I no longer have the original os disc but have retained the serial number for it. Is there a program that I can use to reformat the hard drive and then download and install a xp os and then just use the serial number to re-register ?
you can use the free gparted. It's a bootcd, when it boots up, it'll show you the hard drive partitions. Next just format the partition you want to delete. You can also use gparted to prep the drive by making new partitions/resize partitions etc. You can also use a windows installation cd to format the partition, but I always like to have the option of seeing how the hard drive looks before installing windows on it. But once you format the drive, it's erased permanently. If you are unsure, you might want to use the demo of "easyimage" to make up a image backup of your c: system partition. If you run into problems at least you can restore that backup and have a working computer. http://gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org/index.php http://www.eazsolution.com/en/easyimage.php
in addition,if you still have your serial go to your local computer shop and get a copy of your disk.its a minimal charge.then you can use your serial with it.