I am trying to do a clean install of Win XP Pro. The current OS is Win ME and I thought that there was an option during install to reformat and install XP Pro. I went thru the install and never saw the option and ended up installing XP over top ME. How would I go about reinstalling XP but reformatting 1st? Easiest way please. Thanks in advance.

The easiest way would be to convert to NTFS. That would wipe out ME. To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt Open Command Prompt. In the command prompt window, type convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. Notes To open command prompt, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Another thing you can do is, while ME is booted, slip in the XP disk; XP will boot into the installation screen; Choose "Clean Install", do NOT choose "Upgrade (recommended)"; Watch for the next option screen; when it appears, choose "Do Not Automatically Install, Let Me Choose the Partition to Install Into" or words to that effect. You will be presented with a graphic display of your Harddrive, the partitions, and sizes. Use your up&down arrows to hilight, and Return to choose. Hilight all partitions you have (one at a time) and remove them. That destroys everything. Create one large partition, and then format it in NTFS. This will take a long time. After the format is finished, the installation will kick in automatically, and you know your way from here. BTW - Even if you choose one large partition for the entire disk, XP will create a small, 8-meg partition for its own use as system files. Don't get confused (like I did the first time) and wonder why you have two partitions instead of the one you ordered.

You don't need to convert to NTFS to get Win ME off the system. Just do an fdisk to remove the partition. Run fdisk again to make a new one. Reformat using format c:/s from your win me boot disk. You may have to reboot a few times but it is very simple. Make sure you have a win me boot disk before you remove the partition.