neo
December 5th 03, 11:01 PM
You have not screwed up your system, let out a deep
breath. If you are trying to accomplish a full reload
and not just re-intall windows then there are somethings
you need to take into consideration.
Do you have a full version of XP and is it on CD?
(if a downloaded version did you back it off to CD?
If you did not buy XP do you have the manufacturer
restore CD's that allow you to fully reload your system.
(case in point - one of my machines from Compaq came
loaded with XP on a recovery partiton, but no CD's. So
fully wiping my hard drive would have been certain death,
and I would have had to order them from Compaq (at a
price) However they did include a feature to create one
set of restore CD's for my machine. I did this so that I
would have a good copy and not have to purchase them.)
Be sure you know exactly what you have from the
manufacturer is restore CD's and not just driver CD's.
Is all of your data that you want to keep saved to
external media like a CD or other internal hard drive etc?
Do you have all the drivers you need for you machine and
it's devices?
If so then you are ready to begin. If you want to wipe
you hard drive first there are free programs that will
work for such a matter as erasing everything on it before
you begin. One of the programs that I use for low level
erasing is Active@ Killdisk v 2.0. The trial version
will do just fine for your case.
You will have to create a Windows Boot Disk and add two
files from the program to it.
After you erase the drive (all partitions) unless you
have a recovery partition like stated above. Be sure
which you are erasing. Then reload Windows.
Have Fun... and follow the White Rabbit
>-----Original Message-----
>I wanted to rebuild my PC. I tried going through the re-
>installation of Windows XP Professional, and while that
>DID re-install Windows, what I wanted to do is a
complete
>rebuild of the entire system.
>
>So first question is..... Is there any way to do this?
>Like a complete reformat of the hard drive.
>
>Next, if this isn't possible and a re-installation of
the
>OS is all I can do, then how do I clean up my system as
>far as software previously loaded, etc. goes? Because
>now when I go into Add/Remove Software NOTHING appears.
>But if I go into Windows Explorer, I've got all my
>programs etc. there.
>
>Additionally, now when I boot up, it goes to some kind
of
>multiple boot menu, where I get to choose what OS I want
>to use. But both entries say Windows XP Professional.
I
>didn't have multiple boot before and I certainly didn't
>set it up on the re-install.
>
>I think I really screwed up my PC by doing the re-
>install, but now I'm just trying to recover. Any help?
>
>Thanks.
>.
>
breath. If you are trying to accomplish a full reload
and not just re-intall windows then there are somethings
you need to take into consideration.
Do you have a full version of XP and is it on CD?
(if a downloaded version did you back it off to CD?
If you did not buy XP do you have the manufacturer
restore CD's that allow you to fully reload your system.
(case in point - one of my machines from Compaq came
loaded with XP on a recovery partiton, but no CD's. So
fully wiping my hard drive would have been certain death,
and I would have had to order them from Compaq (at a
price) However they did include a feature to create one
set of restore CD's for my machine. I did this so that I
would have a good copy and not have to purchase them.)
Be sure you know exactly what you have from the
manufacturer is restore CD's and not just driver CD's.
Is all of your data that you want to keep saved to
external media like a CD or other internal hard drive etc?
Do you have all the drivers you need for you machine and
it's devices?
If so then you are ready to begin. If you want to wipe
you hard drive first there are free programs that will
work for such a matter as erasing everything on it before
you begin. One of the programs that I use for low level
erasing is Active@ Killdisk v 2.0. The trial version
will do just fine for your case.
You will have to create a Windows Boot Disk and add two
files from the program to it.
After you erase the drive (all partitions) unless you
have a recovery partition like stated above. Be sure
which you are erasing. Then reload Windows.
Have Fun... and follow the White Rabbit
>-----Original Message-----
>I wanted to rebuild my PC. I tried going through the re-
>installation of Windows XP Professional, and while that
>DID re-install Windows, what I wanted to do is a
complete
>rebuild of the entire system.
>
>So first question is..... Is there any way to do this?
>Like a complete reformat of the hard drive.
>
>Next, if this isn't possible and a re-installation of
the
>OS is all I can do, then how do I clean up my system as
>far as software previously loaded, etc. goes? Because
>now when I go into Add/Remove Software NOTHING appears.
>But if I go into Windows Explorer, I've got all my
>programs etc. there.
>
>Additionally, now when I boot up, it goes to some kind
of
>multiple boot menu, where I get to choose what OS I want
>to use. But both entries say Windows XP Professional.
I
>didn't have multiple boot before and I certainly didn't
>set it up on the re-install.
>
>I think I really screwed up my PC by doing the re-
>install, but now I'm just trying to recover. Any help?
>
>Thanks.
>.
>