I want to do a complete reinstall on an XP laptop that has no floppy disk
drive. All I have is the OS CD. Is there any way to boot to the CD and run
FDISK, FORMAT from there?

Yes, all you have to do is open your BIOS and
set the CD drive as the first boot drive.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"FinkPloyd" wrote:

| I want to do a complete reinstall on an XP laptop that has no floppy disk
| drive. All I have is the OS CD. Is there any way to boot to the CD and run
| FDISK, FORMAT from there?

547C0A13-9DE7-428E-8461-1C7DAB414F1E@microsoft.com,
FinkPloyd <FinkPloyd@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
Consult the manual that came with your laptop to find out how
to enter the Setup program and change the BIOS settings so that
you can boot from the XP installation CD.
Put the CD in the drive and restart your computer.
You should see a notice to hit any key to boot from the CD.
Hit a key as soon as you see this and the installation
procedure will begin.

Here's are a few sites you might want to consult for more
information:

Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP
Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cl...all.html#steps

Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Clean Install Procedure with Illustrative Screen Captures
http://www.theeldergeek.com/xp_home_..._-_graphic.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan

I understand what you two are writing, but my question is different.

WinXP is already installed on C: and I acn boot to the CD anytime I want.
That's not the issue. The questions is how to "wipe clean" the existing XP
installation (i.e., a reformat) and perform a complete reinstallation of the
OS, drivers, etc.

I've backed up the user data and have both an OS and driver CD set. Now I'm
ready to wipe this disk clean and reinstall everything. Problem is, I just
want to boot to a CD--any CD--so I can run FORMAT C: /S from there. Might
there be a plain XP boot image on the M$ OS disk from which I can just drop
down to a command prompt and prepare the hard disk?

"Nepatsfan" wrote:

"FinkPloyd" <FinkPloyd@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:04A446B9-B2AE-4FDE-94BB-ECF7E70AC733@microsoft.com...
install?
Jim

Aha! Step 10 of http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cl...all.html#steps
was indeed the answer I was seeking! Thanks. (Boy, is this option
well-hidden!)

"FinkPloyd" wrote:

Forget what you learned about reformatting a drive
in the past. Windows XP does it easily. Simply
boot from the Windows XP CD, select the option
to delete all existing partitions, then create a new
partition, then format the partition NTFS.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"FinkPloyd" wrote:

| I understand what you two are writing, but my question is different.
|
| WinXP is already installed on C: and I acn boot to the CD anytime I want.
| That's not the issue. The questions is how to "wipe clean" the existing XP
| installation (i.e., a reformat) and perform a complete reinstallation of the
| OS, drivers, etc.
|
| I've backed up the user data and have both an OS and driver CD set. Now I'm
| ready to wipe this disk clean and reinstall everything. Problem is, I just
| want to boot to a CD--any CD--so I can run FORMAT C: /S from there. Might
| there be a plain XP boot image on the M$ OS disk from which I can just drop
| down to a command prompt and prepare the hard disk?

"FinkPloyd" <FinkPloyd@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote...
Sure. The XP CD is bootable, and will give you the option to re-install from
scratch.

You will need a floppy drive if any third-party drivers are required for booting
that are not on the XP CD. The OEM CD from the laptop will contain all needed
drivers, and even a retail box version will likely contain what is needed to
boot the system, if not absolutely everything. After that, you can download any
needed drivers from the mfgr and load them.

"Nepatsfan" wrote: