I've been raised on macintosh so these PCs are kindof mysterious to me. I've backed up all my important stuff already but I don't really know what to do next. I would like to wipe my HD, partition it and reinstall XP on one of the partitions. I expect there to be a straightforward method of acomplishing this. Can anyone help me?

Go into dos mode .. from windows 98 (im guessing ur on) .. start -> shut down -> restart in msdos mode ..

Insert win98 boot disk -> type "a:" (without quotes) -> type "format c:" (without quotes) -> agree to the format by typing "y" ..

All done

Crusader

If your CD-ROM / DVD-ROM drive is bootable, then I suggest doing that method. When you computer starts when you first turn it on, go into the bios (usually by hitting delete). Inside you will find an option in one of the categories called boot order or something like that. Set your cd-rom drive as the first one, floppy as 2nd, and hard drive as 3rd (you can set it back later). Now once you've saved the settings, restart your computer, and make sure your WinXP cd is in the drive. It will say as its booting up to press any key to boot from CD, do it. This will put you in the Windows XP setup program running from the CD, and you can do disk maintenance from here. If you want to partition your drive, you will first have to delete the active partition you have first, then make 2 partitions, a primary (where windows will be installed), and a secondary where your other stuff will go. Hope that helps..

Thanks