XP on. At this stage there are options to format the disk. However if you just reinstall Windows you wont need to choose the Format option as the new Windows will not be able to access any of the other files and you will get a completely clean registry. and completely clean Windows.\n\nIf you have two computers and you want to format a Hard Disk of the other computer you can take out the Hard Disk and put it in the other computer as either a slave drive (The next drive in line) or just connect it to the cable where the CDRom Drive is. Disconnecting the CDRom drive. This is the IDE 2 cable. In this case you dont need to boot from a CD you just boot Windows as usual with the OLD disk now connected to the CD cable or the second plug on the cable of your main Hard Disk (slave).  When Windows boots up and you open explorer you will see an extra HD icon you didnt see before if the disk is active (usable). If its not there dont worry yet. Now got to Start > MyComputer and Right click and choose Manage. Choose Disk Management in the Computer Management Console. Youll see Disk 0 your main disk youre running Windows from and then the one you just added. Right click the newly added disk and choose format.\n\nThe second option makes it possible for MB viruses and all kinds of things to jump to your clean Windows install so if its a virus problem or suspect file or security issue, I suggest the first option. But only if everything else has failed completely, like virus scanning, adware and spyware scanning.  And remeber youll have to install software and redo all your settings again. IF and only if you can you can make a settings disk to take to the new Windows install before formatting. Choose, Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Files and setting transfer Wizard and follow the instructions, youll be glad you did later when importing them onto the new windows install is a breeze.\n\nHope this helps in some way.\nCheers
301020
Assuming you have a XP disk.\n\n1. Make a start up disk (floppy)\n2. Boot from start up disk.\n3. At a: prompt type c:\n   If c is your hard drive\n4. At c: type format \n  Depending on the size of your hard drive this operation could take a while, up to 1 hour.\n5.  Now your hard drive is clean.  \n6. Re-boot your PC with start up disk in.\n7. Select CD support oprion.\n8. Insert XP CD. It should start installing by itself.