Ok, so I was talking before about my friend's computer and how it had 400 viruses on it. I was going to wipe his hard drive and install WinXP on it - he had Win2K on it at the time. He has 2 hard drives - an 8GB and a 60GB. The 60GB had Win2K on it and the 8GB was being used for storage.

So, I formatted the 8GB first. Then I went and installed WinXP on the 60GB. When I got to the point about whether I wanted to upgrade or do a full install, I selected full install. I was assuming that it would then format the drive before it installed the new WinXP. Well, for some reason, it installed it on the 8GB, even though I was running it from Win2K - which I thought would mean that it would automatically install it over Win2K on the 60GB. It didn't give me the option of which drive I wanted to install it on.

Anyway, I figured that it would be ok, since he could just run WinXP from his 8GB and put everything else on the 60GB. So, I then went and tried formatting the 60GB from WinXP. It went all the way to the end and then said that it was unable to format the drive and didn't give me a reason. It also still has the option when you boot up of which OS you want to use.

So, I guess I need to redo it all. Also, the 8GB is an old 5400 RPM and the 60GB is a 7200 RPM with 8MB cache. So, I am assuming that it would be better to have Windows on the 60GB anyway.

Suggestions?

Here are my suggestions. I'm sure this will bring alot of opinion, but after installing XP so many times on different machines this is what I typically do.

First thing I would do is run the XP compatability wizard off the XP CD. See if XP detects any potential probelms with any installed software or hardware in the system. This can save alot of headaches later.

Prior to installing XP, make sure to download and burn to CD all necessary motherboard and device drivers you may need. If you post specs of the computer I can recommend the order in which to install the drivers. Also, disconnect any devices that are not needed, like scanners, printers, USB/Firewire devices, additional PCI cards, etc. The fewer the number of items attached to the computer the better. Makes troubleshooting much easier if there are problems with the OS install. Add & install the devices one by one after the OS is installed.

Yes, install XP on the 60GB drive and make sure it is the master drive before beginning the XP installation. Set the jumpers on both drives accordingly (60GB = master, 8GB = slave).

Boot off the XP CD. When you get past the license agreement you will have options to do a new installation, then options to delete & create new partitions, and then formatting options. I would choose to do a new installation, delete all old partitions, create new ones and format using FAT32 or NTFS (I choose NTFS). Please be aware that if you are formatting a partition larger than 37GB, NTFS is your only choice.

When creating a partition to install XP on the best thing you can do, in my opinion, is plan beforehand. Do you want to use the entire 60GB as one partition? Do you want to break the drive into smaller partitions, like one for the OS, one for programs, one for data, etc. This is a matter of personal preference. Anyway you want to do it is fine, just think about it for a few moments before diving right in.

So, bottom line:
- Run XP compatability wizard
- Download necessary XP device drivers
- Remove unnecessary peripherals (keep keyboard, mouse, CD, HDDs, video card, monitor)
- Set the master/slave juimpers correctly on both drives
- Boot off the XP CD
- Choose to do a full XP installation
- Delete all old partitions
- Create new partition(s)
- Format
- Proceed with installing the OS

Good luck!

Let me, if you will, just add on a few comments to what Alan says.
He is right about what he says, like he is with his advice so many times.

You mention viruses, and you mention installing XP. Well, are you 100% certain that his drive did not have an active virus? They can cause weird behavior. It is also recommended that you have NO virus protection running (BIOS nor application in the OS) when you go to install the OS (a newly installed OS will access/change the boot sector...much like a boot sector virus, so, it will be prevented a lot).

When you redo this, I suggest you do what Alan said about booting/installing from CD. You do know that if you run smartdrive first, if you are doing a plain CD install, it will go MUCH faster? (many people boot to a dos prompt and then run from CD for some reason...takes forever. you can do it, but if you do, run smartdrv first).

Anyway, on all 6+ of my machines at home (all running XP), I have pretty much done them all by booting/installing from the CD.
Much simpler.

Personally, I skip the first step Alan It isn't always accurate (trust me...I know...and I think you do too). But, it does give people an idea if there MAY be issues. It will often list things that it says may have issues, but, when you install, there is no problem.

ABSOLUTELY agree on having ALL your drivers on a CD (or pen drive). Video/MB/Sound/Storage. Others can come later (sound can as well), but if you have a video driver that isn't "in the box" for XP, you will feel the pain ...same for storage if you run raid or anything (can prevent a successful install).

If you have experienced issues with the first attempt at install, and you have 2 drives, I recommend removing the one you will NOT be booting from with XP. XP will remember a drive that had a working boot/install on it, and it can mess up your driving numbering. Besides, if there is an issue with the drive that you want to install to, and you have more than 1 there, it can mask it....if it is the only one in the system during install, then you will know any issue immediately.

So, taking what Alan said, here is the order I normally do:
1) Put necessary drivers on removeable/accessible storage
2) Set the jumpers to HD so first one is Master/Only
3) Remove extra peripherals if they are OLD/exotic/unnecessary (turn off printer/modem, remove 1394 if you want, remove extra cards)
4) Check bios to make sure no virus protection.
5) Boot from XP CD
6) Do the full XP install
7) Delete the old partions (good advice Alan...a lot of people just install how it was...I always delete so it resets and is cleaner)
8) Create new partitions
9) Format
10) Install
10.a) I don't let it download updates during install. Can cause more issues than it is worth currently..IMHO. Run the updates AFTER you get everything pretty much working
11) When successful, turn on/install any of your peripherals you need or you took out. Get it all going. You do have the drivers, right?
11.a) This includes putting your 2nd HD back in. If there is a chance for a virus on this one, hook it back up, boot from protected floppy, and run your AV software BEFORE you have the 2 drives hooked up at the same time.
12) Get back online and look for hot deals

another word of advice.....create atleast 2 partiions on the drive!!!!.
my system crapped out on me and I couldnt even boot to safe mode....lost EVERYTHING on system. atleast create a SMALL partition larg enought to put another OS on that way it would be possible to back things up if the OS ever becomes corrupt....
It doesnt take much space and is well worth it.
PLUS I use the small partion to play with....I have put Longhorn on it as well as LINUX. Doesnt take long to format and try again when just playing.

Bochi, you're so right. Looks like we have the making of a "How to install a Windows OS" thread"

Let's continue the discussion on what to do after the OS is installed and the computer boots up. This is what I typically do:
1. Install XP Service Pack1 - reboot
2. Install Motherboard Drivers
3. Install Video card drivers
4. Add peripherals one by one in no particular order
5. Install remaining Windows XP Updates (Security, Critical, etc.)

Great advice p0larbear. You know, I never thought about doing that. I think I might start to create an extra partition on future installs for just that purpose. Most of the people I deal with have 40GB+ drives and use maybe 5GB, so there's plenty of space.

See, takes one person to start a thread, ask a question and everyone benefits from other peoples knowledge. I love the exchange of information.

Polarbear is right....
I was so tired, I neglected to comment in that area, but I am glad he did.

I have been creating multiple partitions for some years now.

I always create an "OS" partition. It used to be small, but now, since I also put Office XP, and some very few other programs on that partition (C drive), I have started making it a MINIMUM of 10gb. I think, from here on out with 80gb and above drives, I will start making it 20gb.

One thing I did was to make it smaller than some of my other HDs I had around...just in case. And to allow room for upgrades/expansion.

I know people who ONLY put the OS on the drive, and put Office and other things on application partitions they create (and game partitions, etc). Nice if you can do it and are that way. Not good if you start overcoming that space and need to branch out (games, video files, etc).

So, with the 80gb and 8gb drives, I would save the 8gb for last...use that as a storage drive for whatever. I would partition the 80gb into a 10-15gb and then just use the rest as a partition.