How do I do a clean install of Windwos XP?

My computer will not start correctly. It goes to a black screen and then it has like a command promt thing, and it says that I need to put in a Boot Disk. I cant even get on it anymore. How can I get it back to normal?

This question was answered on February 16, 2007. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

---

To perform a clean install Windows XP you can do one of two things:

-Boot Your PC using a Windows XP CD

or

-Boot Your PC from a BootDisk

Once you boot your PC using one of these options follow the listed steps below to boot and install Windows XP.

*Booting Your PC using a Windows XP CD*

if you want to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive must be configured to do this For information about how to configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, please refer to the documentation that is included with your computer or contact the computer manufacturer

1 Start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM To do this, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer

2 When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears on the screen, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.

3 At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to begin Windows XP Setup

4 Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.

5 Select the partition in which you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER

6 Select the Leave the current file system intact (no changes) option, and then press ENTER to continue

7 Press ESC to install to a different folder.

If the Setup program detects another operating system folder, it prompts you to type the name for the new folder after the back slash (\), for example, \WINXP If there are no other operating systems detected, the Setup program automatically names the folder \Windows

8 Press ENTER to continue

9 Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup

*Booting Your PC from a BootDisk*

A Boot disk is a floppy disk containing important files necessary for your PC to load, when there is no operating system present

1.If your computer can not boot from a CD-ROM drive then you will need to use a Setup disk set to start the computer with You can obtain a download which will create a 6 floppy Setup disk set that corresponds to your version of Windows XP from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994

2.Once the Startup process is finished you can point to the location of your Windows XP CD or files to begin the install

3.An alternative to the 6 floppy Setup disk set is to use the 1 floppy XP Install Disk from here www.bootdisk.com Boot with it and then run WINNT.EXE from the \i386 directory of your XP CD or your setup files location.

4 Take out the floppy disk, Insert your Windows XP CD and reboot.

4 At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to begin Windows XP Setup

5 Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.

6 Select the partition in which you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER

7 Select the Leave the current file system intact (no changes) option, and then press ENTER to continue

8 Press ESC to install to a different folder.

If the Setup program detects another operating system folder, it prompts you to type the name for the new folder after the back slash (\), for example, \WINXP If there are no other operating systems detected, the Setup program automatically names the folder \Windows

9 Press ENTER to continue

10 Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup

About the author

Posted by Ryan of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on February 16, 2007

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!