Formatting the hard drive without erasing the operating system

[chaosblade]

I want to know the procedure of formating the hard drive without erasing the operating system. I have windows xp bootable cd? Is this possible? If no then tell me normal procedure to install windows xp.

[Calvin K]

To perform a clean installation of Windows XP, follow these steps:

• Back up all important information before you perform a clean installation of Windows XP. Save the backup to an external location, such as a CD or external hard disk.
• Start your computer from the Windows XP CD. To do this, insert the Windows XP CD into your CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
• When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD.
• At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.
• Read the Microsoft Software License Terms, and then press F8.
• Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP.
• Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Windows XP Setup.

[Lillebror]

Formatting the hard drive without erasing the operating system is not possible. Unfortunately you can't format your hard disk drive without losing everything, as a format is specifically designed to wipe a drive clean of data for a fresh install. If you format you hard drive (c drive also) then operating system will be erase.

[Wynn]

Formatting the hard drive without erasing the operating system is Depending on the drive that you select, you might need a boot CD or boot disks.

Check his thread for more information :
install windows xp
install windows xp through external USB CDrom drive
HOW TO FORMAT C DISK IN MY LAPTOP
How to Format external Hard Drive