I need help to completely erase my laptop HD in order to re-install WIN XP Pro. I have a 8 month old Lenovo 3000 N100 laptop. I get a fatal error ("internal error has caused this process to fail) when using my install disks (6 install + 1 recovery disk + 1 supplemental disk) with the option "destructive format & restore to factory state". After I bought XP Pro from Lenovo to replace Vista Business edition, there was no sound so I did a no no and installed my copy of XP for my gateway desktop on the laptop which now boots ok but is only good for 30 days unless a multiple liscense is purchased. I believe if I can get back to a clean install of XP Pro, I can then solve the audio problem. At this point, Lenovo sent me to a site to download a version of PC Doctor for Dos for my machine but won't tell me how to use it. I think I'm supposed to somehow use PC Doctor with burning SW (I have Nero & Cyberlink Power2Go) to create a bootable CD (or DVD?) and then use it to boot my laptop and hopefully see an option to completely wipe the HD clean. I can locate the ISO file but don't know how to use it to create the boot disk. Also, I have to create the boot DVD on my desktop since I don't have the SW, that I know of to burn a boot disk on my laptop. Any help is appreciated. By the way, there's more tragic-comedy to this story due to bad advice from tech. support and frustration on my part. Aaron Carter

There was no sound because you didn't install the driver. Why would install XP from another computer to try to fix a driver issue?? You don't need PC Doctor either, you need to clean up your mess & start from scratch. Decide which install disc you wanna use, boot off it, partition & format your HDD, then reinstall XP. If any of your devices don't work after the install (sound, video, network, etc), search out the XP compatible drivers for your hardware & install them. Just a bit of warning though...many people who've tried to downgrade their OS (Vista to XP) have found that there are no XP drivers available for their new hardware. In the end, most ended up going back to Vista.

Have you tried Active KillDisk ? http://www.killdisk.com/

You say you have an XP pro disk from Lenovo? I'd put that back in and start the computer from that cd. Install normally.When it asks about partitions use the delete choice then make a new one. Otherwise, I'd email lenovo and ask them what you need to do to get the audio working. They might have given you a wrong disk. Most likely you can get your audio to work. Shouldn't you have warranty support for this? Ask them is you can have it worked on under warranty. You may have paid for that already. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/s... i_Xp/VistaUser

"I need help to completely erase my laptop HD in order to re-install WIN XP Pro." What was the main reason for opting to do this? Didn't like the glass interface? Compatibility & application errors? Performance drag issues? "I have a 8 month old Lenovo 3000 N100 laptop. I get a fatal error ("internal error has caused this process to fail) when using my install disks (6 install + 1 recovery disk + 1 supplemental disk) with the option "destructive format & restore to factory state"." What discs -- Vista? And why did you attempt to reload something you are trying to get away from ??? "After I bought XP Pro from Lenovo to replace Vista Business edition, there was no sound so I did a no no and installed my copy of XP for my gateway desktop on the laptop which now boots ok but is only good for 30 days unless a multiple liscense is purchased." Even if you couldn't stand Vista that bad, there really was no reason to purchase another copy of XP, when you had one on another machine over there, but I will not go into that here. "I believe if I can get back to a clean install of XP Pro, I can then solve the audio problem." Wasn't this no sound issue already solved by the 30-day XP installation you made via your Gateway disc? Besides, if the XP installation was the same as the license you purchased from Lenovo, all you need to do is change the product key from the 30-day license to the full license & M$ even have a tool to accomplish that. "At this point, Lenovo sent me to a site to download a version of PC Doctor for Dos for my machine but won't tell me how to use it." This is really unnecessary. "I think I'm supposed to somehow use PC Doctor with burning SW (I have Nero & Cyberlink Power2Go) to create a bootable CD (or DVD?) and then use it to boot my laptop and hopefully see an option to completely wipe the HD clean. I can locate the ISO file but don't know how to use it to create the boot disk. Also, I have to create the boot DVD on my desktop since I don't have the SW, that I know of to burn a boot disk on my laptop." There are many tools out there to wipe a hard disk, but an XP or Vista disc is sufficient enough to delete partitions on the disk. IMHO, you seem to be making a mountain out of a mole hill here. Good luck!

Dban that will clean you out... http://dban.sourceforge.net/