I have an older PC running 1st ed. W98 that I would like to reformat and install a new XP OS. Do I need to go into the BIOS first and set it to start from the CD-ROM drive, or, can I just reformat, and then restart with the XP CD in place?

Yes you can definitely reformatt then reboot with the xp cd but you still need to set the bios to boot to the cdrom first, then your hardrive. You should check all your components first and make sure all your hardware is xp compatible, expecially modem,cdrom etc. It would be a very good idea to make sure you have the latest updated bios before you format and install xp. Hope that helped

The PC is a Micron, about 4 years old, and the website does not offer an updated BIOS. So, I do not know how to get the latest BIOS or a flash for it. Also, how does one determine if the hardware is XP compliant?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.asp If there is no updated bios then you cant do it so skip that info. Also on the xp disk you can put it in and click the part to test your pc for an upgrade to see if it needs anything specific.

JUST put the CD in , boot up, if prompted to bot from CD hit any key, your done. Otherwise, go buy another computer.