Removing o/s on XP.........how ?

Hi ,
I just bought a IBM 600E and it has 3 operating systems on it...98 , 2000 pro and XP.
I'd like to keep XP and get rid of the other 2 as I'm sure they're eating up valuable space and I won't use them.
I'm a beginner at best so please be easy on me , should I even attempt this myself ?
Thanks ,
Ronny

 

First of all, do you have the original XP CD-ROM?
Second, since you just bought the computer, do you need anything that's on the harddrive?

The easiest way to fix this, is to boot the computer from the XP CD-ROM and reformat the harddisk(s) during the install, in that way you will be free to configure the machine and disks the way you want.

 

Absolutely agree - clean start is by far the best. Leaner, meaner, faster PC that way.

But - if you don't have a good XP install disk or if you have stuff on there you don't want to lose, you can't go that route because it will wipe out everything when you format.

Let us know.

 

Yes , I do have the install CD for XP , is there anything I should know if I do this ( a clean install remember I'm just a beginner at this stuff !!!) and how do I actually do it ?
Thanks ,
Ronny p.s. this list is great !!!

 

Boot from the CD if your system will allow. Early in the process you will get a screen dealing with the existing partitions and operating systems.

Follow the directions to delete all existing partitions. Then create a partition for your operating system and install it.

You can either set the thing up as one large drive or else use a partition for the OS and another for data. If you have drive space concerns (and you probably will with your hardware) you might want to go with just a single large partition. Otherwise, 4Gb for the system partition should do it nicely and you can later set the rest up as a data drive.

You will find discussion on here and elsewhere about using NTFS or FAT32 for the file format. You won't find any firm consensus though unless you have security concerns. If that is the case, a clear decision for NTFS.

As far as which file system will make most efficient use of your hard drive space - that will depend on drive size.

 

Ok , I just tried to reboot XP from the CD and I chose NTFS , it went through it's run and came to the partition spot and I chose D ( I guess to delete the current partition ) and it wouldn't go any further becuase there is no partition ?????????? So I had to chose F3 to quit setup because it was going to add another XP on the hard drive...............I'm really confused here !
Now what do I do ?
Thanks ,
Ronny

 

Microsoft's instructions on how to reformat/reinstall XP from the CD can be found here. As usual, the boys and girls at Microsoft have followed their axiom, "Why use a hundred words when a thousand will do?" but don't give up. The actual instructions are about halfway down the page.