I want to format

E

exabyte

New Member
I am not an expert.But I do have nearly 4 years of experience when it comes to using computers.
I have witnessed my pc being formatted a few times ,in front of my eyes, before.
But I still can't format my hard drives!Actually i never tried it.
This kinda bugs me coz i don't think it is such a big deal or that difficult.
I believe formatting is something that every computer user should know.

I have been facing certain problems with my pc for quite some time now.
For this ,I wanna format it.
I have this new XP professional CD at home and also this linux ubuntu version 5.10 CD ,which is left unused for ages now.
I wanna use them.I have already started backing up my files.
These are the main reasons I wanna format .but alll the experts i know are kinda busy and i don't wanna call any of them coz i wanna i try it myself.

I think I know almost all of my drivers.(but still not completely sure about some).
Please teach me how to format.
Tell me the steps in simple ways so that i don't mess up.And my comp. works perfectly as it is now after that.

I will be greatful if i get any help.Thanks.
 
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Well the simplest way to format is to use that feature of the XP installation wizard. You can choose there to wipe the hard drive, after which it installs a fresh copy. You have the CD, I assume you have the installation key as well.

The best thing to do would be to create the two partitions needed for linux and Windows whilst installing Windows and doing the reformat, then get Windows up and running before proceding to linux.

It's good that you're backing up your files, that's a must. As far as drivers are concerned, a lot of drivers you'll be able to download if nessecary, the important things are having the motherboard driver disk, for sound and ethernet etc., and a firewall to install before going online. The drivers you'd need besides the mobo ones are graphics, PCI expansion cards, and some peripherals eg. printers.

There's plenty of good guides on the internet on the actual process of reinstalling Windows, the first steps are basically to alter the BIOS to make the CD drive the first boot device by pressing Del at bootup, then popping in the CD and following the instructions. It's pretty foolproof.
 
magicman said:
Well the simplest way to format is to use that feature of the XP installation wizard. You can choose there to wipe the hard drive, after which it installs a fresh copy. You have the CD, I assume you have the installation key as well.

The best thing to do would be to create the two partitions needed for linux and Windows whilst installing Windows and doing the reformat, then get Windows up and running before proceding to linux.

It's good that you're backing up your files, that's a must. As far as drivers are concerned, a lot of drivers you'll be able to download if nessecary, the important things are having the motherboard driver disk, for sound and ethernet etc., and a firewall to install before going online. The drivers you'd need besides the mobo ones are graphics, PCI expansion cards, and some peripherals eg. printers.

There's plenty of good guides on the internet on the actual process of reinstalling Windows, the first steps are basically to alter the BIOS to make the CD drive the first boot device by pressing Del at bootup, then popping in the CD and following the instructions. It's pretty foolproof.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for responding.Sorry for late reply.

Some questions:
1>i have a fresh CD,meaning a new 1,where to I get the install key?
Is it written in the booklet that came with it?exactly where to look for it?

2>how do i create 2 partitions?

3>when i install the drivers,do i need to anything with the device manager section or system section?
 
1. If you bought the CD, the key should have come supplied. With OEM disks, you are provided with a key that looks like this:
key.jpg

I have never bought an off-the-shelf version but I imagine it shouldn't be hard to find in the package contents. If you honestly don't have a key that's 25 alphanumeric digits in groups of five, then your only option is to call Microsoft and buy a new one. The key is more important than the disk; the disks are all identical.

2. As I hinted to, partitioning can be done in Windows setup. This website's quite a good guide. The important points to remember is to delete the existing partition, create two partitions to fill up the disk (see here), then select one to install Windows onto.

3. Most drivers install like programs, but it's best to check the device manager after you've installed everything to see if anything's got a yellow question mark by it, meaning its driver's not installed.
 
I could not find any installation key in my CD pack.
It came with a booklet but it was not written there.

So we had to ask the guy who gave this new CD to us.
I am glad that i know the key now

I am actually thinking about delaying my format attempt for now as i need to do some work in my pc.I will ask later if i have any more questions before reinstalling.

Anyway i am very thankful to both of you for your help and suggestions.
1 last question though.
can i just format just 1 drive and yet use partitions?(i mean incase i want the other drive to store my data)
 
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