Comments for How do I reformat and reinstall Windows?

Comment from Mr Burt Tyrell on 2012-01-11

2012-01-12T02:21:48Z

Dear Leo i do not understand Partition is this a seperate part of the disk which will contain the O.S is it really needed ?
Thank you for your excellent article , You are the best Regards Burt

A single physical hard disk can hold one or more partitions which then look like separate disk drives to Windows. You need at least one, but whether you need more depends on you and how you want to configure and use your machine.

13-Jan-2012

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Comment from Carmen R on 2011-06-14

2011-06-15T01:36:34Z

Thank you Leo
(1) for the helpful answer (2) for constantly reminding us to back up our data in SOME way
I wanted to share a bit about my experience in case it helps someone else, and ask a question...

On April 1st, for some reason (virus?), I was not able to boot Windows XP after a restart--I would get my DELL screen, then my computer would hang on a black screen with just a blinking cursor on the top left. My only options were to hit F2 or F12 before the blank screen, so I eventually decided to re-install Windows using my Dell XP Reinstallation CD. I couldn't even get a DOS prompt, so to avoid getting stuck on the blank screen, I changed the boot sequence to boot from the CD first. From there, I was able to follow the directions in your article.

Question: When I got to the part where I had to delete the drive, I had four items to choose from, and wasn't sure if I should delete all of them. In your article, it says, "Click on the drive that you want to install to and press 'D'." What if there is more than one available drive or partition? How do I know which one to delete? I think I saw drives C, E, and F, (one said "[FAT 32]"). I figured I had nothing to lose, so I reluctantly deleted all of them except for the unpartitioned space. From my description, can you tell me why I had those additional partitions that are not on your screen shots? Was it a bad idea to delete them all, or is that what I was supposed to do?

Fortunately, my computer is running again. The bad news is that I wiped out everything--it was strange to see the ADD/REMOVE programs empty!--but since I had made copies of my personal files, it was actually nice to have a fresh start for my old computer and to be able to add only the programs I wanted.

Anyway, thanks to your constant reminders, I did not permanently lose my files, emails, and projects, and I was able to bring my computer back to life by myself! I read through several solutions online, but it was your explanation and screen shots that made the most sense to me and made me feel comfortable that I was on the right track. Thanks again!

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Comment from JanetC on 2011-01-15

2011-01-15T18:28:18Z

Thanks Leo. I have a question though. On the computer I want to reformat and reinstall XP, the disc drive doesn't work. Can I copy the installation CDs onto an external drive and follow the above instructions from there? Can I boot from the external drive? And I assume that the drive's installation files would be deleted from the main hard drive... but I'm not sure what effect this would have.
Thanks for your help!

Unfortunately That typically won't work - just copying the CD to an external drive doesn't make it bootable. My honest recommendation is that you replace the CD ROM drive, or get an inexpensive USB CD-ROM drive to boot from.

16-Jan-2011

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Comment from MarieJ on 2010-04-14

2010-04-14T15:58:49Z

Before reading this (section for reinstalling XP), I completed the steps up to pressing "L" to delete the largest partition in my hard-drive. After that I DID NOT partition again, but instead pressed ENTER to set up Windows on that now unpartitioned space. I did a format using the NTFS file system... the formatting proceeded and once it hit 100%, the message came up that "Windows could not complete the format"...After that I had to get out of the setup. I saw that two partitions were created in the hard drive during the formatting attempt... I tried again, but then a message came up that "Windows Set-up cannot find hard drive", hard drive can be damaged, check connection to computer etc..
now I don't know what to do... help.

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Comment from JGen on 2010-04-02

2010-04-02T20:12:02Z

I was infected by the trojan generic downloader.z and about 5 others during a Mcafee update last week (no browser open), and it took us all day Saturday to reformat and reinstall Windows XP from disc. It would not boot from disc, but did after we pressed the F12 key. I updated gradually to service pack 3, but had no sound. I'm no expert and just learn as I go along, so it took me 2 days to figure out what I needed to do. Yes, it is easy to "download drivers by inputting the Dell Service Tag at support.dell.com", but it helps if you first look at what you need to download by looking in the device manager. It was also important in my case to download and install the 'Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility' FIRST before downloading any drivers. I only found this out by lots of google searching, and reading the tech help forums, as I think Dell will only tell you this, if you pay for their tech. support. I now have MalwareBytes and have to figure out what other security I need as I don't trust McAfee any more.

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Comment from beth on 2010-01-08

2010-01-09T04:17:39Z

leo, I am do not know alot about computers I have a problem with my desktop and im not sure how to go about fixing it... It wont let me past the sign in screen I think my computer may have crashed but im not sure what to do from there .... I have a windows xp disk but I dont know how to run it or anything can you help me out?

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Comment from Dave on 2009-11-12

2009-11-12T23:48:38Z

Hi, Leo.

Any idea why I cannot select F8 to accept the End User License Agreement in step two above for Windows XP? My computer allows the page scroll buttons and the ESC button to work, but not F8 for some reason. Thanks!

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Comment from Joe on 2009-10-29

2009-10-29T18:29:30Z

Thanks for the info Leo.

One question (or maybe more); I have Vista and want to install 7, but want to start with a clean hard drive. I know there are issues with this and I've gone to the various websites, but my main question is, how can I reformat my hard drive into 'x' partitions so I can keep the OS on it's own and have everything else on another? I have a 250GB (C:) and a 500GB (D:) hard drive (in addition to a 2TB external) and would like to:

Wipe both internal drives clean
Partition the existing C: as 50GB (for the OS) and 200GB for programs.

So in the end I�d have:

C: - 50GB
D: - 200GB
E � 500GB

I used to use a floppy disk and Fdisk my way through, but I don't have a floppy drive and truthfully don't remember how I did it when I went from XP to Vista (I did reformat).

Is it possible to reformat so I'm working with a clean hard drive? I'd hate to load 7 onto a drive that has had 2+ years to collect junk! Is it as simple as doing a clean (custom) install? Will that let me reformat before I load the OS?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Joe

In the advanced drive options above, as part of the Windows 7 clean install, you can use delete/new/extend to remove and create partitions as you want.

30-Oct-2009

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Comment from David Wanyiri on 2009-10-28

2009-10-28T07:31:06Z

I always find great help everytime I open this site.
Yes this is the right way that I have been using to Format and Install Windows

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Comment from Lee Nelson Guptill on 2009-10-27

2009-10-27T17:07:15Z

Yes, great info, but how, how, how do you reformat Windows 95????

It's been years since I've had to, but it's the same basic process as XP, only using the Windows 95 installation media.

28-Oct-2009

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Comment from Johnson Chacko on 2009-10-23

2009-10-24T04:29:33Z

Dear Leo,

I have been trying to install Windows Vista on my Intel 3.00 GHz, 1 MB RAM PC, but I was getting an error while installing it. Is my PC compatible for the said installation. Why that does not work on Pentium IV PC while other OS works?

Can't help without knowing the error message.

24-Oct-2009

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Comment from Johnson Chacko on 2009-10-23

2009-10-24T04:25:27Z

Dear Leo,
I am having a PC Intel 3.00 GHz, 1 MB RAM, 40 GB + 120 GB harddisks, 512 MB Nivida AGP Card. Whenevr I install Windows XP SP2 (Genuine) I do have any problems. But when I update it automaticlaly to Windows XP SP3 and Internet explorer 8, my PC goes very slow. What could be wrong? Should I have to keep XP SP2 as it is or should I have to update it every often through automatic update option including with critical security updates?

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Comment from yasmin on 2009-10-23

2009-10-24T02:57:24Z

i never formatting laptop before and these articles really helpful. but it seems formatting the XP version is quite complicated..

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Comment from Kabir on 2009-10-21

2009-10-22T05:03:30Z

the instructions are helpful , this is the first time i read some thing interesting on Leo, i am excited

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Comment from faizul on 2009-10-21

2009-10-22T00:07:50Z

how can i repair if bios corrupt

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Comment from Charles Tilley on 2009-10-21

2009-10-21T07:23:55Z

If you need your key prior to doing the above, all you have to do is download and run Belarc Advisor, and it gives you all of your licenses and all programs, updates, etc. But if you have more than one OS on a disc (as I do), then you need to run it on both partitions.

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Comment from Ralph on 2009-10-20

2009-10-20T13:33:11Z

Great job with the screenshots Leo. Answering TommyZ's question: After the Windows version is reinstalled, XP SP2 or higher will prompt you to start downloading updates and they come down in the order that is needed--sometimes immediately prompting for XP SP3 for example. And don't forget the hardware drivers! Some folks use a driver backup tool before reformatting, but on Dell PCs the process is much easier, either through the Driver CD included with the PC or by downloading drivers by inputting the Dell Service Tag at support.dell.com. Hope that helps!
Ralph

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Comment from TommyZ on 2009-10-20

2009-10-20T12:24:51Z

When this is completed how do you get all the updates needed? There must be hundreds and is there a specfic order to install them?

Make sure you're behind a router or some other kind of firewall, connect to the internet, and simply visit Windows Update, repeatedly, taking all the updates offered each time until it says you're up to date.

20-Oct-2009

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Comment from Alex on 2009-10-14

2009-10-14T19:52:31Z

It needs to be said that if your computer has a virus, then likely any backups you have will have them too, and after you do all the hard work of getting rid of everything and reinstalling everything, you will *still* have the virus.

You want to make absolutely sure that your backups are clean of all viruses, trojans, keyloggers, spyware, and anything else you can think of *before* you start this arduous process.

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