How to Format a computer using a Windows XP disc.

The word Format can mean
quite a few things in the
world of computers. You
could format text in a word
document, have a different
file format, or in this case,
format the hard drive in
your computer. Sometimes
you need to format to ultra
clean your computer. It
makes it faster, new looking
and gets rid of errors and
viruses.
Windows XP disc is bootable
and really does everything
for you. (Well nearly) This
means that when you insert
a Windows XP disc into your
computer, it should start
automatically.
However before you do
format a computer you
should backup your data.
Some things to backup
include: photos, my
documents, favourites
folder, emails, all contacts,
passwords and more, You
can back them up on a Flash
Drive or Exterbal Drive.

1.First you must put
your
Windows XP
CD in the drive.

2.Then restart your
computer.

3.When it says press
any key to boot
from cd
, Press any
key on the keyboard.
(Go to step 6)

4.If it doesn't ask you
this then
restart
your computer again.

5.Go into the BIOS
settings of your PC,
usually by pressing
the F1, F2, F10, or
maybe the delete
key. If you are not
sure watch the
screen at startup
and it will say "To
enter setup
press.......". You have
to be quick and
press it. If you miss it
restart again. Once
you are in the bios
you have to change
the boot options. You
have to make your
cd rom the first boot
option. Save and
exit.

6.A blue screen will
appear
and you are
on your way..

7.Press Enter to
setup Windows XP
now.

8.If there is a copy of
Windows XP on your
computer and you
wish to overwrite it
you will have to
press the
escape
button when
prompted.
Do not install
Windows XP in
another directory
unless you know
what you are doing.
Just overwrite the
previous version as
you should have
backed up your data
anyway.

9.You should now make
the partition that had
windows on it
blue
and press D to
delete the partition. It
will ask if you are
sure. Press
L to
confirm. More details
on deleting partitions.

10.Then Press C to
create another
partition and
Windows will estimate
a size for you. If you
wanted to partition
your hard drive into
two equal parts you
would have to do
some math's and then
type the appropriate
number in. Otherwise
just going with what
Windows puts there
will be the minimum
partition size.

11.Press Enter to
confirm size.

12.Then it will ask you
which partition you
want to install
Windows on. The
default is C: drive.
Select this by making
it blue and press
enter.

13.If there are no
partitions it will
create one for
you.

14.Then it will ask you
to format quick,
normal, in fat32 or
NTFS. Fat32 suits
older computers so I
choose a quick
format with NTFS.
Quick or Slow is fine.
If you had errors it is
better to use a slow
format which can also
be known as a low
level format.

15.From now on you just
Follow the prompts
and let it go..

16.The computer will
restart and it will try
to boot from cd
again...Do not press
anything on the
keyboard.. Just let it
go through the
stages of setup.

17.Make sure you have
your
serial
number ready to
enter in. This can be
found on your coa
certificate which is a
sticker usually
written on your Cd
park.

18.Do not remove the
Windows XP CD until
the computer has
started up with a new
desktop and icons.