formatting a hard drive

[Joe]

I am trying to help a friend who has thier computer so
hosed up it will not recognize the modem and other
functions. I said I would format the hard drive for
them. They gave me all of the discs. The problem is
that I cannot get the computer to format. I have done
this with windows 98 but not with Windows XP. Help!

[Clayton]

Just boot from the CD and delete partion and format, should be straight
forward from boot onwards


"Joe" > wrote in message
...
> I am trying to help a friend who has thier computer so
> hosed up it will not recognize the modem and other
> functions. I said I would format the hard drive for
> them. They gave me all of the discs. The problem is
> that I cannot get the computer to format. I have done
> this with windows 98 but not with Windows XP. Help!

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Joe;
Clean Installation:
Disconnect all peripherals (camera, printer, scanner, etc)
Go to BIOS and set CDROM as boot device before hard drive.
Insert Windows XP CD and reboot.
At "Press any key to boot to CDROM" quickly press a key and follow the
prompts for a Clean installation:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp
Delete all partitions in step 5 if you desire to erase all data on the
hard drive.
Partitioning and formatting will be done automatically.
All data will be destroyed, back-up important data first.

After you are finished, you will need to load the appropriate drivers.

If your computer was shipped with Windows XP, these procedures may or
may not apply.
Check your manual or contact the computer manufacturer for more
details.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
http://dts-l.org/index.html


"Joe" > wrote in message
...
> I am trying to help a friend who has thier computer so
> hosed up it will not recognize the modem and other
> functions. I said I would format the hard drive for
> them. They gave me all of the discs. The problem is
> that I cannot get the computer to format. I have done
> this with windows 98 but not with Windows XP. Help!