PCTech Forums

Hi
I have a situation, I am trying to reinstall my XP windows. I did it, now I have to systems on my machine. I am trying to do the full installation again but what happens now is I have a partition on my PC (2 systems). I can't do the full installation since it won't let do the cleaning of the partition - it says "can't delete the files - needed for installation"

what do I do? / how can I reformat the disk?

thanx for any help

In my experience, you're given the option to format the HDD after booting from the OS install disk. if you are trying to remove the partition, then I'm not sure how to help you.

at what point do I get the option of formatting the HDD?

You know, I'm very surprised you didn't see it when you installed windows the first time. You can't miss it.

Anyway, I was going to tell you to find it yourself because it's unmissable, but then I remembered a magical tool known only as google, and found for you.

happy formatting. make sure you've backed up anything important.

I appreciate it, but I can't make the installation since I have a partition on my drive now. I have to just reformat it now - do I reformat it in DOS?

The fastest way i know of is what Psymon is referring to. Boot from the XP disk and when you get to the point where its asking what partition to install to, read the screen carefully. You will have the option there to delete whatever partitions are showing. Delete whats there then create a new one. Press enter on the new partition after its created and it will then give you format options. Dont use the quick format, use the normal NTFS.