hampstead112...
The following page, from Daniel Petri's site for Microsoft Certified
Systems Engineers, gives a step-by-step tutorial for the installation
of Windows XP, with accompanying screen shots illustrating the major
steps in the process:
http://www.petri.co.il/install_windows_xp_pro.htm
You are probably thinking that you need to format the drive prior to
beginning the setup process, but that isn't really necessary. Windows
XP doesn't depend on DOS the way older versions did, so you can do the
format during the installation process.
I am assuming that your copy of Windows XP is on CD, and that you
are able to boot from the CD to begin the installation process.
The simplest way to reformat is to delete the partition that your
current Windows system resides on, then recreate it, and the setup
process will proceed to format the partition. If you have more than
one partition, just choose the one on which your current Windows
installation exists.
This is discussed in #7 in Step 3 of the tutorial. If you look at
the images there, you can get an idea of what to expect to see when
you're in the middle of the process. As is noted just below the
images:
"If the hard disk already has a partition that is large enough,
you can install Windows XP Professional on that partition. If
the partition has an existing operating system, you will
overwrite that operating system if you accept the default
installation path. However, files other than the operating
system files, such as program files and data files, will not
be overwritten."
This isn't what you want, so, using the instructions in the first
image, you want to select the partition on which Windows currently
resides and press D, for delete. That should leave you with a
display of unpartitioned space, and you can then press C to create
a partition, using the dialog in image 2 to choose its size.
Image 3 then shows how you can select your new partition for
installation.
#8 then guides you through the process of formatting the new
partition. Note where it says:
"If you plan to gain access to files that are on a local Windows XP
Professional partition with the Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98
operating systems, you should format the partition with a FAT or
FAT32 file system."
This would be true if you plan on setting up a dual boot system
with, say, Windows 98 on another partition. This would allow the
files on the XP system to be accessible from the WIN98 system.
For most people, this is not necessary, and there are advantages
to using NTFS for Windows XP, so this is what I would recommend
by default.
The rest of the tutorial walks you through the remaining steps of
the installation, which are pretty standard. Your question seemed
to focus on the formatting aspect of the installation, so I'll
assume you're reasonably familiar with the rest of the installation
process, and can use the tutorial without additional guidance from
me. Nevertheless, if you *do* need further assistance, or if there
is anything I can clarify before you begin the installation, please
don't hesitate to ask.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
A user's guide on this topic is on skermit-ga's site, here:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#how_clarify
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google search outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
format "install windows xp"
://www.google.com/search?q=format+%22install+windows+xp%22 |
