Help please! Deleting old user profiles.

Hi, well, here's my situation.

I had to reinstall Windows XP, and in doing so my old user profiles can no longer be accessed--yet their files are still taking up space on my computer. I actually (stupidly) had a folder with a few gigs of files in it on my desktop before I did this, and now I can no longer go to the user profile's desktop directory to delete them (it gives me the "Access Is Denied" message).

Is there any way around this?

Alternatively, how can I delete everything on my computer and reinstall windows?

Thanks a lot for your help,
Trevor

 

You can partition and format your drive during the Windows install process. When asked, delete the current partition, then create a new one. This will ensure a clean install.

 

Thanks for the advice... didn't quite work, though, unfortunately. I got a message that the current partition couldn't be deleted because setup needed temporary files on that partition to run... any ideas?

 

Sure wish I could see what was going on, because that doesn't make any sense. If you boot from the XP cd, there should be no temporary files on the hard drive being used by windows.
It's been awhile since I've installed XP from a standard disk (I've created an Unattended Install CD that installs automatically) and I use Pro, but I don't believe Home is any different here. After xp loads all of the drivers a screen comes up asking you if you want to repair a windows installation (which takes you to the Repair Console) or if you want to do a clean install. Select Install. It should then find your current partition/windows installation. Select D to delete partition. Continue from there.

OR you could download Free FDISK:
http://www.23cc.com/free-fdisk/

put it on a bootable floppy disk
http://bootdisk.com/

and FDISK your partition away. Then install XP.

 

According to the page, Clean Install Windows XP, "If setup returns a message 'the partition contains the setup files and cannot be deleted' use the info from this link: Delete NON-DOS Partition. "

Through the above links and the ones jheibeck posted, you'll get probably more information than you ever wanted about doing a clean install of XP.

 

Thanks, Miz. When will I learn that every time I get lax and think I've seen just about every problem a specific situation can present, that "just about " kicks me in the teeth

I should have looked for that error message before I posted.
Thanks again..

 

Wow, perfect. Thanks so much, both of you.

Trevor

 

You're welcome. Thanks for posting back to let us know you got things up and running.