# how do I reformat my hardrive and reinstall windows?



## fredde

Hi!

I have a computer that is about 6 years old now and I'm using Windows 98. My problem is that the computer is really slow and I would like to update my system, so a friend told me that one thing that is possible to do is to reformat my hardrive and then buy a copy of Windows XP and install that. So I can get a good firewall and anti-virus programs... 

If I reformat my hardrive, is it possible to install windows XP right afterwards?

Thanks,

/Fred


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## [tab]

Yep... in fact you can format you HDD as part of your WinXP installation.  Make sure you backup any files you want first.


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## geranimo://

yeah, but if ur computer is 6 years old, i dunno if xp will run smoothly, u might need extra memory etc...


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## akagore

i agree with geranimo.......if it's that old i'd go with ME....my pc is 5 yrs. old(athlon XP 500..ax59 pro motherboard...no frills video card) XP may be a curse instead of a blessing. I run ME at home and XP at work...ME works fine for me for what I do at home. Good Luck!!


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## Underground_Evo

well, there are a few things that you need to make sure that you have in order to run XP, could you please list your PC's specs?


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## fredde

Okay, is it Windows ME I should take a look on then? 

My computer is a Pentium 2 processor and 128 MB RAM.

I'm not a 'computer person', if you know what I mean, so I would really need some help with this...

Thanks

/Fred


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## blacktop89

haha, i'm not sure how much you know about computers, but if you know how to get into your BIOS, you can set the computer to boot from the cd-drive. once you do this you can put the win ME disc in and it will direct you in the steps to re-format the drive and install the OS. i've never installed win ME before, but that should work!


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## Alin.s

if u got windows me disk insert it and it will say format hit yes same for conferm it will do the rest sorry bout my spelling but i am typin fast and make typos when i type fast


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## Praetor

> i agree with geranimo.......if it's that old i'd go with ME....my pc is 5 yrs. old(athlon XP 500..ax59 pro motherboard...no frills video card)


Whoa! WindowsME was argueably the worst OS release by Microsoft. Even for an older system WindowsXP -- properly tuned and tweaked will run smoothly. I'd stay away from Windows2000 -- that OS takes a lot more juice to run effectively but a well tweaked XP system can work really well (hell I've redone a few computers spec'd at P2-400 w/32MB to use XP and after some intensive tweaking, they work respectably well considering their age).


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## 72montecarlo

i agree with praetor above. i have installed xp pro on a pentium 2 300mhz system that has 128mb of ram and a 3gb hard drive and it ran fine. it booted up quick and had no problems. i also suggest not using windows me.


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## Praetor

If you absolutely have to, go with Windows2000 instead.... it may be slower but its much much more stable than WindowsMe


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## fredde

okay, thanks alot for all the answers, I think I'll get WinXP.
/Fred


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## Alin.s

windows me sucks the juice out of your machine if not tweaked properly


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## Praetor

And even when tweaked it still is highly inefficient.


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## Smallplayer_French_LOL

i think you can install Win 2k !

it is less glutton ( i don t know if say that is correct lol )


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## Praetor

> i think you can install Win 2k !
> it is less glutton ( I don t know if say that is correct lol )


You are correct in saying that however, for W2K to work efficiently, it needs a more powerful  hardware platform and for a 6 year old computer, that would be pushing it. WXP -- tweaked up -- would be a better choice for older platforms.


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## Smallplayer_French_LOL

oki doki thanks

as i'm french, i dont know if certains expressions are corrects ! lol


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## Smallplayer_French_LOL

he will not return to the Win 98 ? lol thats really older OS


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## Praetor

Windows98 is a better OS than WindowsME (especially Windows98SE).... WindowsME was really that bad heehee


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## roy

Xp pro uses 96mb of ram just for it to run. This means that your swop file is going to see a lot of use.

What exactly are you going to be useing your comp for? The reason I ask this, is because running an older system you may be better off with windows 98.


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## Praetor

Yes indeed, if the specs are really hurting, W98/W98SE would be the route to go. As for WXP, you can trim it down so it uses ~50MB of memory (ive got mine at 90 right now but i'm also playing music, downloading and encoding movies, the core functions are using 50-60MB)


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## Smallplayer_French_LOL

I agree PRAETOR !!!! Win98 is better than Me ! thats clear !


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## Praetor

Of course if you're going to be using a larger drive and dont want to be limited by the FAT32 filesystem, WindowsXP is the better option (because Windows2000 requires quite a bit of hardware to run effectively). So many considerations!


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## Smallplayer_French_LOL

wait and see !!! what Operatig system u choose ?


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