I have having to OS 98se and xp. My xp is not working properly so i decided to do a clean install by removing it and then installing it again. The problem is how to do it?? XP is not working at the moment so should i just format the drive with the help of 98 and then install xp or?? i am completely new to all these thing so pls tell me everything in detail Gaurav

Hello Gaurav, I'll keep it short n simple - go into BIOS and set CD ROM as the first Boot-seek device. Start your machine with WinXP CD inserted and it will prompt for an install - the rest is self-explanatory. Format the drive before you do this. However, ensure that you have the device driver CD of your motherboard and accessories, if any. Also, just an opinion : go for windows XP Professional and not the Home Edition. Microsoft wont tell you this...but 9 out of 10 people will :-) Best! Anuj "When Life gives you Lemons, eat 'em raw"

>> go for windows XP Professional and not the Home Edition. >> Why? What advantages are there to the average home or small business user? I have both professional and home and for most home/small business users, professional just introduces unnecessary complications. You just end up paying for extras you don't need. Unless you are logging onto a corporate network, stick with home. Stuart

Yes, I agree, for home use Professional is overkill - the usual reason given for a user wanting it is that 'Professional' sounds better so it must be better, but if you ask them how is it better they are stumped. Back to your original question, follow the boot advice in response 1 - when it gets to the part about existing installations make sure you know how your dual-boot is set up, it's very easy to get confused & format the wrong drive or partition. Also if you want to be able to see your XP files from Win98 you need to format the XP drive as FAT, not NTFS. "I know that I'm mad, I've always been mad"

Opinions aside... What does XP Pro have that XP Home doesn't? Read it and then make your own choice... Windows XP Comparison Guide i_XpUser

so i think the conclusion: I will firstformat my drive in which win xp is installed and then install xp again taking care of the boot.ini . Thank u all very much for ur support!

If you are considering running dual OS like '98 and Xp, you will need to first load Xp, then '98. Lessons learnt the hard way are not easily forgotten.