Help!!!!

i need to reformat my computer :eek:
it would be the first time since ive had it.... which is about a year....
i feel it would go WAY faster than it does....
and i get a soundcard error everytime i try to play a sound or music or anything like that..
yet i have no idea how to reformat my comp.....
someone pleez help me in my efforts!

p.s. i feel really nervous about the whole thing...

Oh and i have windows XP but its an upgraded version from ME....
i dont know if that makes a difference..

*cough*

well, if you have a windows xp install cd, pop that sucker in the the cd tray and reboot.

upon rebooting, if you are lucky, you will be greeted with a message to 'press a key to boot from cd rom', if you see this message, press a key and you are on your way to installing windows xp from cdrom.

if you are not greeted with this message, you will need to make sure your cdrom is capable of booting from a cd. turn off your computer for 30 seconds to let it reset. Doesn't really have to be 30 seconds, but that's what all the A+ classes say to do.

turn on your computer and use the hot-key sequence to enter your computer's BIOS. browse to the 'boot options' section and make your cdrom a bootable device. I can't really tell you how to do this because I don't know what BIOS your computer uses.

After you have made your cdrom a bootable device, refer to the first steps I have mentioned.

is that how id begin to reformat it... or would that be the end when id reinstall my os.....
IM CONFUSED

Hmmm. What are your PC's specs? (Esp. CPU and RAM)

In any case, I would not reformat quite yet. Try the following:
1. install the newest sound card drivers from the manufacturer.
2. Clean your "Run" registry keys -- those are the keys that control what processes start and run in the background. There is a lot of junk that accumulates there over the period of several months.
See if that helps, and only then consider re-installing Windows.

well, i just did exactly the same thing you want to do and it's extremely simple.

to reformat all you have to do it open up a command box, type in "format C:" (i'm guessing you want to reformat that drive)

then follow the instructions you get.

an even easier way is to go into my computer, right click on the drive you want to reformat and choose format, from the menu that appears.

after you have reformatted, boot from your xp install cd and install the sucker

duo: he can't do the second option if he's using the drive at the time, now can he? :p

whenever i need to format and reinstall, i use a win98 disk to boot from, format, put my win2k cd in, reboot with the win98 disk, change the drive to G: or whatever my cd-rom is, then i open up the setup file and go from there. but that's me, and my stupid win2k cd doesn't want to start the setup automatically when it's in there.

make sure that in your bios you have it set to boot from CD or non of the above advice will work (most computers can boot from CD) - but as whisper states, it is simply then a matter of inserting Windows Disc and going from there (I would do a clean install and not over the top of current one)|

I first "format c:" in the command prompt, then turn off my 'puter, loads my a: with a -98 startupdisc ( for some reason ? ) chooses "start with cd-rom support", and boots away from my XP-install cd...

well, pretty much what Psquid said, if I've just bothered to read the post first

with winxp you can format from the cd...

Just make sure your cd-rom is bootable, refer to axiom's post for that, and try it. It isnt that hard.

I haven't ever used a boot disc for W2K or XP.