How do you reformat the hard drive on an HP Vectra computer?

Question

I bought a used computer with Windows 2000 Professional on it. I do not have the operating system disks for this program---I believe that it is a nonpirated version as I bought the machine from State Surplus. I'm unable to get the internet to work on this pc. Upon startup the following message appears: "Windows-Unable to load device driver" \SystemRoot\System 32\DRIVERS\ipsec.sys device driver could not be located.Error status was Oxc0000032 I have a copy of Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade which I thought that I could install as a new copy. When I try to install it I get a message telling me that the Windows 2000 is hot upgradable to Windows XP. I also have a copy of Windows 98 which I believe is upgradeable to Windows XP. I want to get Windows XP installed. How can I upgrade what I have or clear the hard drive so that I can install either Windows XP or Windows 98 of which I do have the disks for both programs.

Answer 1

Boot from the XP CD. Do a fresh install. You'll get a prompt that says that this is an upgrade version and Windows cannot find an eligible OS on your hard drive. It will prompt you to insert the CD of the OS that you are using for the upgrade. Put the Windows 98 CD in. It will read the CD for a while and then pompt you to re-insert the XP CD. The installation should proceed normally from then on.

You will lose anything that is currently on this machine.

Answer 2

When you boot up press f8 to get to safe screen and choose c prompt. Then you should be able to type format c: command. If not, you will have to create a boot up cd or a floppy which enables you to install the operating system. I created one for an old computer my mother has (floppy disk) which enables the cd to operate on boot. I formatted the hard drive then rebooted with this floppy and installed the operating system from the CD. You might want to keep windows 2000, as I was told by a tech that it is the most stable system for networking.