Is there a way to wipe out my laptop?

I'm a first timer, be gentle.

That all went over my head. I understood everything up "burn onto DVD"

how do you do:

set bios to boot CD, HDD, others, put the dvd in, delete partitions, create a partition for the windows installation (around 10-15 gigs should do), create another partition using the remaining space, select the first partition to install and off you go
Click to expand...
 
your screenshot indicates that your laptop is already trying to boot off of a cd, but fails since it can't find a boot record. Do you have a DVD drive or a CD drive only?
 
good, good.

after you've downloaded the xp dvd or the vista dvd from my ftp, burn the image (don't burn the image on the dvd as a file, i've known people to do that, hehehe), then slot the dvd into the tray, and start up the laptop.

it will ask you to press any key to boot from cd. do that. after it loads the setup files, it will present you with an interface of the current partitions and instructions on how to manipulate them. delete both, then create one 10-15 gig one for the xp and program files, and another with the remaining space. (del for delete (or is it d...) then C for create, put in the space in MB (so 10240 MB for 10 gig, or just round off to 10000)). hit format and install (choose NTFS, but not quick NTFS).

if you're going with XP, that will be it. you won't have to set any regional settings or anything untill after it has finished installing. you can literally leave it do everything on its own. it will reboot itself once, but just leave it, don't press the any key to boot off the cd again. vista is a little more advanced and prettier, but since only the latest hardware is capable of running it properly, you're probably going with xp.

hope that helps :) if you have any more questions, i'm on irc, msn, yahoo and skype.
 
thanks

Keeps saying the connection is refused on your FTP but once that downloads and gets burned I'll start messing with my computer.

there's an option when I pop in the recovery disc to delete all data and partitions off the HDD, should I do that first or just delete when I put in the XP DVD?
 
use the xp dvd :)

and thanks for the tip on the ftp. it crashed again.

try again. :thumbup:
 
now I can contact the FTP but it says the pw is wrong :lol:

edit: ah nevermind its accepted now, windows xp folder is empty?
 
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ok, its downloading :lol:

thanks a lot, I really appreciate it
 
Make sure you download all your drivers once you get XP up and running again ;)
 
Another thing: the reason why this is a dvd and not a cd as you would expect from xp, is because this includes SP2, all the patches and hotfixes till...march i think. It also includes genuine advantage and is already eternally activated. And as an added bonus, it comes with a huge fuckload of useful software which you can later install via a simple interface (After everything is done). Except Kasperski AV. The key used to activate it has been blacklisted. So go for one of the others. :thumbup:
 
I'll see about the other programs, right now I just want to instal XP itself with nothing more.

70% downloading the third file and counting.. :lol:

Good thing the computer I'm on now has a DVD burner, I'm sure that will decide not to work once I burn XP :rolleyes:
 
The thing I hate about reinstalling XP is the godawful long time it takes to get my drivers and programs on afterwards.

A good idea would be to set up the computer JUST the way you want it, and then make an image and put it on a dvd. Then, rather than reinstalling, you can just put the image back on and you are good to go.

Or you could use an OS that comes with most of the software and drivers you'd need on the install disc anyways.
 
ok, what program does everyone use to burn .iso's? I just wasted 3 DVDs :mad:
 
Well, I put in the XP DVD I burned and it said it could not complete the process because I do not have any hard drives. :huh:

I put in the recovery CD where I was presented with 2 options: restore to factory spec or erase everything completely. I first tried to restore to factory spec but it said I did not have enough hard drive space, then I tried to erase everything but got an error message and the only thing I could do was restart.

This thing is getting thrown out the window.
 
wow...ok, that's fucked up... but at least you got a good copy of xp for other pcs. :S
 
All this coming after doing a simple virus scan? Makes no sense.
 
Try Alcohol 120%, it burns iso better than Nero (in my experience).
 
but if the iso was burned incorrectly, it wouldn't have worked in the first place, not that the setup would say it can't detect any hdd's.
 
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