I am trying to format my virus rdden computer, however when I get to the point of accepting the agreement with windows (after booting from the cd) it won't allow me to accept. what do I do?

best thing to do is connect the hard drive to another computer and copy over your important data and then put the hard drive back in the laptop and format the hard drive and then reinstall xp.. I do computers for a living and your problem is best solved the way i told you..

Put the windows cd in the cd drive. Restart your computer while pressin Del or F2 to go to the system BIOS and go to Advanced BIOS settings and go to boot order or boot sequence, select Cd/Dvd to be the 1st device on the list. Hit F10 to exit. Your computer will restart and boot from the cd. On the first screen, just press enter. Then F8 to accept license agreement. Then you will press esc. Select the partition that you want to clean up! Select the first option (quick NTFS), then press F to start formating! Wait and follow the instructions on the screen.

HI there,

Here is a Microsoft Article to help. Click Here

Hope that helps.

you should install the driver for the network first ..so to be able to install the antivirus ..cause most of them need internet connection for a complete and correct install...and after that the first thing is to install the protection cause during the installing of any program the computer communicate with the net and you are in danger ..so ...in principle you should install the protection first ..but this is not possible unless you have a on board lan card that installs itself from windows..
after you make the internet communication ..first thing is to protect yourself..

To reinstall Windows XP, perform all the steps in the following sections in the order in which they are listed.
The reinstallation process can take 1 to 2 hours to complete. After you reinstall the operating system, you must also reinstall the device drivers, virus protection program, and other software.
Booting From the Operating System CD Save and close any open files and exit any open programs.
Insert the Operating System CD. Click Exit if Install Windows XP message appears.
Restart the computer.
Press <F12> immediately after the DELL™ logo appears.
If the operating system logo appears, wait until you see the Windows desktop, and then shut down the computer and try again. Press the arrow keys to select CD-ROM, and press <Enter>.
When the Press any key to boot from CD message appears, press any key.
Windows XP Setup
When the Windows XP Setup screen appears, press <Enter> to select To set up Windows now.
Read the information on the Microsoft Windows Licensing Agreement screen, and press <F8> to accept the license agreement.
If your computer already has Windows XP installed and you want to recover your current Windows XP data, type r to select the repair option, and remove the CD.
If you want to install a new copy of Windows XP, press <Esc> to select that option.
Press <Enter> to select the highlighted partition (recommended), and follow the instructions on the screen.
When the Regional and Language Options screen appears, select the settings for your location and clickNext.
Enter your name and organization (optional) in the Personalize Your Software screen, and click Next.
At the Computer Name and Administrator Password window, enter a name for your computer (or accept the one provided) and a password, and click Next.
If the Modem Dialing Information screen appears, enter the requested information and click Next.
Enter the date, time, and time zone in the Date and Time Settings window, and click Next.
If the Networking Settings screen appears, click Typical and click Next.
If you are reinstalling Windows XP Professional and you are prompted to provide further information regarding your network configuration, enter your selections. If you are unsure of your settings, accept the default selections.
When the Welcome to Microsoft screen appears, click Next.
When the How will this computer connect to the Internet? message appears, click Skip.
When the Ready to register with Microsoft? screen appears, select No, not at this time and click Next.
When the Who will use this computer? screen appears, you can enter up to five users.
Click Next.
Click Finish to complete the setup, and remove the CD.
Reinstall the appropriate drivers with the Drivers and Utilities CD.
Reinstall your virus protection software.
Reinstall your programs.

If you are wanting to reformat the hard drive and reinstall your OS, then insert the OS CD and restart your computer. It will boot from the CD to the Windows Setup Menu. At the welcome screen hit enter. Press F8 to accept the License Agreement. If you have an existing OS you can repair it or skip this by hitting ESC. Use the Arrow key to select Select the drive or partition you want to format. Choose NTFS and press enter. After the format follow the instructions to reinstall Windows.

The issue is due to presents of earlier operating system files which are avoiding you to reinstall the os.
At this point I recommend you to clean the hard disk and then try for fresh installation. However, I am providing you the steps below:
Perform the steps provided in the below web site and then perform the Reinstall process

http://killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

NOTE: The URL above will take you to a non HP Web site. HP does
not control and is not responsible for information outside
of the HP Web site.


After performing the complete format of Hard Drive, Reinstall the Windows XP.

To reinstall the operating system, follow the steps below:

1. Ensure that the CD-ROM is connected to the notebook.
2. Turn on the notebook.
3. Immediately insert the operating system CD into the CD drive.
4. Press and hold the Power button for 5 seconds to turn off the notebook.
5. Press the Power button again to start the notebook.
6. Press Esc key to boot from the CD when HP logo appears. Choose the first boot device as CD ROM and then click enter. The Welcome to Setup screen is displayed.
7. Press ENTER to continue. A Licensing Agreement screen is displayed.
8. Press F8 to accept the agreement and continue. The Setup window is displayed.
9. Press ESC to continue installing a fresh copy of the operating system without repairing.
10. Press ENTER to setup the operating system.
11. Press C to continue using this partition.
12. Select "Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick)", and then press ENTER. A caution message stating that formatting this drive will delete all current files, is displayed.
13. Press F to format the drive. The reinstallation process begins and may take several minutes to complete. Your Notebook will restart into Windows after the process is complete.

NOTE: When prompted for the product key, refer to the Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity located on the bottom of your
notebook.

I hope this information helps you. Please reply if I can help you further.

Back up your data. Before formatting your hard drive, it is essential that you back up all of the data you would like to access after the format is completed.

Step 2 Insert your Windows XP sp2 CD and restart your computer. If you own an Acer laptop, you most likely will be running Windows XP.

Step 3 Press "enter" when the welcome to setup page appears. Press the F8 key to accept the Windows licensing agreement.

Step 4 Select your CD drive as your boot device. You will want to boot your computer through the Windows start-up CD instead of booting from your hard drive.

Step 5 Follow the on-screen prompts and click "yes" when you are asked if you would like to format your C drive. If you click "yes," the formatting process will finish, and you will have successfully formatted your hard drive.

check the RAM of your system and the OS for virus, if possible try formatting the OS or REPAIRING it.

Replace the hard drive. If you're lucky, you can get one for under $100. Laptop or Desktop? (Laptop drives are WAY more specific.)