Can someone walk me through how to wipe a computer and do a fresh XP install?

[javeryh]

I have XP on a disc and the key that goes with it but after it preps the computer (step 1) and tries to reboot it just hangs on a blank screen.

Any help would be great. Thanks!

[Photomotoz]

Are you booting from the disc? Or are you putting it when you are in windows? You wanna boot from the disc. Go into the BIOS and find the option where you choose the booting order and set it on CD. Then boot the disc and select to reformat the hard drive and make a new partition. Just use standard values. Make sure to erase all old partitions first. Then it should be pretty simple. Just follow the installation along.

[javeryh]

Are you booting from the disc? Or are you putting it when you are in windows? You wanna boot from the disc. Go into the BIOS and find the option where you choose the booting order and set it on CD. Then boot the disc and select to reformat the hard drive and make a new partition. Just use standard values. Make sure to erase all old partitions first. Then it should be pretty simple. Just follow the installation along.

Thanks for the tips! I actually don't even know what BIOS is so that should tell you my level of sophistication when it comes to computers. I did manage to figure out the partitions though - I had one partition which made up 99% of the hard drive and then 16KB of "unpartitioned space."

I also ran a configuration diagnostic and it said I had a "blocker" program installed which wouldn't allow me to install XP. It was the "Gateway GoBack" program which allows me to revert the hard drive to an earlier point in time in case of a problem. The dilemma was that if I uninstalled it, I couldn't use it to go back in case I messed up.

All is well though and everything seems to be working like it should. I should have this tghing set up to do what I want sometime this week!

[Photomotoz]

You can think of the BIOS as the firmware or drivers for your whole PC. It is stored on the motherboard. You can access it when the computer is booting by pressing delete. It is not good to mess around with stuff in the BIOS unless you know what you are doing. If you mess up terribly in the BIOS you can revert it back by going into it and setting it to factory defaults. Also, the BIOS retains it's setting by a battery on the motherboard, it is a tiny button battery. You can most likley see it. If you unplug the computer, press power(to cycle the power out) and then remove the battery and wait you automatically revert the BIOS to factory defaults.

It is really impossible to mess up an XP install. Unless it is a priate version, it might be a bit more tricky then. Installing XP is not as hard as it sounds. It really amounts to putting in the disc and following the basic instructions along. The only parts that involve you are the parts where you set the partitions and such and ast the end where you setup the time, and other settings. It is really a cake walk so do not worry.