How do I format my hard drive?

Start up from the Windows XP CD, the install process includes the option of formatting the drive.

Will it remove my faulty registry? The plan is format my hard drive to get rid of a

Yes, You will need to reinstall windows though. As long as you have your windows CD, and your CD key, you should be golden.

But remember this means you lose literally everything, so save anything important on another media.

@antimatter Make sure you delete all of the partitions. When you do this, the hard drive’s capacity will say the word RAW next to it. Then you will know it is back to being factory fresh.