Reformat and Reinstall XP Pro?

[Xenogear900]

Hi, I have a PC with XP Pro on it. The is a ton of junk on the PC and I'd really like to just reformat the drive and completely reinstall the OS. I don't have the Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS disc, BUT I do have one of those Dell Windows XP Reinstallation CDs that came with the computer. If I really NEED the Microsoft XP Professional CD, I could probably get it soon.

I've tried:
-Putting the CD while in windows=It won't install cuz the version on the disc is older than the version on the computer (SP1 vs. SP2). I don't mind that the version on the disc is older, I can always just run Windows Update and download SP2.
-Booting up the PC with the CD in the drive. Nothing happened, the computer just loaded as normal.
-Right click on the A:\ drive in MyComputer and made a Start-Up Disk. Loaded it, but it only has VGA/Keyboard files on it. I thought it'd have like an "fdisk.exe" like the Windows 98 Boot Disks.

On my computers that run Windows 98, I just repartition the drive, reformat and reinstall the OS. That is basically what I want to do, but with XP Pro.
How do I do this?
Thanks!
Xenogear900@yahoo.com

God Bless the Videohelp.com forums!

[budz]

-Booting up the PC with the CD in the drive. Nothing happened, the computer just loaded as normal.

You need to go into the BIOS to have the CDROM bootup first. What's happening is your hard drive with the operating system is loading first. Power up the pc then hit the DELETE key to go into the BIOS. Enable your CDROM/DVDROM to boot first then it'll be able to read off the Windows cd that you have.

[Xenogear900]

Ahhh HA! Good thinking! Will that allow me to reformat my drive as well (I'm assuming that is part of XP Setup)?

Thanks!

[INFRATOM]

make sure windows cd you have from dell came with this computer and you have the cd key. Dell windows is customized for dell and it will not install on self made computer. Do a clean install, format and new install but before that do an image backup in case. If you don't have image backup I suggest partition your hard drive and install windows in new partition. You can always delete the partition you don't want. If your cd is bootable as said you could boot format and do new install or repair which is a reinstall but all the junk remains. Your other question you can install sp1 on sp2 by uninstalling sp2 but it is not a good choice. CLEAN install is best. Windows xp starts with basic drivers but as it installs it has the most drivers when finished you can install extra drivers if you have chip or ide drivers. Before all this make sure you know which motherboard you have and whats on it and brands and models of all your devices and download all the drivers, older drivers is not easy to find. Do all your homework before you say yes to delete partition and reformat!!

[Capmaster]

Ahhh HA! Good thinking! Will that allow me to reformat my drive as well (I'm assuming that is part of XP Setup)?

Thanks!

Yes.

[Webster]

If it is a Dell, you may have to hit the F2 key instead of DELETE key to get to the BIOS. Also with newer Dell computer, you do not need the key for XP. Just pop in the XP CD and it'll install the OS without asking you for the activation key. You probably will have to download all the drivers from Dell for your specific machine if you do not have the drivers CD. Just enter your computer service tag and proceed.

[Xenogear900]

OK, I got it all installed, but WHERE are all my desktop icons. I don't even have the essentials up there (My Computer, Networking, My Documents, etc.) The only item I have on the desktop is Recycle Bin. I know I can just make shortcuts to all them on the desktop, but I want the real icons up there like on all my computers, not a bunch of shortcuts. How do I fix this?

Thanks
Xenogear900@yahoo.com

[Jeremiah58]

Right click on desktop>Properties>Desktop>Customize Desktop and choose icons.

[TBoneit]

BTW for newer Dells just hit f12 when the video appears and choose boot from CDrom.

If you have teh Dell XP disc you should also have the drivers discs.

[twixx003]

my dell reinstallation cd got messed up. anyway i can download another one, or if someone can show me where to get it. im trying to install my windows xp pro, but it wont work. is there a way to get it to install on a dell laptop xps. thanks

[budz]

my dell reinstallation cd got messed up. anyway i can download another one, or if someone can show me where to get it. im trying to install my windows xp pro, but it wont work. is there a way to get it to install on a dell laptop xps. thanks

If I'm not mistaken you'll have to contact DELL PC to get another restore disc for your laptop.