hi there my pc seems to have more and more problems as each day passes.is there any way i can get rid of absolutely everything!!,and get back to just my pc,windows xp and me and start again from scratch?thanks to anyone who may have any suggestions,cat....p.s.try and remember i am still a novice

one must use the xp install disk, and boot with it. a page will come up that willl give you the option to format and reinstall windows. its not really hard to do, just read each page carefully. go t ogoogle.com and look for articles dealing with the reinstall of xp. the geek squad at best buy can do it for a charge tho.

Surely Packard Bell Easynote comes with a Restore CD ??

Hi, here are the screens that you will normally come across when you do a clean install of WinXP Home SP2 >>>> http://www.windowsreinstall.com/win... but the *first thing* you have to know how to do, is to enter your BIOS (usually by pressing DEL key at the first screen that you see as the 'puter starts to boot up). If you can get into your BIOS, you can change your boot up sequence.....in other words the computer will look for anything that's in your CDROM drive FIRST before it looks at and boots from your Hard Drive (which already has your WinXP Operating System and Programs on it). see, normally when a 'puter starts up, it will look for something to boot from.....either the Hard Drive or the CDROM Drive. IF the CDROM drive is listed FIRST and there is no CD in there it will go straight to the next drive to boot from in the list. And that would *normally* be your Hard Drive with Windows on it....then it boots up ! >>>> but we don't want that at this stage ! IF there is a bootable CD disc in the CDROM drive (a Win XP Install disc e.g.) and the CDROM drive is listed FIRST before the Hard Drive the 'puter will boot up with the WinXP Install disc.......and away you go >>>> you can now install Windows XP and it will format (delete) EVERYTHING that's currently on your Hard Drive, whilst doing so! :) a normal boot sequence listed in your BIOS when everything is *normal* would be listed like this ...... 1. Hard Drive (the 'puter will boot from this and load Windows because it is at the top *FIRST* in the list) 2. CDROM Drive 3. Floppy Drive what we want to do here now is somehow get the CDROM Drive to the top of the list BEFORE the Hard Drive, viz >>>> 1. CDROM Drive 2. Hard Drive 3. Floppy Drive if you can rearange the bootup list in BIOS as i just listed, THEN we can plop your WindowsXP Install CD disc into your CDROM drive, and restart the computer. The 'puter will now boot from your WinXP CD and you can now install WindowsXP at this point. if you have never been into your BIOS or can't follow the install procedure from the URL link above, then i would suggest you get a friend you know who knows how to do it properly, watch them and learn. Its quite intriguing really :) Or go to your local computer shop and get them to do it (for a fee). you can also Google, as Mountain suggested above, "Windows XP Install" to read the various websites on how to. :) Rob, Central Coast NSW Australia

Surely Packard Bell Easynote comes with a Restore CD ?? Some do come with it and some don't. For those that don't, M$ required the OEM system builder to include Recovery CD creator to pop up the first time you turn on the PC. The Recovery CD creator can only be ran once. If you lost the CDs you created, contact PB to order replacement CD at cost. i_XpUser

thanks for all advice guys.haven't got a cd as mentioned but friend has got cd for his computer.would that do the job or are cd's computer and pc specific?thanks again for all advice,catonthewebb

Restore cd's are machine specific. i_XpUser