If you’re having issues with your Windows XP operating system, the best solution may be to format and reinstall it. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to do just that.
Before you begin, make sure you have your Windows XP CD and that it’s loaded in the CD drive. Once you have done that, restart your computer. You should see a message that says “Press any key to boot from CD.” If you do not see this message, you can always press delete or F2, depending on your computer.
Once you get into the BIOS, make sure that your first boot device is the CD-ROM. Then you should be able to see “Boot from CD or DVD” and press ENTER. Once your CD starts, the Windows setup screen will appear, installing all necessary drivers.
Once all the drivers are installed, you will come to the “Welcome to the setup” window. Here, you have three options: “Setup Windows XP,” “Press ENTER to install Windows XP,” and “Press R to repair Windows XP.” Since we are not repairing, we want to reformat. So, press ENTER.
Now you must agree to the terms and conditions by pressing F8. Once you get to the next window, do not press R to repair. You want to reformat, so the best option is to click “Escape” and then click “Don’t Repair.”
You will see the partition NTFS, which is your full hard drive. Do not click “Enter” to install; that’s not the proper way to reformat the hard drive. Instead, press “D” to delete. You’re going to wipe out the entire hard drive, so make sure you have all your information backed up.
Once you press enter, it will ask you if you’re sure you want to delete the system partition. Press ENTER again. Here, you will be asked if you’re sure again. Press “L” as all data will be lost. Make sure you have your system backed up before proceeding.
Your hard drive is now like a brand-new hard drive. From here, you can press “C” to create a custom partition or click on “Enter” to use the full hard drive. If you press “C,” you can create a partition of a specific size. But, if you want to use the full size of your hard drive, just escape out of this section and click “Enter.”
It will then ask you if you want to use the NTFS file system quick or the NTFS file system. If you want to do a proper reformat, you should use the NTFS file system. It will check your hard drive for bad sectors. The NTFS file system quick will not do that. Click “Start” on the NTFS file system.
Once it finishes formatting the hard drive, it will install all necessary system files for the operating system to work. Once that is done, the computer will restart. Make sure that when it restarts, you don’t press Enter when it asks you to boot from CD or DVD.
From here, it’s self-explanatory. All you need to do is select your region, language, type your name, product key, computer name, and then click “Next.” Select your time and time zone, click “Next,” select your workgroup if you have a different one, and click “Next” again.
That’s it! You have now successfully formatted and reinstalled Windows XP. If you have any questions, feel free to email us.