multipull installs os/windows xp

[gavin.barrass1]

before i start im a newbie so if any one replys please take it easy.ive got a 20 gig hard drive and 18 of it is 2 installs of windows xp,ive had this computer about a month and didnt know much about the web and virus's and spy ware so i got dial up and went on the internet .but i didnt have any anti virus's or anything to protect me against any thing,so after a couple of week there was a lot of stuff on it i didnt want so i thought id put xp on again and choose a clean install thinking it would wipe everything off i didnt want.so i installed it and it saved some files and stuff i didnt want and transferd em to the new install id just done.so after a week the same thing came up(stuff on i didnt want couldnt be botherd fishing it all out and deleting it) so out came the disk again.and again it copied files over i didnt want and it didnt format the other copy.SO is ther any way i can format the hard drive ?ive only one hard drive and no one i could take it to and ask to format it so is there any software out there capable of formating what i dont want or need and keeping what i do need all while my coputer is on and windows running.OR how can i format it ?is there any way?p.s ive now got the proper software to protect me.

[GX1_Man]

Format the drive, erasing EVERYTHING and reinstall XP. Before you even connect it to the internet (don't even plug in a cable!), install SP2 (if not already there) and at the least an antivirus. You can download these and have them ready on CD. AdAware and Spybot are helpful as well.

[gavin.barrass1]

thanks for the reply but my question was how to format the drive?I figgerd it out though,i used software called eraser that i saw on a question n answer on this site and made the boot disk on my floppy drive.From there on the disk did everything and this morning i installed xp sp2.For some reason it wouldnt detect my router so i formated it again and installed xp sp1 and everythigs go ing o.k.so cheers for the reply and any more problems ill be coming to this site again.

[GX1_Man]

You don't need any additional software. XP can do this when you hit the f8 screen to load and can choose to delete and add partitions. Then it offers the choice to format the drive.