Be sure you have the XP Home CD before you do any formatting.  Most versions of that 
CD will usually give you the option of reformatting the drive along the way--if not, 
get a system CD from a software dealer (often they will loan one to you, especially 
if they sold you the operating sytem CD).  There is also an fdisk command you can 
type in at the command prompt, but if you're the novice you say you are I'd recommend 
you avoid using it as it can open up a can of worms, especially when XP is involved.

Before doing any of this, though, consider this: If your XP Pro is running properly, 
and if you have any appreciable installed applications you'd hate to lose [formatting 
essentially erases everything on the drive], think about purchasing a license for 
the XP Pro.  The Professional Edition is far superior to the Home Edition, especially 
if you expect to do any network-oriented work.

Don't apologize for being a novice; everyone starts out that way!  And this is a 
good site for you to raise any questions such as this.  There are a lot of knowledgable 
people here who will be glad to help out (plus a few pains in the you-know-what, 
but they're in the minority and don't tend to last long).

Finally, congratulations on your concern about the bootlegged XP.  You're already 
a better expert than many when you realize that soon no one will bother to put out 
quality products if something isn't done about that problem!  





On Wednesday, February 25, 2004 at 11:49 am, bernard hedgepeth wrote:
>
>THANKS HARRY,
>my next question to you or anyone else that can help is how do I reformat the drive? 
>Sorry I am a novice.If possible is there a site to go to?
>thanks
>

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