How to wipe harddrive?

[liverpool fan]

Hi my pc had a virus that shut the whole pc down and i didn't have the windows disc to get it back up and running.
So we got someone in that got it running again but there is loads of programs with missing files ect. i've just got hold of a brand new windows xp pro and want to wipe the whole harddrive then install the new windows xp.

There is nothing on the harddrive that we can't reinstall, so can someone please tell me how to wipe the drive clean?

Cheers

[Semi On]

Boot from the XP CD and install - formatting the drive is part of the install process.

Make sure you choose "Full NTFS Format" from the list.

[Chris W]

drop into a dos window and type "format c" without the quotes... job done!

EDIT- IGNORE THIS... i have just engaged my brain...

try this....

i think the xp disk should actually give you an option to reformat before you reinstall from the disk.

[Neil]

Put the CD in the drive (make sure BIOS is set to boot from the CD 1st), boot the PC up, & when you get to the section where XP asks you wher you want to install it, highlight your drive (probably C: ), then select the option to format it with whatever you prefer (FAT32/NTFS)

Failing that, when you get to the 'where would you like to install XP?' section, highlight your drive, press D to delete it, then once it has been deleted, press C to create a new drive/partition, & install it there.

HTH.

[Bifta]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

drop into a dos window and type "format c" without the quotes... job done!

Have you ever tried formatting an active partition?

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by Bifta

Have you ever tried formatting an active partition?

oops... turned my brain on now! have edited the post...

thanks for highlighting my stupidity :pp

[Tricky]

Best way is find a util from your harddrive vendor that will wipe the HDU for use. Some vendors may even have DoD compatible ones (a very serious wipe that can take hours)

Ghost's "GDISK.EXE" has a very good disk wipe feature

[liverpool fan]

Oh maybe i got it wrong then? i just want to get rid of this old xp & all the stuff thats on it like AVG antivirus ect that can't be gotten rid of because files are missing. Am i right in thinking then that when i put the new xp in it will get rid of all this crap?

Thats for you replys

[Paul K]

Yep boot from the XP CDROM as suggested and follow the instructions, when asked take the option to format the drive/ Partition when it comes up on the screen.

[Tricky]

You could also delete any exisiting partitions (make sure you know which ones especially if you're retaining data) - I think "L" is the delete option on the partitions screeen.