How do I wipe my hard drive? (And a Halo 1 Question)

[HemlockGrey]

Ok, so I need to wipe my computer clean and reinstall Windows XP. I have a Windows disc, so no problem there. Now, how do I uninstall Windows itself? And, short of doing it manually, how do I delete all of my files before I perform the uninstall (I did make plenty of backups)?

Secondly, once everything is gone, if I just pop in the Windows disc, will it automatically begin to install?

Thirdly, I'd like to backup my Halo 1 savegame before I wipe the drive, but I can't find the directory where Halo puts the savegames. Anyone know where this is?

[Vendetta]

If you just want to blat everything on the drive, then put your Windows XP disc in, reboot the computer and boot from the CD-ROM (unless it's a thieved copy, they're not always bootable). After setup starts and you've skipped through a few screens it will ask you what partition to install the OS onto. Highlight the partition that's there and press D, then confirm it. The partition will be deleted. Now you can create new partitions, which will be blank.

It's best to put the OS on it's own partition with other ones for your documents and programs. You can have four partitions on XP, and any number of logical drives if one of them's an extended partition, ~5-6 GB should be enough for the OS and all its updates so that you can, if necessary, kill it and reload without deleting everything else.

Backing up your Halo savegame will probably simmply involve rooting through the Halo directory for files or folders called 'Save', or possibly 'Profile'.

[HemlockGrey]

If you just want to blat everything on the drive, then put your Windows XP disc in, reboot the computer and boot from the CD-ROM (unless it's a thieved copy, they're not always bootable). After setup starts and you've skipped through a few screens it will ask you what partition to install the OS onto. Highlight the partition that's there and press D, then confirm it. The partition will be deleted. Now you can create new partitions, which will be blank.

Ok...how do I boot from the CD?

It's best to put the OS on it's own partition with other ones for your documents and programs. You can have four partitions on XP, and any number of logical drives if one of them's an extended partition, ~5-6 GB should be enough for the OS and all its updates so that you can, if necessary, kill it and reload without deleting everything else.

Ok, I suppose one partition for the OS, and one for my programs, sounds good. I didn't know this before. Cool.

Backing up your Halo savegame will probably simmply involve rooting through the Halo directory for files or folders called 'Save', or possibly 'Profile'.

There doesn't seem to be any file or folder like that, which is why I asked.

Thanks for your help!

[Ace Pace]

Ok...how do I boot from the CD?

Get into the BIOS (probebly by pressing Del of F8 in the start), and change the boot order to CD rom first.

There doesn't seem to be any file or folder like that, which is why I asked.

Thanks for your help!

Apprently Halo stuck itself in your user, check your My Documents, or inside the documents and settings.

[White Haven]

Delete, F1, F2, or F10 are common keys, F8 /never/ is.

[Vertigo1]

Ok, so I need to wipe my computer clean and reinstall Windows XP. I have a Windows disc, so no problem there. Now, how do I uninstall Windows itself? And, short of doing it manually, how do I delete all of my files before I perform the uninstall (I did make plenty of backups)?

Ok, if you've already backed up your data to a seperate physical hard drive, simply do the following:

Restart your computer and go into your BIOS (usually via the delete key, check your motherboard manual to be sure). Then go under what's usually referred to as "Advanced BIOS Features" (or something along those lines, depending on who wrote your motherboard's BIOS) and change the first boot device from floppy (usually defaulted to floppy, but it may also be your hard drive "C:") to CD-ROM. Then use the exit and save option (usually SHIFT F10) and insert your windows XP CD. Let the installer do its thing, then when you get to where you pick which drive and partition you want to use, make your choice, but do NOT delete the partition. Simply make your choice and hit enter. (Unless you plan on making seperate partitions for your OS and your data (not a bad idea IMO), deleting the partition serves no real useful purpose.) Then when you get to the option to format it, choose "Format with NTFS". Use the regular format option, not "Quick Format". Then just follow the on-screen prompts.

[Shogoki]

1.- First you need to Defraggle your motherdisc
2.-
3.-Profit