XP Re-Install Problem, What Am I Missing Here?

[HansGroenewold]

I've re-installed XP several times over the past couple of years but haven't do so in about 6 months. I just upgraded my CPU and video card and wanted to do a fresh install of XP, yes it's the original disc that came with the PC. I can't seem to get it to the point where it reboots and tells you to "press any key to boot from the CD" after the PC restarts. It just goes straight to the Windows part where you select the partition and skips the whole formatting part.

I can't seem to get to the part where it asks you how you want to format the partition which came after booting from the CD. It just keeps going back to the part where it asks you which partition you want to put the install. When I select the partition I want to delete and start fresh from, it tells me it can't delete that partition since it has the setup files on it. It's driving me nuts. I went ahead once with the re-install and it advised me all files would be overwritten but all my old programs were still there after the supposed fresh install. Any ideas on how to get to the formatting section would be very welcome at this point. Is there a way to wipe out the whole disc and force XP to go where I need it to?

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[HansGroenewold]

I think I may have found the answer. I did some more research after I posted and I think it's possible the my boot options are not correct in the CMOS. They are now: Floppy drive for the first boot device, the HD is second and the CD/DVD drive is last. From what I read the CD/DVD drive should be the second boot device not the third. The HD should be the last of the three. If the CD/DVD is last it'll boot to the first bootable device which is now the HD after the floppy, does that sound right? It's late, I'll check it out tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[TG2]

CDRom should be first boot device, then floppy, then hard drive.

Sounds like it was starting the install from inside the current windows install, was it ?

 

[mechBgon]

Big picture: if you want a 100% fresh installation, you can nuke the whole hard drive with DBAN or whatnot. This assumes your Windows CD is a whole Windows CD that doesn't rely on a recovery partition on the hard drive.

 

[HansGroenewold]

I assume that it is a whole Windows CD as it is the original CD they used when I ordered this PC. Is there a way to tell? I had an E-Machines PC that had the recovery disc you mentioned and not the original XP CD. When I did the previous re-install on my new PC the other night, somehow the option to boot from the CD was displayed as it should, now after three tries that option doesn't appear.

It was just going straight to the Windows portion of the install. Also now when it boots up it asks which OS I want to use. I now have the original XP Home Edition which still works and the other OS listed is the Windows XP setup which I cancelled out of when things went awry. So I guess the best thing to do is start over and when it asks which OS to use, opt for the original OS? Then when it reboots after it downloads the setup files, hopefully I can delete the whole partition and start over. Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[mechBgon]

There are several ways to deal with it asking which OS. One way is to begin Windows Setup, delete all the existing partitions when it displays them, then press the F3 key twice to exit from Windows Setup. Now start Windows Setup a second time, and you're all clear.

If you have a CD that begins the expected Windows Setup procedure (blue screen saying Windows Setup, press F6 key if you have drivers on floppy, press F8 to agree to the EULA, etc etc) then it sounds like a whole WinXP CD.

 

[HansGroenewold]

The problem I had was when I tried to delete the partition it told me it couldn't because the setup files were on there. Of course this happened when it booted off the hard drive and not the CD. Tonight I'll change the CMOS setup to have it bootup off the CD and hopefully I'll get the message I'm looking for "To boot up from the CD press Enter". If that doesn't work I'll see if I can wipe the whole drive clean and start from scratch.

I read the info on that link you included, DBAN. According to what I read you download the exe. file onto a floppy and have the PC boot up to it. Then you enter "autonuke" at the prompt to wipe out all devices and info on the drive without conformation. I'll let you how I make out. Thanks for taking the time to help me.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[mechBgon]

To be more precise, you download the .exe and run it, and it creates a bootable floppy diskette for you. Then you boot the system from the floppy. For the purpose of blanking the HDD, you probably want to hit M to select the Method, and pick the fastest method, because even the fast method takes a while. I would try just booting from CD first, like you're planning to do, and you should be able to delete the partitions that way.

 

[HansGroenewold]

Thanks, I'll post back later tonight and let you know how I made out.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[HansGroenewold]

mechBgon,

I got XP re-installed last night. All it took was to change the boot sequence so it booted off the CD/DVD drive. I don't get it though, it gave the option to boot from the CD before but I probably didn't push the key fast enough and it booted to the HD instead. Thanks again for your help.

Sincerely,
Hans