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Because of some strange things happening on my Dell Dimension 2400 I would like to reinstall XP Home edition. When I put in original XP CD it says can't reinstall because it is an earlier edition - I have SP2 installed and XP Home is the original 2002 edition.
If I continue will it wipe my whole drive, documents, settings, etc.?
Does it also delete all the program files and recreate a new registry? This is probably what I need to do anyway, but just want to know up front before I click on proceed.
If I want to completely wipe the disk and start again, do I just contact Microsoft to register the copy of XP which will be on the same machine that it was originally installed on anyway?
Thanks,
RobF
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If I want to completely wipe the disk and start again, do I just contact Microsoft to register the copy of XP which will be on the same machine that it was originally installed on anyway?
You should be able to activate over the internet without the need to phone MS.
You guys are fast! I'm having some graphics issues with certain websites where the pictures won't get downloaded using either Internet explorer or Firefox. I've looked at the registry and run HiJackthis and cannot see anything at fault, but it must be windows centric if both IE and Mozilla have the same problems.
I know that my kids used to download a lot of stuff and something happened, but the restore points don't seem to work either - so maybe a clean install will be the best bet - I wondered whether you could just re-install over the top like you used to do with Windows 98, but putting in the XP CD won't work because it is pre-SP2.
To overcome the 'older version issue', you could try following How to Repair Install and do a repair install booted from the XP-CD.
I did it a week ago on a messed up system. I used an original XP-CD with SP2 slipstreamed. All went well and neither installed programs nor personal data were affected but as a safety measure, I recommend backing up important personal data!
Since your XP-CD doesn't include SP2, you will have to reinstall SP2 and all updates when the repair install has been completed.
(I think that you will evade the 'older version issue' but I'm not 100% sure.)
Christer
Last edited by Christer; 15th November 2005 at 21:48.
I wondered whether you could just re-install over the top like you used to do with Windows 98, but putting in the XP CD won't work because it is pre-SP2.
It's true that you cannot do a Repair Install with an SP1 CD of an SP2 install, but you can reinstall if you don't mind formatting the drive ....
Quote:
Check in your BIOS that the boot order is set CD/Floppy/HD
Boot from the Windows CD – follow the on screen prompts …..
To set up Windows XP now press ENTER
Accept the Licence Agreement F8
Searching for previous versions of Windows
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows without repairing press ESC
Ensure that the drive/partition selected is the one on which XP was set up and press D to delete the selected partition.
To delete the partition press ENTER
To delete the partition press L – heed the warnings and DOUBLE CHECK before hitting L
To create a partition in the unpartitioned space press C
Accept max size and press ENTER
To set up Windows XP on the selected item (Partition (New Raw)) press ENTER
Format the partition using the NTFS file system – preferred unless you want an install of Win 98 to access data on the drive/partition, if so choose FAT.
Set up is formatting ……
When format is complete XP will install.
Then you will have to update the installation with SP2 and all subsequent updates (do hope you have Broadband ) - AFTER you have loaded and updated your anivirus software and set the Windows firewall to ON (OFF by default in SP1) or loaded a third party firewall.
Remember a clean reinstall wipes everything from your drive so back up your data and check that you have the install CD's for your programs.
There may be an alternative route here if SP2 shows in Add/Remove Programs. If it does you could uninstall it, repair your SP1 install and then reinstall SP2, etc. This could be risky - I do not know what effect patches installed subsequent to SP2 might have on the ability to repair - not all can be uninstalled. So a case of be prepared for a complete format if you choose to try this route - definitely at your own risk.
I actually believe (but I don't know for sure) that you would get away with a non-slipstreamed XP-CD but you would have to install SP2 afterwards, before installing all updates.
I actually believe (but I don't know for sure) that you would get away with a non-slipstreamed XP-CD but you would have to install SP2 afterwards, before installing all updates.
Seems you can repair an SP2 install with an SP1 CD - and then reinstall SP2 - see here - under Recent Comments ....
It may be system dependent. I had only one single issue. During the installation, the install CD for the LAN drivers was asked for (to be able to uninstall). I offered the Motherboard install CD and pointed to the LAN drivers and it was accepted.
This indicates that there is more to it than just the lack of SP2 but if you get away with it, it saves some work and time.
However, I would personally not be satisfied with such an 'on top repair installation' but would regard it as a temporary solution until I was in a position to do a clean installation.
) - AFTER you have loaded and updated your anivirus software and set the Windows firewall to ON (OFF by default in SP1) or loaded a third party firewall.
