Reformatting a hard drive vista

Press Enter to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Since this is a destructive operation all information on the partition will be erased , Windows XP Setup asks again, just to be sure:. Windows XP Setup now presents you with the list of drives and partitions again:. The default value should be the maximum appropriate for that partition, so simply press ENTER to continue. The default is to format using NTFS, which is just fine for more situations.

Once the formatting is complete, Windows Setup then automatically begins copying files to the newly formatted partition and continues with additional options and selections related to how you would like your new installation to be configured. Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week. When this is completed how do you get all the updates needed?

There must be hundreds and is there a specfic order to install them? Great job with the screenshots Leo. Some folks use a driver backup tool before reformatting, but on Dell PCs the process is much easier, either through the Driver CD included with the PC or by downloading drivers by inputting the Dell Service Tag at support. Hope that helps! If you need your key prior to doing the above, all you have to do is download and run Belarc Advisor, and it gives you all of your licenses and all programs, updates, etc.

But if you have more than one OS on a disc as I do , then you need to run it on both partitions. What could be wrong?

Should I have to keep XP SP2 as it is or should I have to update it every often through automatic update option including with critical security updates? I have been trying to install Windows Vista on my Intel 3. Is my PC compatible for the said installation.

I always find great help everytime I open this site. Yes this is the right way that I have been using to Format and Install Windows. My computer allows the page scroll buttons and the ESC button to work, but not F8 for some reason. I have a windows xp disk but I dont know how to run it or anything can you help me out? I was infected by the trojan generic downloader.

It would not boot from disc, but did after we pressed the F12 key. I updated gradually to service pack 3, but had no sound. I only found this out by lots of google searching, and reading the tech help forums, as I think Dell will only tell you this, if you pay for their tech. Thanks Leo. I have a question though.

Can I copy the installation CDs onto an external drive and follow the above instructions from there? Can I boot from the external drive? Thanks for your help! Thank you Leo 1 for the helpful answer 2 for constantly reminding us to back up our data in SOME way I wanted to share a bit about my experience in case it helps someone else, and ask a question…. On April 1st, for some reason virus? From there, I was able to follow the directions in your article.

How do I know which one to delete? I figured I had nothing to lose, so I reluctantly deleted all of them except for the unpartitioned space. From my description, can you tell me why I had those additional partitions that are not on your screen shots?

Was it a bad idea to delete them all, or is that what I was supposed to do? Fortunately, my computer is running again. Anyway, thanks to your constant reminders, I did not permanently lose my files, emails, and projects, and I was able to bring my computer back to life by myself! I read through several solutions online, but it was your explanation and screen shots that made the most sense to me and made me feel comfortable that I was on the right track.

Thanks again! Dear Leo i do not understand Partition is this a seperate part of the disk which will contain the O. S is it really needed? Thank you for your excellent article , You are the best Regards Burt. This week my brother wanted me to upgrade some stuff on his newly acquired but used xp machine and I requested the CD to reformat it.

Are there hidden, not so obvious, things that get messed?? How to format a hard drive using Windows Vista? There is a number of steps in formatting a hard drive. You first need to prepare your computer for formatting and save all your files that you would like to keep.

Then you need to delete your hard drive and then format it. Have trouble following my instructions, then simply follow the video tutorial at the bottom of this page.

The first step in this how to format a hard drive tutorial is to prepare your hard drive for formation. Remember everything you have on this hard drive will be lost. Make sure you check your desktop, your my documents folders, maybe export your emails and address book and save your favorites. Once you are happy that all your files have been saved move on to the next step.

If your using Windows Vista, go start, control panel, administrative tools and then double click computer management. You will need to press continue.