Reformatting Windows XP the RIGHT way

Robert Hallock 21 Oct, 2008 at 12:34pm ET Article published in Tech

Formatting and installing Windows XP

With all the desired information safely stored on your external hard disk, it’s time to wipe the hard drive of all its information and start fresh. Place your copy of Windows XP in your CD-ROM and restart your PC. This will begin the Windows XP reinstallation process as outlined below:

Step 1: Beginning the install

The first screen of the installation process

This is the welcome screen for the Windows XP installation. At this screen, you’ll merely want to press enter to begin the process.

Step 2: Partition configuration

At this screen, you may see several entries that may be labeled C:, D:, or E:. Select each one of these entries and press D — confirming your decision each time — to delete the partitions. This will destroy the information contained on the disk and prime our hard drive for a fresh installation of Windows.

Next, create the first of two brand new partitions by pressing C. In the box, type 15000 and press enter. This configures Windows XP to be installed on a portion of your hard drive that is 15 gigabytes large. Your screen will now look similar to this:

The new C: drive for Windows XP is approximately 15GB in size

Next, press C on the unpartitioned space to create a second partition on the drive that contains all the remaining space on your hard disk. Going forward, all information that you own should be stored on this second portion. This best practice assures that you will have a place to store information from C: should you decide to format in the future, and it corrals your saved files so wiping the contents of C: will leave the majority of your files alone.

Press enter at this screen to create your second partition.

Now that you’ve created both of your partitions, your partition screen should appear similar to this:

The final partition structure. C: will contain Windows and E: will contain all your future files.

Note that our E: drive could be your D: or F:, as the number of optical drives configured in your system are assigned drive letters ahead of the second partition we created. Note also that the size of the second partition can vary wildly based on the size of your drive.

With that finalized, select C: and press enter.

Step 3: Formatting for Windows

On this screen, you will be given the option to format the C: drive. In our case, we’re going to proceed with an NTFS (Quick) format which will briefly scrub the partition of data and prepare it for installation.

Select NTFS (Quick) and press enter to wipe the partition.

Step 4: Copying files to disk

Windows will now begin copying files used for installation to the hard drive. This is a passive step that requires no interaction, but appears as below:

Windows is now copying files to your hard disk.

Step 5: Rebooting

Now that Windows has copied all of the files to hard disk for installation, the following screen will ask you to press enter to reboot:

Reboot your PC now by pressing enter. Do not remove the Windows XP CD from your CD-ROM.

Step 6: The XP installation GUI

Now Windows will start what’s known as the GUI portion of the installation routine. You will be able to use your mouse and keyboard to navigate menus, enter information, and select settings that pertain to the appearance and operation of Windows. The start of this section appears as below:

The first screen in the GUI portion of the Windows XP install routine.

Step 7: Regional settings

Most users will want to skip this screen by pressing next, but users outside of the US may want use this menu to adjust their language, region and keyboard settings:

Customize the cultural settings for Windows here. Languages, keyboard configurations, monetary symbols and number notations can all be set.

Step 8: Name and organization

Next, enter your name and the organization to which the PC will belong:

We have entered the information appropriate for our guinea pig machine. Your turn to enter yours!

Step 9: Product key

Enter your Windows XP product key in the boxes seen below:

Normally a CD key would be here. Ours seems to have fled for Privacyville.

Step 10: Computer name and the admin password

Next, configure the name of the PC as it will appear on the network, and configure a memorable user password to access the administrator account:

Our PC is rocking the Icrontic name, and we have the password in place so we can administrate the system securely.

Step 11: Date and time

Make sure you’ve set the proper date, time, and timezone:

Step 12: Copying files to disk

Now that you’ve configured some settings, Windows will finish copying files to disk and prepare the system for the creation of user accounts and the desktop:

Step 13: Enable automatic updates

Now that your computer has restarted and successfully loaded into the fresh install of Windows, make sure you keep your computer up to date with automatic updates:

Step 14: Create users

Next up, recreate the users that were on the previous installation of Windows:

Yngwie Malmsteen! Hell yes!

Step 15: Finish up

Now that you’ve gone through the steps of installing Windows, you’ll be treated to the login screen of your fresh installation of Windows!

Shwing! A copy of Windows that works!

And more importantly, a functioning desktop!

Look at all that functional real estate! Om nom nom.

Now it’s time to restore the information that we stored to your external hard drive.

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Comments

1. 
   21 Oct 2008 ~ 1:13pm LIN Really great article; easy to read & follow. A "must read".
   
   
   LIN
2. 
   22 Oct 2008 ~ 11:02am QCH VERY detailed but not too complex. Nice work, again, Thrax!!!
3. 
   24 Oct 2008 ~ 11:32am Ben On the size of the C drive partition: the problem there is that your desktop and the contents of Documents and Settings are automatically stored on the same drive as your OS. You might want to move your My Documents (which is easy), and you can re-define the locations of your Desktop, Temp directory, and Documents and Settings Branch in the registry, although this can get messy as it seems some programs use the registry while others will persist in using the C drive.
   
   On the use of NTFS: Last time I checked Linux based recovery CD's have a hard time dealing with NTFS drives, so be prepared to not have that option.
4. 
   15 Nov 2008 ~ 3:35pm Leonardo Excellent! From A to Z.
5. 
   15 Nov 2008 ~ 6:03pm minoan "Need to repair Windows XP professional if possible"
   
   I have a current thread with the above title, and wonder whether this article is a solution to my problem. I have a Dell Precision M50 laptop which has a corrupted Windows XP Professional installation which will now not boot up to the Desktop. It reports it cannot load hive, which is either corrupt or missing.
   
   Does the present article cover my situation? Would I need to be able to get the hard disc out of my laptop? (which may not be so easy as getting a hard disc out of a desktop).
6. 
   15 Nov 2008 ~ 6:43pm Leonardo Minoan, this is the next step for you. In your other thread we looked at possibilities for salvaging/repairing your existing Windows installation. If you cannot get your Windows installation repaired, then the guide linked in this thread is probably your next step, to reinstall Windows, fresh.
   
   You will find in this guide by our Icrontic writer, Thrax, different methods for salvaging data from an existing Windows installation. Some of those tools may work for you, some may not.
7. 
   26 Jan 2010 ~ 7:47pm Stardance In my experience, if an undetectable rootkit, or any other malware, is currently installed on a primary HDD, then there is a significant risk that it will recognize that a USB drive has been connected.
   
   If it does that, then it will install itself on that drive. Once installed there, it will subsequently recognize that the USB drive has been connected to a device in which there is one or more internal HDDs, and it will either infect all of them or infect only the drive(s) that are bootable.
   
   Ordinarily, an undetectable rootkit infects only drives that are bootable, because it must install a kernel-mode driver when the system boots in order to conceal its processes and its files.
   
   Note that a kernel-mode driver cannot be installed on a system that has a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU and runs Windows Vista or 7. (I am not sure whether Patchguard is installed on 64-bit Windows XP.) So, a rootkit cannot be undetectable on such a system, but it might run without the kernel-mode driver, with unpredictable consequences. Since it has been able to hide from anti-malware utilities, it is not likely to be identified by a "signature" during scans. It might be stopped if the anti-malware utility is behavior-based or specification-based.
   
   Some firewalls might halt the malware execution and query the user whether to allow the program to run. Beware of allowing anything to run when you do not definitely know the software to which the executable belongs!
8. 
   7 Apr 2010 ~ 4:53am Stardance NOTE: After Windows XP is re-installed on a HDD, all other software should be re-installed from a fresh download or from an original CD-ROM.
   
   It is not entirely safe to re-install executable files of any type from backup copies or disk images. You must be absolutely certain that they were not altered by malware before the backup copies or disk image was made. The risk is that, when you run an altered executable, it might launch the malware installer, which can run in the background while the executable continues to run in the foreground.
   
   After you re-install Windows XP, the autoplay/autorun feature is enabled by default. Before you re-install any software or restore any files, you should disenable autoplay/autorun for external USB devices. Doing so apparently entails disabling it for DVD and CD discs, too. If you do not do that, then malware which installs itself on an external USB drive and creates an autorun.inf file will be automatically executed when that drive is made available to Windows XP.
   
   If Windows XP autorun/autoplay is disenabled for external USB devices, then malware which is installed on such a device will not be able to run, unless (1) the user specifically runs the malware executable (OOPS!!), (2) some other program, that the user runs, launches the malware executable, which is probably an installer, or (3) the operating system is booted from the external drive.
   
   AFAIK, Windows XP will not make a USB disk drive "bootable", although the computer's BIOS might look for a bootable device on a USB port. So the advice in "Reinstalling Windows XP the RIGHT way" to store copies of files that you want to save on an external HDD should be safe to follow -- with autoplay disenabled.
   
   After saving files on an external USB or serial HDD, it would be a good idea to take a look at its contents while using an administrator account, so that hidden and system files are visible, to see whether a malware executable might be present. Again, executable files should not be saved on the external HDD, since there is a risk that they have been modified by the malware.
   
   Note that Windows XP can create a "bootable" DVD-R/W or CD-R/W disc. Malware could attempt to have itself installed when the DVD or CD disc is created, if the malware is sophisticated enough to do that. Windows XP will boot from an optical disc drive if a bootable disc is present regardless of whether autoplay/autorun is disenabled.
   
   However, you don't need to make a "bootable" DVD or CD disc to re-install Windows XP. The original Windows XP installation CD-ROM disc will suffice. :-)
9. 
   11 Apr 2010 ~ 4:34am Stardance As per your procedure, I used the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to store the settings, but not any files, on the external 320 GB HDD (a Maxtor One Touch 4). On my computer the location is identified as F:\FILES AND SETTINGS TRANSFER WIZ\ to which the wizard added the folder USMT2.UNC and stored two files in it, IMG00001.DAT and status. Initially, I included files as well as settings, but the Wizard insisted on including files that were already stored on the external HDD where it was supposed to store them pending transfer to the "new computer". That did not make any sense, and was not a good sign.
   
   Note: I used the "Folder or drive" option to transfer the settings to the external HDD. After all of the backups, I removed the internal primary HDD and replaced it with a new, unused HDD.
   
   Since "page 2" was not available when I read your article, I did not attempt to "slipstream" Service Pack 3 and subsequent into the Windows XP Home Edition installation disc. Not that I would try that with the original CD-ROM, regardless. But I have had plenty of experience with installing Windows XP H.E. After it was installed, I went online with I.E. 6 to download and install the 56 "required" updates (another 14 are optional) to bring the installation fully current.
   
   Then, when I ran the File and Settings Transfer Wizard to access the data which was stored on the external HDD, it displayed the message:
   
   "The location that you specified does not contain stored information. Please type a valid folder path into the edit box.
   
   If you entered a path to a removable disk, the disk must be in the drive."
   
   As far as I can determine, the path is valid and the disk is certainly attached to the computer and functioning. I've copied other files from it to the new HDD which I installed in the computer to replace the former internal primary HDD.
   
   Evidently, this feature of the Windows XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard contains one or more flaws. The Microsoft "tutorial" only describes using the wizard to transfer files from one computer to another by way of a "null modem cable".
   
   Did you test the method which you described before you posted the article? Do you have any idea why it did not work?
10. 
    11 Apr 2010 ~ 12:01pm troll To quote some Google Results...
    

    Remember:
    1. If you've moved USMT2.UNC copy it back to the location you ORIGINALLY copied it from on your "old" computer.
    
    2. Point the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to the ROOT directory/drive letter and NOT the USMT2.UNC folder itself.
11. 
    3 Aug 2010 ~ 9:41am Arthur-HC-Williams I can't read the text, due to the NAB ads blocking it.