Preparing for the Format
First thing to check is if your computer supports booting from the CD-ROM, as the Windows 98 (original and Second Edition) and Windows 2000 CD's support booting and installing directly from the CD-ROM without the need for a boot disk. To check, go into your BIOS and it should usually be in the Advanced BIOS Settings screen and the setting should be labelled something to the likes of Boot devices or Boot order. If CD-ROM or the IDE channel that your CD-ROM is plugged into isn't listed (or SCSI if you're using a SCSI CD-ROM drive), then your motherboard probably doesn't support this feature.

Regardless of the fact that you have or don't have this feature, I would suggest you create a Windows 98 boot disk. The Windows 98 boot disk will allow you to boot into a DOS command prompt and will allow you to administer any problems that might arise during this process. It also contains a generic CD-ROM driver that you can boot directly off of the floppy disk that will support almost all IDE (or ATAPI, for those of you who like to be formal) drives out there. This is necessary if your computer does not have the capability of booting directly from the CD-ROM, as mentioned above.

To create one, go to the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel and under the Book Disk tab, click on the Create Boot Disk button (you will need your Windows 98 CD-ROM handy). This will require one empty floppy disk. If you're running Windows 2000, or can't seem to create a boot disk using the above-mentioned method, you can try downloading this image of the Windows 98 boot disk. Once you've downloaded it, just run the program and it will copy the necessary files to a blank floppy disk.

Also, if your computer doesn't support booting from the CD-ROM and you plan to install Windows 2000 onto this computer, you also need to include a file called smartdrv.exe (download here) onto the boot disk. This file will speed up the installation process VERY considerably.

Keep this disk in a very safe place, and protect it with your life, as it will be your last tool to fix any problems that might arise!

Once, that's all done, we're ready to format! Before you leave Windows for the very last time, check again that you have all your files backed up and stored in a safe place. If you have them stored on removable media, remove the disks from the drive just in case you accidentally delete the stuff, and if you've saved to a separate hard drive, I suggest you unplug it from the computer, or disable it in the BIOS. Finally, say goodbye (literally, you'll feel much better) to your Windows desktop, as it will be a completely new beast once we've gone through the last part of this guide.

Formatting the Drive
Now that everything is backed up and stored right, it's time to perform the actual formatting process. Boot off of that Windows 98 boot disk that we created earlier (we won't be using the CD-ROM drive quite yet), and type in the command format x: /q, without the quotes and where x is the drive where Windows is currently installed, usually c. The program will prompt you if you really want to do this, press Y to continue. This is the part that takes guts to perform, as I often find myself closing my eyes when I press down the Y button because I know that everything is going to be gone except for those few precious files that I've saved in my backup. I can imagine pressing the Y button to be very traumatic for first-timers, but just take your time and press while your ready. Remember, if you forget one last thing, you can always press N to jump back.

The format program will now erase all data that is on that drive letter. This process shouldn't take more than a few seconds and once it's done, it will ask you to enter a volume label, or a name for this drive letter. It's really up to you to decide what to call it, but I usually go with something like MSWIN98 if I'm installing Windows 98 and MSWIN2K if Windows 2000 is going into it. Again, this is completely optional.

Well, we've done it. Your hard drive (or "room," if we go by my analogy in the introduction of this article) is now completely clean and is ready for you to move things back in.

On to: Installing Windows