cant delete 4 os from one partition

Hi, I got a hold of a pc from a friend that wouldn't start. It would sit on a black and white screen saying the OS couldn't be found, so I put in the xp disc and ran a repair which brought it back on. But now on start up it says please choose an OS to start and it gives an option of 3 separate xp's. I read through a few of your other threads and found that a fresh install of the OS should delete any previous ones, so I tried that and put it on partition c and it warned me that previous versions may not work. It now has 4 xp's on partition c. So I tried again but this time I tried to completely delete partition c, but it said i couldn't as c contained files necessary to complete the installation. It now has 5 xp's. I then tried to create a new partition, put an xp on that and tried to then delete partition c but it said the same thing. Is there anyway I can completely delete everything on partition c and only have one OS.
Thanks,
Fangy.

 

You can always use the drive makers utility to wipe clean the hard drive from CD to restore to factory condition. The thing that confuses me is that you should be able to get rid of all previous installs is to boot from the XP CD and tell it to format, that always worked for me.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316941

 

You could try just booting into a prompt and not saying that you need to reinstall and just format the whole thing, then when it gives you the installing options fix up your hard drive partitions to match your preferences and install on the drive you want.

 

As audiedoggie says,--Just scroll down that page to the last option - format the hard disk, delete partitions, create partition, reinstall XP- Follow the instructions.

 

If you are having difficulties, this is basically what it tells you.
If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. Press ESC (do not repair).
All existing partitions and unpartitioned spaces are listed for the hard disk. Use the arrow keys to select the partition where you want to create a new partition, and then press D to delete an existing partition , then you need to press C to create a new partition using unpartitioned space.
If you press D to delete an existing partition, you have to then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition.
When any/all the partitions are deleted, you can then select the resulting unpartitioned space and then press C to create the new partition.
Then just press ENTER to create the partition using the maximum size.
If you want to install Windows XP, use the arrow keys to select the partition you want to install Windows XP on, and then press ENTER.
Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER.
You can choose to Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
You may also see:
"Leave the current file system intact (no changes)"
Most people choose: "Format the partition by using the NTFS file system".
After Setup formats the partition, follow the on-screen instructions to continue Setup until Windows XP fully installs.
I hope that explains better.