Installing windowsXP

[ganonshin]

Hi everyone,

I have a pc with windowsXP on it already but I want to format my hard drive and reinstall windowsXP. I have a windows disk with the computer but the instructions arn't very clear. Basically do I just format my drive then stick the disk into the cd drive and, will it set up itself?

Also I have a product key on a sticker stuck on the side of my computer will I have to re-enter this when I install so I can get updates?

If i'm completely wrong can someone guide me in the right direction? If i'm on the right path can someone give me anymore pointers I may need to know?

Thank you very much and keep up the good work.

[John0904]

Just pop the XP CD in the drive, reboot and it should auto start. If not, then you need to see if you BIOS can boot CD drives.

You can have the XP install format for you during the installation.

[ganonshin]

Quote - You can have the XP install format for you during the installation.

Do you mean I dont have to format first?

Also will I need to re-install drivers for mouse,keyboard, dvd-rw, adsl modem, graphics card etc? Are there anymore drivers I need?

Is there anything else I need to know? Surely it can't be that easy.

Thank you.

[John0904]

Do you mean I dont have to format first? > Correct.

Also will I need to re-install drivers for mouse,keyboard, dvd-rw, adsl modem, graphics card etc? Are there anymore drivers I need? > XP will do that for you. You will need to update them yourself later though.

Surely it can't be that easy. > It is. :)

[ganonshin]

I have just heard from a person that provides IT support that you can not reinstall windowsXP sp2, something about closing all holes from reinstalling and closing the security loophole of you reformatting.

If this is true would that mean you have to buy a new hard drive to install windowsXP from fresh?

At the moment I haven't got sp2 installed, so will I be alright?

Thank you.

[ErnieK]

ganonshin
If I am understanding you correctly you are asking if once you install SP2 can you then re-install WinXP onto the same HDD.

The answer to this is yes you can.

You could do it one of two ways, the old fashioned way using a boot disk and reformat the drive, then install, or use the WinXP Cd directly qadn when asked where you want it to go just choose the default setup of C:\ (or whatever drive/partition you want it on) When offered the choice of formatting just say yes.

Once you have formated the HDD it is effectivly like a new drive.

If I am wrong one of the intelligent folks here will correct me. :rolleyes:

[ganonshin]

Where can I get a boot disk?

So you mean there isnt any truth in anything this IT support person says?

And how long does it take to format and install windowsXP?

Thank you.

[Paul Komski]

I have just heard from a person that provides IT support that you can not reinstall windowsXP sp2, something about closing all holes from reinstalling and closing the security loophole of you reformatting.

Reinstalling sp2 (the latest service pack) - or sp1 for that matter - is quite different from reinstalling WinXP or any other version of windows. The service packs cannot or may not roll back to the situation prior to their installation - even if you have created a restore point prior to their installation.

Perhaps sp2 cant be "repaired" by reistalling WinXP over itself but you certainly shouldnt need a new HDD in order to just redo a clean installation of WinXP. You can get bootdisks from a computer running Win9X/ME or from bootdisk.com (http://bootdisk.com/) though you shouldn't need them since the WinXP should be bootable and be able to do everything you need doing.

With your system a format/clean install should take about half an hour and then a bit more time to set up any drivers and so on.