Installing Windows Xp over previous owner

Hi,
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a Windows Xp computer but because it has the previous owner and family member listed, can I Install a brand new Windows (store purchased) Xp over the previous owner so I may remove them and list just myself as the user.

 

You can either remove them while keeping the current OS install or you can use an XP install CD to completely scrub the current install and do a fresh one with no trace of the current one.

Installing over the existing would be real tricky and of no benefit - could easily mess things up.

 

I concur with Newt, i never recommend "over" installs or upgrade installs, you always end up with leftovers and file version conflicts and problems. Full new installs on a blank (formatted) drive always works best. You can fornat during setup after booting from the CD.

When you boot to the new XP setup CD, choose the Format Using NTFS File System option after selecting to install a new copy of windows wiping the old one. NTFS works better than the FAT32 file system with XP. You may only get the fat32 option if the previous install had fat32 anyway.

Doing a format install or full install, will wipe all data from the PC so back up anything you want to keep!

 

Thank you...But to make sure I do fully understand, I have a brand new, never used Windows Xp CD. I would put that in and click on the option to Format and the Install ? Is that correct or did I miss the boat ???

 

Don't forget to set the cd-rom as the first in the boot sequence. Also if you have a controller chip or raid chip you will need the driver handy on a diskette so that can be loaded when asked for.

 

Master Green,

You might feel more comfortable if you would read through an outline of the process so you can get some idea of what to expect. Black Viper has a pretty good presentation of it:

XP Home Install

or

XP Pro Install

Good luck.

 

Season greetings to all Guys and Gals

I have problem way over my head on a similar nature.
Got a laptop from a friend, has got XP home on, but it's not working properly.
Can't get LAN working, won't access BIOS at boot-up, can't format C:, XP Pro won't install over HOME (as Home is newer than PRO "error message ")

I've been rackiing my brain to think of the Command prompt code to open BIOS from there, but I'm getting old and have started to lose my memory (and will to live with this laptop)

Laptop details;
Dell Inspiron 5100
XP Home (ill)
NO 3.5" floppy
CD/DVD RW

Please help

Wan

 

I show Alt Enter for accessing Dell BIOS setup.

Have you tried boot to the install CD and using the tools it has to
format the drive (if that's your desire)? It's all there including doing a repair install if that's what you want.

Maybe you should start your own thread and give specifics about your wants and what stops you from getting them. That way you won't be lost at the bottom of the heap here.

 

Surfer..

Thank you for your attempt, but i've tried that, and no joy. Any more ideas are very welcome.

 

Well...Here's all the various methods that I have listed so maybe somewhere in there lies your bios access key. Note the other listing for Dell. I suppose "reset" may mean Esc??

Method : System

del during boot AMI, Award
Esc during boot Toshiba
F1 during boot Toshiba; Phoenix; Late model PS/1 Value Point and 330s
F2 during boot NEC
F10 when square in top RH corner of screen Compaq
Ins during boot IBM PS/2s w/ Reference Partition
Reset twice Some Dells
Alt Enter Dell
Alt ? some PS/2s
Ctrl-Esc General
Ctrl Ins some PS/2s when pointer at top right of screen
Ctrl Alt Esc AST Advantage, Award, Tandon
Ctrl Alt + General
Ctrl Alt S Phoenix
Ctrl Alt Ins Zenith, Phoenix
Ctrl S Phoenix
Ctrl Shift Esc Tandon 386
Shift Ctrl Alt + Num Pad del Olivetti PC Pro
Setup disk Old Compaqs, Epson (Gemini), IBM, IBM PS/2, Toshiba, old 286s

I'm presuming you want to change the boot sequence so as to boot the CD, correct? If you are not able to do that due to no access, then you can always install XP using a boot floppy made for that purpose, assuming you have a floppy drive. If no floppy drive, then you can sometimes trigger the bios setup screen by pulling the memory sticks from the MOBO.

Patience will prevail.