How do you erase your hard drive and then reinstall windows xp?
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Do you have a branded computer?\n\nI would advise you to contact the dealer for the reinstallation.\n\nYou need to back up the data on the hard drive before you reformat and install windows xp.\n\nMake sure you have the disks of all the other necessary software you may require after the reinstallation.\n\n\nDisconnect all the external devices like an external CD writer, Zip drive (internal also), USB Memory Key, printer, scanner or card readers that may be connected to the system before proceeding with the reinstall procedure.\n\nFirst the system has to be booted through the Windows Xp CD \n\nTo boot from the CD:\n\nEnter the BIOS of the system and change the order of devices used by the system to boot from the CD Drive.\n\nAfter the system boots from the xp disk, follow the onscreen steps to perform the reinstallation.\n\nAfter the reinstallation of the operating system, install the drivers of all the components.\n\nUpdate the system after reinstallation.\n\nI would still advise, if its a branded computer pls refer to its user manual or contact the dealer.\n\nUjjU
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formatt the whole thing and reinstall windows
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If you chose to keep your old Windows installation and the FAT32 file system, you should be able to uninstall Windows XP. Please see "Sources".\n\nIn case you do not have an option to uninstall Windows, back-up all your important files onto CDR/CDRW/DVDR/'another hard disk'/'other forms of memory', (create a boot floppy as described in next paragraph,) format your hard disk, and install the version of Windows you want.\n\nWindows XP's CD is always bootable, so you won't require a boot floppy. I assume it must be the same for 2000, but for 9x, most probably you will need a boot floppy. After you finish backing up, insert a blank floppy and (from within XP) format it as a start-up disk. To format,\n-Open My Computer (in your new XP Start menu).\n-Right-click the floppy drive icon.\n-Select "Format".\n-Put a tick mark in the check box named "Create an MS-DOS startup disk".\n-Click "Start" button (the one in the Format dialog box)\nOnly then should you format your hard disk.\n\nI'm not sure of FAT32 taking up more space, but if you use NT/2000/XP, then it is highly recommended that you try your best in sticking to NTFS. Check out the Sources for some information regarding the two file systems.\n_______\nViva La Dvorak! - www.dvzine.org
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For windows based system>>>\nXP- Start Menu>Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt \nNow write  (format c:) c is the name of the drive, replace with the letter of ur drive that u wan2 format.\n\nWin 98- Start Menu>Programs>Command Prompt or Start ur computer in DOS mode and write the same command as XP\n\n\n\nRemember formatting a drive will erase all data from it.\n\n\nNeo
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You should be able to do one of 2 things :\n\n1] Go into safe mode for windows , to do this keep continuesly pressing F8 before it loads windows then a menu will appear allowing to choose safe mode. From there you can use system restore to restore to an earlier date. If that does not work because you have it disabled or something else then use the expand command to expand it , look here :\n\nhttp://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?act=ST&f=34&t=66521\n\nThe command or commands you can try from that site would be the following :\n\nexpand f:/I386/explorer.ex_ c:/windows/explorer.exe\n\nIf that does not work in safe mode then you need to restart your machine, go into the bios by pressing delete or F2 depending on your machine. Then from there change the boot device priority to cd rom first and then go through the steps as though you are re installing xp but when it gets to asking you what you want to do , Press R to go into the recovery console.\n\nThen Press R to go to the recovery console, if you have a password set for the admins account, you will have to enter that after pressing the number of the installation of xp you want to repair ( generally this will be 1 since you normally only have one OS installed unless you are dual booting )\n\nOnce you are in there do the command stated above in the url with regards to the expand command.\n\nIf that does not work, go back into safe mode after changing the boot order back to the hard drive as the first boot device and when back in safe mode go to start --> run and type\n\nsfc /scannow\n\nmake sure to have the xp disc handy.\n\nIf that does not fix it ( Then i will be surprised lol )\n\nAs a last resort I then suggest a repair install , guide on how to do this can be found here :\n\nhttp://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm\n\nHope this helps\n\nFYI ajabay -if he deleted explorer then windows wont load so how do you expect him to go to start --> control panel etc ??\n\nOnly way around that as far as i can tell would be to press ctrl + alt + delete when it gets to the blue screen and get that to maybe run some commands but im not sure how much that would help, if at all. I doubt it would work to say the least, anyway my above suggestions are all valid ones :)
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Hi,\n\nHere is a step by step guide that will help you out with installing windows Xp.
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If you keep hitting F8 you'll see an option for last know good command. Try it.  You can also rebuild xp without deleting your files. Your start with the xp disk like you are going to install it again, when you get to the install where prompt you'll have the option to re-install.  The re-install will not wipe out your data but you'll have to go through all the windows updates. Good luck
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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.
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Boot off the system CD and reformat your hard drive - multiple pass and zero data. Use Disk Utility. Would take a good amount of time depending on your comps' speed but it will securely erase ur hard drive.\n\nYou will need to re-install the system (since EVERYTHING is erased) then the comp is good to go.
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Important If you follow these steps on a hard disk that is not empty, all the data on that hard disk is permanently deleted. We recommend that you back up your hard disk before you follow these steps.\n\nTo partition and format your hard disk by using the Windows XP Setup program: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer.\n\nNote To start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM (or from the startup disk), your computer must be configured to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive. In some cases, you may have to modify your computer's BIOS settings to set this configuration. For information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive, the DVD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk drive, see the documentation that is included with your computer, or contact the computer manufacturer. \n2. If you are starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do this.\n\nNote If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver.\n\nFor more information about how to use F6 to supply a third-party OEM device driver while the Windows Setup program is running, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: \n314859 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314859/) Limited OEM driver support is available with F6 during Windows XP Setup \nIf you are starting from the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each of the additional disks when you are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert each disk. \n3. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER. \n4. \nNote If you are using the Setup disks (6 bootable disks), the setup will prompt you to instert the Windows XP CD.  \n5. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement. \n6. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC. \n7. All the existing partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition or the unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition. Press D to delete an existing partition, or press C to create a new partition by using unpartitioned space. If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each of the existing partitions that you want to use for the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining unpartitioned space, and then press C to create the new partition.\n\nNote If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition. \n8. Type the size in megabytes (MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition with the maximum size. \n9. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to create additional partitions if you want them. \n10. If you want to install Windows XP, use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER. If you do not want to format the partition and install Windows XP, press F3 two times to quit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining steps. In this case, you must use a different utility to format the partition. \n11. Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER. You have the following options: • Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick) \n• Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick) \n• Format the partition by using the NTFS file
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The next best way to restore your settings is to use the System Restore ability within Windows XP. Go to Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> "System Restore."\nHowever, this will not delete most of the files on your hard drive. If you wish to do the best kind of restore, then you'll need those disks.
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Windows XP users:\n\n1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.\n2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.\n3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.\n4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.\n5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.\n6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.\n\n-----------------------------------\ncopy e:&#92;i386&#92;ntldr c:&#92;\ncopy e:&#92;i386&#92;ntdetect.com c:&#92;\n-----------------------------------\n\n7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.
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at first tell us bout both os...one is xp other??\nif u had windows 98 before then u installed xp  and nowwant to uninstall latter then it's ok\nu open windows 98 then go to control panel(start>settings>) now double click add remove\nclick windows xp and click uninstall or remove\n\nif it's not the answer u r looking for then provide details \nbout no. of primary partition ,drives, os\nasep_sidhi already given u a good advice try that
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Windows XP is a protected operating system which means it usually can't be copied.  If it could be copied, people all over the world would be giving copies to their friends and Microsoft wouldn't be making any money :-)  Having said that, there's a couple of things you can try.\n\nHave you tried doing a custom startup to see if you can "uncorrupt" your system?  At startup,  press the F8 key repeatedly and it will take you to an Advanced Options Menu.  One of the choices will be Last Known Good Configuration.  Use the up/down arrows to highlight it and press enter.  It will try to boot XP using the last hardware configuration that actually worked. If this fails you can again access the Advanced Options Menu. This time highlight Safe Mode and see if you can use a System Restore Point that will return your machine to a time in the past before the corruption occurred. (Click start > help and support > system restore > restore my computer to an earlier time > next > follow prompts.) I'd scroll throught the calendar and pick the earliest restore point you see (maybe in a previous month.)  And if this doesn't help, you can try looking through your system files and recovery disk for XP setup.exe.\n\nIf you can access safe mode, try to run a full system search for something called an i386 file. This file (if it's on your computer hard drive) will be at least 200MB, probably closer to 500MB and is an exact copy of the Windows XP operating system.  If you have it, you can use it to reinstall XP. If it's on your hard drive you'd have to copy it to a separate disk because any formatting of the hard drive erases everything, including the i386. So I'd try an advanced search.\nClick start > search > all files and folders.\nType in i386 in the all or part of file name box.\nLook In: My Computer (using drop down arrow.)\nClick on More Advanced Options.\nCheck mark Search System Folders, Hidden Files and Folders and Subfolders. Uncheck the last 2 items.\nRun the search. You might find some i386 files that are 50MB or so but the one you need will be at least a couple hundred MB.  This article gives a bit more info about the i386 file:\n\nhttp://ask-leo.com/so_just_what_is_the_i386_directory_anyway.html\n\nFinally, if you can't find the i386 on the hard drive, I'd put your recovery CD in the reader and look for the i386 on it.  If you find it, the i386 should contain a setup.exe file that should get you going again, or you might find an XP setup.exe file all by itself. But no guarantees.  Hope this helps and good luck.\n\nplrr
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Are you sure you want to erace your entire hard drive?\nSUGGESTION I\n1. Go to My Computer.\n2. Right-Click on the drive that you want to delete.\n3. Click Format.\n4. Check Quick Format.\n5. Click Start.\nI dont think this will work so do this\nSUGGESTION II\n1. Buy a Hard Drive \n2. Replace them
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Do not delete the C drive. Use this drive to store files.\n\nIf you want you can reinstall XP, but that is a different situation.
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If your computer is a major brand it should have came with a restore  CD. If it did not then you would need to follow theses steps.\n1. Make sure you have drivers for all of your hardware before you start.\n2. Make sure you have a good copy of your operating system, if it is XP you may have to call Microsoft to get it validated.\n3. Go Online and get a Windows 98 Boot disk, boot your computer and type format c: and then hit yes and that will delete your files on the hard drive.\n4. Removed the floppy disk, place your operating system CD in and reboot and that will reinstall your system.\n5. Do lots of research and ask a computer friend for help before you attempt this for the first time