Oh dear, unable to solve my system32 problem posted earlier i decided to re-install xp, which is supplied on a recovery disk from my retailer. What i really wanted to do was format my hard drive and then install from fresh but i can find no way of getting a dos screen to allow me to use the format command. All that I have done now is installed xp 4 (yes 4) times on 4 different partitions. I thought i knew a little but this have proved otherwise. How can i format my drive and start over

A Microsoft XP CD has an option during install to format. There is no DOS in XP.

What your recovery CD contains I know not.

You can format outside of windows with GParted but I have no idea if the CD you have is a full install of XP or if it needs files already on your hard drive. If the latter formatting would render the recovery CD worthless.

Who is the manufacturer of the computer or source of the CD you have?

My pc came from a company called 'mesh'. I have managed to install xp but now when my pc boots it gives me a choice of 4 versions. How can I remove the 3 wrong choices

If they are on different partitions delete or format the partitions.

This can be done outside of windows with GParted. XP will not delete nor format a system partition no matter how many there are.

If they are all on the same partition see this FAQ # 20: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#020