Sorry about so many posts, but I'm not getting the help I need.

 

I want to wipe my hard drive clean and reinstall windows and all the drivers.  I have an 2002 Inspiron 500m with Windows XP.  Where do I start?  I'm just getting confused reading all the support stuff and not getting any information that helps me.

 

I was told that I can format it by going start/run, and typing format c: in the run prompt, but that doesn't work.  I was also told that I can just hit F12 on startup with the Windows reinstallation CD in the CD drive.  That also doesn't work.

Can someone please help me out here?  All I need to know is how to reformat the drive.