Erase and re-install XP...help

[Jay61581]

Anyhows, I'm new here so bear with me, I don't understand most of this.

Anyways, my parents computer is jam packed with viruses and spyware and any other bad things you can have. I deleted a bunch of crap programs off of it and it helped a little bit but not good enough. The computer is screwed.

So I want to erase it all and start over. I've seen it done before, I just don't remember how exactly you do it.

I'm gonna go to Best Buy tomorrow and buy a new copy of Windows XP, and probably an anti-virus deal too.

I need someone to tell me step by step how to erase the hard drive and then re-install XP, or hook me up with a link to a place with some info.

Thanks

 

[wansingct]

The windows setup will guide you through pretty well. If you want to make sure for a fact that everything gets wiped out, format the drive when asked by the installer. I also suggest partitioning the space into at least 2 drives on the hard disk, but leave at min. 5-8 gigs for the c:\ drive. If you have information that you're worried about losing you can install the os without formating the hard drive. This will keep your filesystem (and your information) intact, but the operating system won't have the programs installed, you'll have to reinstall them. With this, virii and trojan horses could still be on your hard drive, but they now would have no way to run themselves (since they are programs like anything else).

 

[aye29]

1. Put the CD in the drive and reboot the computer. You might have to select to boot from CD if it does not do that automatically.
2. Press ENTER to setup Windows and fress F8 to accept the agreement.
3. Delete the partition by pressing D and press L (I think) to confirm.
4. When its done, highlight the unpartitioned space and press C to create a new partition and select "Format the Partition using the NTFS File System"
5. After the partition is formatted, Windows should install itself on the new partition and it will reboot when its done.
6. Then just follow the instructions for setting up your prefences and your done.
7. NOTE: You'll probably have to reinstall drivers for all your hardware so I recommend downloading the drivers for your hardware and burning it onto a CD you so have it handy when your done installing Windows.
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