If your computer needs to be reformatted and Windows re-installed, you must first disconnect from the network (remove Ethernet cable from computer or wall), and then follow these steps found here.

WARNING: Formatting your hard drive will REMOVE any and ALL files on your computer. This includes any documents, pictures, or music you may have put on the computer since it was first set up.

1. Backup any files you want to keep. You can copy files to floppy disks, zip disks, or CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD-Rs, or other suitable media.
2. Make sure your network cable is unplugged from the wall.
3. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive and restart your computer.
4. The computer will prompt you to Press any key to boot from CD. Press a key on the keyboard to start Windows Setup.


The computer will now load the setup files. This may take a few minutes.

You will be presented with a menu. Press Enter to setup Windows XP.

A license agreement will appear. Read through it and press F8 when ready.

Next you will prepare the hard drive for the installation of Windows. You will see a list of hard drives and partitions.

Delete the partitions prefixed with C:. To do this, select the partition and press D. Windows Setup may warn you that this is a system partition. Press Enter.

To complete the removal of the partition, press L when you see this screen.

You will be returned to the partition list. There should be an Unpartitioned space item in the list. Highlight it and press C to create a new partition.

Windows Setup will ask you for the size of the partition. The field should be filled in with the size of your hard drive. We suggest you do not modify it and simply press Enter

Once again you will return to the partition list. There should be a new listing for C: labeled Partition1 [New (Raw)]. Highlight it and press Enter.

You will now be asked which file system to format the drive in. We recommend you select NTFS (either Quick or otherwise). Press Enter to continue.

The drive will now be formatted. This may take a few minutes. After this step is complete your hard drive will be completely empty.

Windows Setup will now copy the files from the CD that will be needed to install WindowsXP. This will take several minutes.
After the files have been copied, Windows Setup will restart your computer. You can remove the Windows CD at this time. If you choose to leave it in, do NOT press any keys when the computer says to Press any key to boot from CD.

At this point, the Windows Setup program will install Windows and configure your hardware. It will ask you to configure some settings like date/time, users, and to input your serial number.

After 40-60 minutes, installation will finish and restart the computer into Windows. At this point you should install AntiVirus software, turn on the firewall, and update Windows with any available security updates.