how would u format ur hdd with winxp installed

[sk8bloke22]

sounds kinda dumb heh . my hdd is in ntfs format, and cos u cant go through dos in winxp, im not quite sure how i would go about formatting the hdd. i need a clean hdd for my new pc on monday, and my old one should do just fine.

anyway, if anyone can tell me how to format it, ill give them a cookie

[Trotterwatch]

Go into your BIOS, and set it to boot from CD

Insert your XP CD

Then boot off the CD - then select new install - it will ask wether or not you want to format, and what type of partition you want to format as NTFS or FAT32.

That is pretty much it

[Trotterwatch]

I am pretty sure that once formatted you don't have to go ahead with the installation - as having re-read your message it seems you are wanting to install XP on a completely new system using your old HD.

So I recommend putting it into your new system when it arrives, then booting from BIOS, and then proceeding to reformat and reinstall from there - reformatting doesn't take long either with the XP CD.

[sk8bloke22]

hmm...ok. what happens when u first load up a new motherboard, with an old hdd installed. i mean ive never actually done this before, so im not too sure wat to expect. im guessing it will go straight to the bios, where ill set everything up, then itll ask for cdrom support or sumthing (like it does when u reformat a hard drive), then i can stick in the winxp cd and do wat u just said, right?

cheers so far, i sorta get it

[Trotterwatch]

When you've set your new computer up, just turn it on and wait for the BIOS screen then hit DEL like mad Normal BIOS entry procedure as I'm sure you'll know.

Then check the BIOS, and look for:

First boot device
Second boot device
etc

Change the first one to CD, save and exit

CD-Rom support is included in the BIOS - all motherboards, and CD Drives from the past few years can be booted from the BIOS. The XP install CD will do the rest for you, it's very simple.

Hope you enjoy your new machine btw

[sk8bloke22]

thanks a lot. also a bit of small advice. do u reckon i need a floppy disk drive. i was thinking about this today, and im not sure whether i should put my old floppy drive into my new system, i havnt used a floppy disk for ages?

oh and one more thing, do i set the hard drive to master, dvd to first boot device, and cdrw to second boot device?

[Trotterwatch]

Your Hard Drive should be Primary Master

Then put the DVD and CDrw on Secondary - put the one you will use most on Master - I'd recommend the CDrw.

When you are installing XP though - the first boot device will need to be the CD, once XP has installed change the first boot device to the Hard Disk.

A Floppy Disk is useful for BIOS flashes, and for access to DOS. If you feel you will need neither of those things, then feel free not to have a floppy drive in your computer.

[sk8bloke22]

thanks loads. i got myself a new 40x12x48 cdrw drive and a 16x dvd rom drive today (exchanged my old drives) plus over £90 for my other hardware (processor, gfx card, ram). i backed everything up last nite. and stuck the winxp cd in, and ur right it was very straight forward. i just let the setup format my drive, and then left it at that, although i see now that it would hav been just as fine to follow ur recommendations earlier. now i hav my hdd, floppy, new cdrw and dvd drives all put in the new case, plus some new fans which i got today. hopefully all will go well, and ill get everything tommorow. i think im actually gonna print this page out as the advice has been so good, thanks again.

at the moment im on my good 'ol p2 233 with 32megs of ram, and ati shit arse rage gfx card .

one little question, do motherboards usually come with IDE cables as my computer exchange place stole my IDE cable that i accidently left on my old dvd/cdrw combo drive that i exchanged today (the bastards !!! ). if not ill hav to tear one sitting in the machine im on now.

[Trotterwatch]

In my experience you get two IDE cables with the motherboard, but I have only ever had 3 motherboards so... If not, then you can at least take the ones out of the machine your on now, and replace them in due course.

Sounds like your going to be building a brilliant computer - envious as F**K I am hehe, Good luck with it.

[Josep]

omfg, last time i jacked around with this stuff i lost everything on my HD, won't try that again for awhile! too scared now