I want to do a new xp pro install and get rid of the first volume PQSERVICE. I think its only notebook pcs that have this volume. Some people who did this ran into errors because when the pc boots, it does not boot from C: first but from PQSERVICE even though your bios says C: whats is the best procedure to use ?

If you have a retail XP disc & don't think you'll ever need Acer's eRecovery disc(s), write zeroes to the disk & go from there.

"If you have a retail XP disc & don't think you'll ever need Acer's eRecovery disc(s), write zeroes to the disk & go from there." Of course, if you've already installed this copy on another machine, you might have problems activating it. Although, it may be possible to purchase an additional product key from Microsoft (don't quote me on that). If you find you need to buy an XP disc (and/or product key), I'd strongly advise keeping away from eBay. As far as fixing your problem, I'd definitely go the route suggested by Sabertooth, if at all possible. Just remember to backup all of the drivers for the hardware (or check their availability for download). A Windows install from a retail XP disc will be much cleaner than any factory install. "Some people who did this ran into errors because when the pc boots, it does not boot from C: first but from PQSERVICE even though your bios says C:" The BIOS regards the first partition on the drive as "C". The OS sees things a little differently. I've seen two different partitions called "C", depending on which OS you booted to (on a dual-boot system). If you removed the PQSERVICE partition, your BIOS would then see your (Windows) C drive as "C". Unfortunately, your C drive would be missing the boot sector, which was on PQSERVICE. While there are ways to fix it, it's quicker and cleaner (and more reliable) to install from a retail XP disc. Please let us know if you found someone's advice to be helpful.