I Was Wondering If Anyone Could Give Me Info On Removing Everything From My Computer So That I Can Reinstall My Operating System And Start From Scratch. My Computer Is Full Of Viruses. I Had A Friend Do This For Me Before, I Know He Went Into Dos To Do It, But I Don't Know A Lot About Computers, Is This Hard To Do? Any Help Would Be Appreciated.
Clearing Computer
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mighty_chick
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no he wants a step by step. actually i would like to know this too because i dont knwo how, everytime i do i write over the previous partition..
Kage
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This is simple as long as it works:
Put the windows disc in at bootup, and follow the steps, simply selecting to format the drive before it rewrites it
if you can't do it this way, I can tell you how to do it using a floppy disc if you have one, to format it before placing the operating system on. Its good to know anyway. i made a post on it
Put the windows disc in at bootup, and follow the steps, simply selecting to format the drive before it rewrites it
if you can't do it this way, I can tell you how to do it using a floppy disc if you have one, to format it before placing the operating system on. Its good to know anyway. i made a post on it
mighty_chick
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no no no kage thats what i do but i rewrites over the previous partitions. theres a different way
Kage
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re-posted: Its if you have WinXp or anything above Windows ME where you can't create a startup disc any other way:
FIRST STEP:
Put a floppy disc into the floppy drive, go to my computer and right click the A: drive (the floppy drive) and go to format. Format the disc. (follow the instructions below to get it to have it as a bootup option before the hard drive after setting it up)
CREATING A BOOTDISC
Go to http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and download the XP quick quick boot disc and unzip them using the windows unzipper. Then place these onto the floppy disk. I you have any other windows versions, download the appropiate one.
Restart the system, but now you'll have to make sure that it is set to see the floppy drive first
SETTING UP BIOS TO BOOT FROM FLOPPY
Go into bios (usually by pressing del at bootup). Make sure that in the first menu i think, the first boot device is set to the floppy drive, the second to maybe the cd rom drive, and the 3rd to the hard drive.
Now save and exit
FINAL STEPS
You are now set. It will notice the floppy disc in the drive and start to boot it because those files make it a boot disc. After all the loading you'll be left with this flashing on the screen
A:\
Type this to access the C drive:
cd:\
Now it should create a new line saying C:\ (or your main drive with windows on it)
Type this after it:
format c:\ (or the drive letter your windows is installed on, most likely C)
it will say, are you sure? you type 'y'
It will now do it, and after it has finished, you'll be able to place the win xp disc in and install it
Hope this works (Sorry about the long post, i'm sure it's worth my time though )
FIRST STEP:
Put a floppy disc into the floppy drive, go to my computer and right click the A: drive (the floppy drive) and go to format. Format the disc. (follow the instructions below to get it to have it as a bootup option before the hard drive after setting it up)
CREATING A BOOTDISC
Go to http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and download the XP quick quick boot disc and unzip them using the windows unzipper. Then place these onto the floppy disk. I you have any other windows versions, download the appropiate one.
Restart the system, but now you'll have to make sure that it is set to see the floppy drive first
SETTING UP BIOS TO BOOT FROM FLOPPY
Go into bios (usually by pressing del at bootup). Make sure that in the first menu i think, the first boot device is set to the floppy drive, the second to maybe the cd rom drive, and the 3rd to the hard drive.
Now save and exit
FINAL STEPS
You are now set. It will notice the floppy disc in the drive and start to boot it because those files make it a boot disc. After all the loading you'll be left with this flashing on the screen
A:\
Type this to access the C drive:
cd:\
Now it should create a new line saying C:\ (or your main drive with windows on it)
Type this after it:
format c:\ (or the drive letter your windows is installed on, most likely C)
it will say, are you sure? you type 'y'
It will now do it, and after it has finished, you'll be able to place the win xp disc in and install it
Hope this works (Sorry about the long post, i'm sure it's worth my time though
)you can download a floppy boot files here http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm just save it to a:\ leave dik in reboot at the A;\ PROMPT TYPE A:\FORMAT C:\ ENTER AND WATCH IT DO ITSN JOB. place xp disk in cdrom reboot follw on sceen instuction.
partition magic springs to mind here kage to save time
still the best software for the job i think but not for a first time reinstall
partition magic springs to mind here kage to save time
still the best software for the job i think but not for a first time reinstall
