Need to reformat my dad's computer and reinstall Windows 2000

[CityOfAngels]

Ok my dad has a crappy Gateway from around 1999-2001. He's got it REAL bad with trojans, virii, spyware, adware, hijackers, toolbars, etc. After running every single scanning proggie on the planet, I decided that I need to reformat his drive and reinstall Windows 2000. I need your help.

So far, I've backed up the files he wanted to keep by FTP'ing them to my PC. I read around for tutorials, and found that I have to do this:

1. Create a Windows 2000 floppy boot disc.
2. Startup his Gateway, hit F1 to get into the BIOS mode, and set it to boot from the CD drive.
3. Restart and boot with the Windows 2000 disc in the CD drive.
4. Press F10 and choose Recovery Console.
5. Specify my installation.
6. Enter admin user/pass.
7. Type, "map" and hit enter.
8. Type, "format C: /fs:ntfs" and hit enter.
9. Type, "y" and hit enter.
10. After the drive is formatted, type "exit" and hit enter.

Ok, so, I have no idea how to create a Windows 2000 floppy boot disc. I have a Windows 2000 CD, so all I need are instructions on how. Also, are there any errors in this process, or anything else I should look out for? And after I format and restart his PC, do I restart it with the boot disc in the floppy drive? How will it detect my Windows 2000 CD if the CD drivers have been wiped away just like everything else?

What else do I need to know that I haven't asked about? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I really don't want to make my dad's computer unusable. Thanks!

[catback]

If your win2k cd is bootable you won't need the boot floppys, during a install where you boot with the cd (or disks if needed) I believe you can choose to format the drive before installation thus not needing to go into recovery console.

[Cuatela]

check the BIOS (usually hitting Delete during initial load) and make sure the optical (CD) drive boots before the hard drive. It should give the option of booting from the CD.

[Jinn]

Boot floppies are SO 1998. Seriously -- a fresh reinstall for WIN2k shouldn't be hard at all.

The bios key may not be F1; most Dell's I've messed with its DEL or F2
(It'll say on screen (F2- Setup).

Enter the bios, set the boot order to have CD/Optical first (usually using +/-) to change their order.

Reboot the computer, and it'll prompt you: create partition, delete partition, format partition. Typically I'd delete all the partitions and create a new one (either the full drive or a manageable size for a "system" partition).

Then format it (NTFS or FAT32) and install to that drive.

Voila.. your CD is almost certainly bootable.. I reinstall all the time with no floppy drive at all.

[WillyPete]

Yeah, if you have the chance, set a system partition and a data partition. That way you can reformat C: at ease without fear of losing data.

[CityOfAngels]

Thanks everybody! Reformatting and reinstalling was a snap. I just didn't know whether to choose NTFS or FAT32. I figured Windows 2000 is "built on NT technology," and NTFS has "NT" in it, so I chose NTFS. Everything worked great, and I just FTP'ed all my dad's files back to his PC and he now has a clean slate. No more blaming me for all the virii he'll be getting because I have my own PC.

[Jinn]

Make sure you get SP4 on there.. NOW. Security patches are just as critical as a fresh oS. Also, NTFS is the right choice for 2000/XP. FAT is still there because 98 uses it, as does Linux.