I was attempting to update my PC over the weekend when I left it unattended and some files were deleted off my C: drive to my recycle bin. Now I can't even log onto my 98 system. When I go through the boot process I get stuck at the MS DOS prompt of C:\>. What can I do to either reinstall Windows, or to wipe my hard drive clean so that I can install XP?

Is your Win98 Setup on your hard drive or a CD? Same with the Xp. If on CD, are they bootable?

To wipe your harddisk from the C:\> prompt, you can type

Format c:

Don't forget though, you will lose *everything* that is on that disk

What error is coming up with himem.sys?