Reformat and install XP

ok, i'll give it a try. --thanks
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In news Happy typed:

I don't think I have other boot Cd's


If I were you, I'd try to borrow one from a friend. That will let you find
out if the problem is with the CD or the drive.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In ,
Happy typed:

Yes, I did. It says "cannot boot from Cd, error 5,' or something to
that effect.

That sounds like there's something wrong with the CD you're trying
to boot from. Have you tried other bootable CDs?


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In ,
Happy typed:

Won't boot from CD,


Have you set the BIOS boot order for the CD drive to be first?

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


and the message I get is "load needed DLLs for
kernel" "Ken Blake" wrote in
message ...
In ,
Happy typed:

How do I reformat & re-install XP? I can't seem to get past the
sys configuration files at the beginning, after experiencing
some problems. I don't mind losing existing data, it's all
backed up.


You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since
that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions he
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view,
it's almost always a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should
never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other
version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines
here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
anything more than an occasional minor problem. It's my belief
that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
"reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and
it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill
that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
application updates,you have to locate and install all the
needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows
and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that
Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far
between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified
person have failed. If you have problems, post them here; it's
likely that someone can
help you and a reinstallation won't be required.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

I borrowed a couple of boot cd's, tried them, same problem
"Happy" wrote in message
...
ok, i'll give it a try. --thanks
"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In news Happy typed:

I don't think I have other boot Cd's


If I were you, I'd try to borrow one from a friend. That will let you
find out if the problem is with the CD or the drive.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In ,
Happy typed:

Yes, I did. It says "cannot boot from Cd, error 5,' or something to
that effect.

That sounds like there's something wrong with the CD you're trying
to boot from. Have you tried other bootable CDs?


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In ,
Happy typed:

Won't boot from CD,


Have you set the BIOS boot order for the CD drive to be first?

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


and the message I get is "load needed DLLs for
kernel" "Ken Blake" wrote in
message ...
In ,
Happy typed:

How do I reformat & re-install XP? I can't seem to get past the
sys configuration files at the beginning, after experiencing
some problems. I don't mind losing existing data, it's all
backed up.


You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since
that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions he
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view,
it's almost always a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should
never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other
version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines
here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
anything more than an occasional minor problem. It's my belief
that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
"reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and
it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill
that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
application updates,you have to locate and install all the
needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows
and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that
Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far
between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified
person have failed. If you have problems, post them here; it's
likely that someone can
help you and a reinstallation won't be required.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup