Best way to reformat?

danceMB

danceMB

danceMB

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Im going to be jumping into reformatting my drive after about 2 years as no matter how many optimisation programs I have it doesnt cut it. I wonder how the best way is to reformat with Windows XP Home?

As I understand you cant completly uninstall everything anymore? If I do manage to uninstall, will I have any problems with using the CD, as in will the system detect I have a CD drive? And also will I need a different keyboard to install Windows, seeing as its a Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse. :confused:
 
As I understand it you simply make sure the pc uses the cd rom as the first boot devise, put your windows cd into the drive then reboot the pc.

It will then ask if you want to reinstall windows and other options.
Then window installs and you get the basic drivers, not sure if it will recognise bluetooth though so have a traditional mouse and keyboard handy.
 
Boot off the XP cd and that gives you an option to Format. No idea on the bluetooth keyboard, but you'll soon see once you reboot and give it a go.

Just make sure you've backed up everything you need first!!
 
Hi,

As said before boot of the XP disc and then i would personally delete the partition as it then gets rid of everything, otherwise just choose to reformat the HDD.

Also I wouldn't think you keyboard will work as when i have done this my USB one's don't work so I would think yours wouldn't as i assume the bluetooth comes from a usb device?
 
i've had it work with usb keyboards (considering they work in the bios they should work in an xp installer!)

Never tried a blue tooth one but I would assume it would work
 
Yes, it is from a USB device, but I suspect that I will need to get the other keyboard out of the garage otherwise I wont be able to enter the CD-Key in Windows installer during the re-install.

So your saying that if I change the 1st boot device to CD, and have the Windows CD in the drive, it will then say from there that I can reformat the HDD? If so then it is easier than I suspected it would be :)
 
What would nlite do for me? Having a look it seems that it lets you remove certain components of windows xp, unless I am wrong?
 
You could do all manner of things before you install Windows to make life easier, i.e. build an unnattended install CD with all the drivers, SP2 and post-SP2 patches slipstreamed into it, but it's not a 5 minute job.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a particularly difficult task, and if you regularly have to install Windows it's an absolute must, but if you only want to reformat a hard disk then yeah, boot off the CD and follow the instructions...
 
I dont really like reformatting the hard drive, but its been such a long time since I did it last, and think that since then there is a lot of crap that has built up on the drive. The next time I get a new fresh Windows install after this will be when I get a new hard drive IMO.

How often do you recommend I do a fresh installation of Windows to keep it all in good condition?
 
There's no set guideline as to how often you should reinstall. Most people seem to mess things up after just a few months and then reinstall. I haven't reinstalled since Feburary 2002 and my machine still runs perfectly fine.

I'd advise against using nLite or another type of slipstreamed disk (bar an official SP1/SP2 Microsoft one). You only need to use those types of disks if you really do mess up on a regular basis. Plus it is more rewarding for you to install everything manually - seeings as you've not done it before?
 
I remember the last time I re-installed it was a bit of a nightmare because the CD drive was not detected and had to get cd drivers on a floppy disk, but I think that was with a version before Windows XP, so it looks like with XP they have made reinstalling everything much more easier?
 
danceMB said:
I remember the last time I re-installed it was a bit of a nightmare because the CD drive was not detected and had to get cd drivers on a floppy disk, but I think that was with a version before Windows XP, so it looks like with XP they have made reinstalling everything much more easier?
Click to expand...
I'd guess your boot order was setup wrong rather than your CD drive being incompatible. CD drives use what is called ATAPI - a standard protocol which means any OS can talk to any CD drive, at least in compatibility mode. CD drives have been ATAPI compatible for over a decade.
 
I think the last time I reformatted the hard drive was with either Windows 2000 or Windows ME. When I got to DOS mode after wiping the drive of everything it didnt detect a CD drive, but hopefully with Windows XP after uninstalling everything reinstalling it direct from CD shouldnt be a problem.
 
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