First thing you may want to do is check out several guides on Google. Just go to
www.google.com and look up "making a clean reformat" or other key words like that. Gather information over the subject so you know what you are going to do. Here are a few sites I found by using Google:
Reformat Hard Drive FAQ
Performing a Clean Install of Windows XP
Black Viper - (Click on the article under your operating system and the click on the article that fits installing Windows XP Home or Windows Professional....
Reformatting your hard drive can take a while and you may want to be showed first how to do it before you do it.
Be sure to know if your CD drive can boot from the CD drive and if it doesn't you must make a bootable floppy...
After you check out a few resources, please do it with someone you know that knows how to do it first. So he can show it to you, because a few things maybe complicating at first...
Anyway, you must first back-up some of your most valuable data. If you reformat your computer, then you are going to be totally getting rid of everything. You must be aware of this!!!! You need to back-up your "My Documents" folder that may have important stuff in it, your "Favorites" folder, and other important things. You can back-up these things on a CD, DVD, external hard drive, floppy, or any other storage drive that isnt the drive that is being reformatted.
Have in mine:
CDs can only hold 700 to 800MBs
DVDs can hold 4.8GBs and double layer DVDs hold up to 8GBs
Oh yes have in mine you may want to back up your email accounts if you have any that go through outlook express or any other non-online email accounts... If you use Outlook you can find those emails in C(If this is your main drive):\Documents and Settings\
(Username)\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities....
Then you have to restart in ms-dos prompt and type "format c:".
This is the point of no return! After you type that and go through the steps and hit "y" for yes, then it starts deleting and reformatting your hard drive. I do not recommend you doing this if you don't know what you are doing up to now. It can be very difficult the first time! Then you insert your CD and start the install of Windows XP...
<span style="font-size:36pt;line-height:100%">Anyway I recommend watching someone who has done it before and these directions are probably very unclear and hard to follow. There are a lot of things you must do a head of time and you may want to have the phone or internet near by for just in case purposes you get stuck... You are starting all over when you reformat....
I hoped this helped...</span>
Rat