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Want to reformat/reinstall Windows XP Pro...

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Gregory_WE

Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Well I was infected by the Nimda worm during the 30 minutes I had my router disconnected from my cable modem, and also my system is getting kinda cluttered up so I want to clean it all up.

I've already put everything I still want (music, application installers, etc.) on my CDRW, so I'm all set in that department.

What I'm wondering is if I reformat the computer by actually whiping the entire thing out (I believe I do this by right clicking on the C:\ and going to format?), is will I be able to register my Windows XP Pro again? I know that when I first installed it I had to register it or else it would stop working in 30 days or something (not sure if it's a real threat or if it's empty). So I want to be sure before I do it. I haven't found any options on the XP Pro CD to reformat it. It will let you reinstall windows but that doesn't clean out the HD or anything.

I've always just had a system restore disc provided by the system manufacturer but since I built this one and I've never reformatted on XP, I want to be careful.
 
First of all, you cannot format the C drive in Windows if Windows resides on it. Therefore, you'll need to insert your disk into the CD ROM and set the BIOS to boot from CD. Work your way through the menus and such and it will give you options as to where you want to install. Do not install over your existing installation or repair it. Make a new installation. Delete teh existing partition by typing d followed by l and then create a new one by typing c. When you're done, do a format (no optional) but don't do the quick format, do the entire format thing. Then just point and click. And you will be able to re-register your XP. You can do it up to 10 times I think.

Z
 
Ok so you delete it then install the OS and then you get an option to reformat?

Or you delete, reformat, then install OS?

Thought it was the second one but from reading your post it sounds like the first unless I'm misunderstanding it.
 
It is the second one, and the installer follows it exactly. Delete the partition, create a new one, format it, install the OS. All of it is done through the XP CD's installer.

Very simple, self explanatory, and point and click basically.

Good Luck

Z
 
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