XP Installation - How Did This Happen?

[thom]

I did a complete installation of XP, not an upgrade. I had already saved all important files to an external HD, thinking that I would lose them all during the installation when the HD was formatted. The installation went fine but all of the old files are still there. I thought a drive format would wipe away all files (that is want I want to happen). Should I use a wipe clean utility and re install XP?

Thanks,

Thom

[faulkner132]

If you want to be 100% sure everything is cleared then yes. Download the drive utilities from the manufacturer's site the 0-write the drive.

That's very strange though... I've never seen a format keep existing files.

[EzyStvy]

Obiviously, the format didn't happen. As I recall, you have to Delete the Partition - Recreate it and then format - install.

You simply reinstalled "on top."

[cyclonus]

I agree w/ EzyStvy.

If you want to wipe the info. & do a clean/fresh reinstall of everything, try wiping your data first with pgp or norton cleansweep or whatever (do several passes, if it makes you feel better). But if you don't want to do that, definitely fdisk & unconditional format (no quick formats). Now you can start your O/S install completely fresh.

[thom]

Yea.....I did somehow reinstall on top, which is not what I wanted. I guess it is a "do over"