I have a compaq 5070 I want to reformat the harddrive.Can anyone teach me how "so I can understand" todo this?

Question

It seems to have had 2 copies of win XP installed on it .Like 2 fat 32 systems or something, I dont quite understand.It comes on and shows only int. exp,and recyclebin, on desktop.My friend called himself freein up memory and I'm afraid he deleted stuff he was'nt supposed to.So I thought reformattin or wipping the hard drive and reinstallin XP would solve my problem.When ya try to install a program it says not enough memory ,and there should be ......ps how large a program is window XP ? Thankin you in advance for your kind consideration concerning my delima!!!!!!

Answer 1

If you really want to re-format your hard drive and you understand you will lose everything on your hard drive, this is the way I do it.

While the PC is on, insert the Windows XP disc in the CD drive.

Close the drive and don't let the XP disc boot up. Either shut down the PC or use the reboot button.

The PC will "boot" from the CD and it will ask you if you want to do a repair action or if you want to do a new installation. Select the new installation and select NTFS when it asks whether you want FAT32 or NTFS. (NTFS is a much more efficient way of allocating disk space for files.)

Follow instructions during the installation of XP and you should be all set. This will give you a clean install of XP.

Answer 2

First of all understand that formatting will erase all the data on the hard drive so be sure to backup your files on cds. Next make sure your system has at least 256 mbs of ram and 2Gb free hard disk space. Next place the XP cd into the tray and restat the computer. It will then prepare to install Windows XP. At this point follow the steps until it asks if u wish to format the hard disk. at this point select yes and then select complete format. This should fix any issue. I have formatted and reinstalled windows xp like this many times so im sure it works

Answer 3

Yes, make sure you have a boot disk. Without the CD rom drivers on it, you won't be able to use your CD to install the disks.

To run Windows XP, your computer should meet these requirements:

At least 64 megabytes of memory to run XP slowly, and at least 128 megabytes of memory to run it well.

At least a 200 MHZ processor to run XP at all, and at least a 300 MHZ processor to run XP slowly. If your PC is used for games and simulations, XP needs at least 500 to 600 MHZ.

At least 6 gigabytes free on your main hard drive.

The ideal Windows XP PC would have a processor speed of 1 GHz or more, 256 to 512 megabytes of memory and a fast hard drive with 40 to 100 gigabytes capacity.

Answer 4

If you format, you will lose all data on the hard drive. You need a bootable disk (go to http://www.bootdisk.com to get one). Just boot to it and type format c: (or whatever drive you want to format) and press enter. Windows XP takes up about 1-2GB I think...it also depends on how many options you have installed.