I'm being really stupid (reformat and XP install)

Hi there,

I've got Win XP Home and I've clogged it up with too many programs etc. and want to reformat and do a fresh install of XP. I'm trying to boot from the XP CD to access the XP setup but for some reason my PC only wants to boot from my hard drive!!

I've changed the BIOS to make the first boot device my CDROM drive but when I start the PC it says 'press any key to boot from CDROM', which I do but then it proceeds to boot from my hard drive as normal!!

What have I missed? Is there another way of reformatting and re-installing XP?

For you info:

AMD Athlon XP3000+
with Phoenix - AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility.

Thanks for any help!

Regards,

Geoff.

You could try to insert the CD while in Windows and choose Install XP. The first thing it will do is reboot. See if that works.

Another option is the 6 floppy boot disks to enter Setup:

How to obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994

Note that you need to get the proper version to match your XP CD: e.g. XP Home SP2 etc.

Hi jephree, thanks for your help.
I found out what it was. I was using a USB keyboard and obviously the drivers aren't loaded that early in the boot process for the keyboard to work!

I did just that last night just as you said you did and I didn't have any trouble. I don't know of any other way sorry.

Thanks for the update and the thanks!

Let us know if we can help further in the future.

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