OK, my initial problem is in another thread, but now I am preparing to just completely reformat/reinstall.

My PC, not this one, the one at home I can no longer boot up is running XP SP 2.

I am thinking I would like to go back to Windows 2000 Pro as it gave me no problems and seemed to have better performance with my games.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I want to completely wipe my harddrive as clean as is humanly possible and start from scratch. I have Win2000 (and XP) setup floopy disks in case it won't boot from the CD Rom drive. I have my sound, video and cable modem drivers safely on a CD.

I am looking for recommendations on how to get my system as clean as possible, as I have migrated from Me>2000 Pro>XP Pro since 2000 without ever reformatting once.

ick... I'm surprised you got that far by upgrading! :o

To completely erase your hard drive, just boot from your XP installation disc. For your system, you can find instructions on how to install XP at:

http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/doc...asp?dn=1067721

The instructions are for an 8200, but most should apply to your system. It will show you how to erase your hard drive and start from scratch.

Win 2000 should also give you the option of totally reformatting your existing partition when you install it.