erase hard drive

i have today re installed xp home edition, when prompted i asked for fresh install which should have overwrote previous. but when i go into documents and setting all my old users are still there. is there a way to completely erase my hard drive so i can install xp afresh. i have done this before but can not remember how. i think someone said its not easy entering dos in xp.
thanks
keith

 

thank you for your reply, that was exactly what i do, but my old accounts still remain even some programes i had installed are still there

 

You can start with a windows 98 disk and use fdisk to eliminate the partitions.

Once you have all the partitions eliminated and go to install xp the install will take you through the setup of the drive.

However the only option you will have for file format is NTSF.
If you are familiar with ghost you can overwrite the drive with a ghost restore disk and reformat on install - this will remove all the partitions if you have any if you choose to overwrite the whole drive.

If you really want to be thorough and overwrite eveything with 1s and zeros there are utilties to do this. However the process takes some time.

Here is a link to such a utility program - killdisk . The free portion will overwrite your drive once .

link: http://www.killdisk.com/

 

Writing 1s and zeros obliterating your drive

If you overwrite the drive fully you will overwrite everything on the drive - including partitions and hidden directories and perhaps even hidden partitions that the manufacturer put in.
You can go to the manufacturer of your hard drive and see if they have such a utility . I know that the standard desktop hard drive manufacturers usually have one for download - Maxtor (Seagate now) , Western Digital for sure.
Some of the laptop drive manufacturers do not seem to have this utility.
Remember I had a HP laptop that I put Linux on ( horrors) . Could not get it off for some reason. HP tech support kept repeating a mantra to me that they only supported Microsoft Windows.
At the worst you can use the killdisk utility.
It is guaranteed to work - if your drive tests ok ( a utility on the website of the drive man).
Then just do a Windows XP fresh install.
The XP install will then set up the drive from scratch and go from there.
It will all take some time but it is the only thorough way to do it . I am sure that you have already spent a fair bit of time it by now. It will work for sure.

 

visionof thank you, the download and floppy disc worked a treat problem now solved, thanks all

 

You want to format your hard drive with a new installation.
At the worst you can start your computer with a Windows 98 diskette ( if you have a disk drive).
Format the drive if it will let you ( if you have Fat32 as your file format).
If not then fdisk the drive to remove the partitions.
When you boot to your install Windows XP will prepare the drive and format it.
Ultimately you want to format your drive.