Trying to format C - Seems like Hell

Currently:
Dell Dimension 4600C
Windows XP Professional-already installed on C: drive

I don't have a floppy drive
I don't have an interal CD ROM (I do but it's broken)

I have an external CD/DVD player/burner
I have a "Reinstallation CD Microsoft Windows XP Professional" from Dell.

What I'm trying to do is format my hard drive. I want a clean Windows install but don't know how to do this with the above information. When I insert the cd I mentioned, it asks if I want to repair or install a new version of Windows, which is fine, however when I get to the partition screen, it won't allow me to delete C: of course because that is where the temporary installation files are.

Any help is much appreciated. I feel stupid, and for good reasons perhaps, at any rate I'm willing to take the sarcasm as well as the help.

 

You will need to have a qualifying Win98/Me/2000 CD to insert if you are using an upgrade version of XP to clean install. OEM restore disks will usually not fulfill the qualifying requirement.
Performing a clean install is time consuming, you need to know what you are doing, here is a very good link, read it throughly, what you are about to do is not easy and you need to make sure you know what you are getting into, I am not trying to scare you, just be careful
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Good Luck!!

 

What if I were to change the boot sequence to USB device to boot first? I'm not sure how this will help me but someone mentioned it to me however didn't elaborate. I've formatted my hard drive on other computers however the cd drive was operatable and it wasn't a problem just sticking the cd in it and let it run it's course. However, because I have to use an external cd drive to run the disk, it seems more complicated?

 

Hey there Victoria.

Here is an interesting link http://www.weethet.nl/english/hardware_bootfromusbstick.php
Here is how to get in your bios just in case you don't know:
http://www.cyberwalker.net/faqs/reinstall-reformat-winxp/enter-BIOS.html
Good Luck!

 

Thank you, I appreciate the reply. I attempted to change the boot order to a USB drive however when doing so, then booting, it says an operating system could not be found. Unfortunately, I don't have a floppy drive or I'd just copy a bootable disk and follow the instructions on the webpage link you gave me.

 

That is unfortunate, I think you should get the drive fixed, It will be so much easier. The first link I gave you is great, it is easy and to the point.
Good Luck

 

Don't have a bootable disk? That's easy from Majorgeeks.com, we have the Ultimate Boot Disk. It even comes in CD format. Burn off one of those, and viola. Works wonders.

 

Here's a thought...

Buy a floppy drive from a "good" retailer, carefully take it out of its packaging, install it, do the windows install, take the drive out, re-package it, take it back for a refund claiming it wont fit in your laptop.

Hope this helps Vic!

 

Aside from an expense and time spent, that's also technically illegal.

 

Even if I were to buy a Floppy Drive (the legal way by keeping it after buying it ) I wouldn't be able to install as there is nowhere for the ribbon cable to attach to on my motherboard.

Since the CD Drive's sliding tray is broken (left it open and my dog ran by it and broke it off) and unrepairable, I figured I was going to have to purchase another. Since I have a particular Dell that happens to be slim, my CD Drive is the same width and height of a notebook CD Drive, which of course cannot be purchased within a 100 mile radius of where I live. So, I said F it, bought a cheapo huge one since I figured the only thing I was going to be using it for was this project since it won't even fit in my computer. After researching the web for nearly three days (I must not be too resourceful) I finally found a web site that allowed me to burn an iso image of an A drive on a cd. (unfortunately I didn't realize MajorGeeks had an Ultimate Boot Disk) I then hooked up the CD Drive (had to keep my computer open since of course it was almost as big as the computer itself), changed the boot sequence to read the CD Drive first, it read the drivers that were on the A Drive image, and I fdisked, repartitioned, formatted, and reinstalled Windows.

I really don't know what I would have done if there weren't such programs such the Ultimate BootDisk and (can't remember the name of the one I used). It's funny how they've almost made the floppy drive obsolete yet it so comes in handy at certain times.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice.

 

That is great!!, I guess I should have suggested the ultimate boot disk earlier, my bad!. I have a kitty cat that flops everywhere so I feel your "pain".

 

I use to have the same problems in my early formatting days, The problem was i was tryin to format from my os, back to the boot up screen, which works ok if u have a second HDD, but the first HDD collects important setup up files and cannot be formatted. its almost like u lay a 2nd OS on top of it(strange)... But i came accross nero burning software and created a bootable Xp disk in less then 5 mins. comes in handy because i reformat once a week and change all my passwords once a week, The life of a unhackable hacker


i've heard reformatting is bad for your HDD, is this true?

 

Formatting is not bad for your drive. All formatting is, is the creation of a file system on the drive so the drive knows where to find a specific file when it needs it. It's just a way to organize things.