Formatting a laptop's c: drive

you can do a clean install from your usb. i use this setup for all my flash drive boots.
WinSetupFromUSB - Install Windows XP from USB Flash Drive

This guide will show you, how to use WinSetupFromUSB to create a bootable USB Flash Drive including all Windows source files, plus the following installation of Windows XP. Compare to the different USB_Multiboot versions, WinSetupFromUSB comes with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and is in my opinion easier to use.

Here you can get the latest version of the program and you will also find many detailed informations about WinSetupFromUSB.

I've tested this guide with a 32-bit version of Windows XP and a 64-bit version of Windows Vista and it worked flawlessly.
Prerequisites:

All you need is:

a USB Flash Drive with at least 1GB of storage
the original Windows XP Setup CD
WinSetupFromUSB

If you use nLite to slim down your version of Windows XP, please keep the following in mind:
DO NOT remove "Manual Install and Upgrade"
under Operating System Options!

I also recommend to integrate Service Pack 3 into your Windows XP source files.
1. Preparations

Download and install WinSetupFromUSB. Default installation path is C:\WinSetupFromUSB.

Create a new folder with the name WINXPCD in the root directory of drive C:\ and copy all files from your Windows XP Setup CD into this folder. Depending on your version of Windows XP, the content of C:\WINXPCD should look approximately like this:

Content of WINXPCD

The following files will show you, which Service Pack is already integrated into your CD:

WIN51IC.SP1, Sevice Pack 1
WIN51IC.SP2, Sevice Pack 2
WIN51IC.SP3, Sevice Pack 3

2. Start WinSetupFromUSB

Connect the USB Flash Drive to your PC and start WinSetupFromUSB. It should show up under USB Disk Selection :

WinSetupFromUSB - main window
3. Select your Source Path

Click on Browse under Windows 2000/XP/2003 Source and navigate to the folder with your Windows XP Source Files. It should be C:\WINXPCD:

Browse to Folder

Click OK and C:\WINXPCD should show up under Windows 2000/XP/2003 Source :

WinSetupFromUSB - source path
4. Format USB Flash Drive

PeToUSB or HP Format Tool are used to format the USB Flash Drive. There is no need to download these programs seperately as they are already included in WinSetupFromUSB.

USB Flash Drives up to 2GB should be formatted with PeToUSB in FAT16, USB Flash Drives with 4GB or more with HP Format Tool in FAT32.

I will use PeToUSB to format my Kingston Data Traveler with 2GB.

In the main window of WinSetupFromUSB click PeToUSB under Format target using to start the program. The USB Flash Drive should show up under Destination Drive. Check USB Removable, Enable Disk Format and Quick Format. Uncheck Enable File Copy under File Copy Options :

PeToUSB

Click Start and answer the following two questions "Continue?" with Yes.
All existing volumes and data will be lost!

If everything goes well, the message "Operation Completed Successfully!" should appear. Click OK and close PeToUSB.

The process with HP Format Tool is similar.
5. Copy Windows XP Source Files

To start the process of copying the Windows XP source files to the USB Flash Drive, click GO in the main window of WinSetupFromUSB. Depending on the write speed of your USB Flash drive it may take a while to copy all files.

WinSetupFromUSB - file copy

At the end the following notice about the Windows installation process should be displayed:

WinSetupFromUSB - notice

Click OK and close WinSetupFromUSB with EXIT.
6. Windows Installation - Part 1

Connect the USB Flash Drive to your PC and turn on the computer. Press ESC at the boot screen and you will be able to select the USB Flash Drive as your boot device from the boot menu.
The ESC key is used by ASUS for the Eee PC series.
Other manufacturers may use other keys, e.g. F8 or F12.

After booting from USB Flash Drive, the following menu should be displayed:

Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup - First and Second parts

Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to get to the next menu:

First part of Windows XP Home Edition setup
Second part of XP Home Edition setup+Start Windows for first time

First part of Windows XP Home Edition setup is already selected. Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to start the Text mode part of setup. During this part you can create, delete and format partitions and finally the setup files are copied to your hard disk. At the end the system will restart automatically.
7. Windows Installation - Part 2

After restart, boot the PC again from your USB Flash Drive. The same menu should be displayed:

Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup - First and Second parts

Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to get to the next menu:

First part of Windows XP Home Edition setup
Second part of XP Home Edition setup+Start Windows for first time

Second part of XP Home Edition setup+Start Windows for first time is already selected. Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to start the GUI mode part of setup. During this part you will be asked for your product key, timezone, usernames and other necessary informations. At the end the system will restart automatically.
8. Windows Installation - Part 3

After restart, boot the PC again from your USB Flash Drive. The same menu should be displayed:

Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup - First and Second parts

Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to get to the next menu:

First part of Windows XP Home Edition setup
Second part of XP Home Edition setup+Start Windows for first time

Second part of XP Home Edition setup+Start Windows for first time is already selected. Press Enter or wait 10 seconds to Start Windows for the first time. The Windows installation process will be finished and finally the Windows Desktop will appear.
DO NOT disconnect the USB Flash Drive too early!

At next startup you can boot into Windows from your hard disk.
Notes:

After successsful installation, the following boot menu will always be displayed during startup:
Please select the operating system to start:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
USB Repair NOT to Start Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

If you don't plan to use the repair option and want to boot directly into windows, you have to do the following:

Open the file boot.ini in the root directory of drive C:\ with Notepad:
[Boot Loader]timeout=30
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINDOWS="USB Repair NOT to Start Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Delete the following line:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINDOWS="USB Repair NOT to Start Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
DO NOT delete the wrong line!
Your computer may not boot the next time!

Save changes to the file.

At next startup the boot menu will not be displayed.

If you want to keep the repair option, you can reduce the time to display the operating system options from 30 to 5 seconds:
[Boot Loader]
timeout=5

Save changes to the file.

At next startup the boot menu will be displayed only 5 seconds.

gd luck

Try to buy a Windows XP2 cd . The cd key is ( HH8M2 - JV8XT - PGWY2 - 8WV28 - 2B9M3 ). Replace your old OS xp home edition , with Windows XP2 OS. Hoping this would solve your problem sir. Have a nice day..

Put the genuine Microsoft CD-ROM disk into your CD-ROM drive.
Restart your computer.
As soon as it starts, look for a message like "press Fxx to temporary change boot-order".
Press that key.
Select to boot from you CD-ROM drive.
This will start to install Windows, by reading from the CD-ROM drive.

No sir you can just convert your windows into xp home original.you will have to format the pirated windows which you have then re-install your new xp home into it
use your xp home cd to format your hard disk by booting your system with the xp cd and then install your windows
Feel free to ask anything
Thanks

If you wan to format your laptop you need to follow this steps.

1. Turn on your laptop an press delete key to change the BIOS settings. Make your CD/DVD drive in to first boot. Press F10 and Enter to save the settings.
2. Load the windows CD and press enter to boot from CD/DVD
   

Get a bootable windows xp cd first.
Boot the computer and enter the bios.
Change the boot priority and make the computer boot through the optical drive.
Then save settings and reboot placing the cd in the drive.
The computer will boot through cd and show the main menu which allows you to format and install the xp select install and you will be able to do so

New hard drives have to be formatted and an operating system installed to be able to boot up.

The operating system depends on what you want to put on there

As you are posting in the XP HOME section I would suggest you set your bios to boot from CD
Place the XP HOME CD in the drive and boot up
It will say press any key to boot from CD DO SO !

Follow the on screen instructions until setup is complete and then start to install the drivers you need and activate XP

You have a virus most likely. You will need to boot with an antivirus cd & let it scan & repair the virus damage. After this is done you should have control of your system again. Hope this helps.

do you have XP bootable CD? If yes goto BIOS settings and select primary booting device CD Drive and save settings and exit. After restarting your system You will be asked to press any key for installing the OS.