I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of other
stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft Office
97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not have
to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous
owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has a
CD reader but not a burner.

When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old geezer
and not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Thanks in advance.
--
Tony Vella, Ottawa, Canada

"Tony Vella" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of
other
> stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft
Office
> 97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not
have
> to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The
previous
> owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has
a
> CD reader but not a burner.
>
> When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old
geezer
> and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
>


Just uninstall any unwanted applications from add/remove programs (in the
control panel)

If there is anything that does not uninstall...


run msconfig and make sure it's removed from startup...

A great place to start is at microsoft,try this link for xp
info:http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sol.../winxphow.mspx
Youre only problem(s) is the pc & OS is registered to the previous owner
(actually
not legal with microsoft),purchase a retail version of xp or vista,& you can
register in youre name...

"Tony Vella" wrote:

> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of other
> stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft Office
> 97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not have
> to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous
> owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has a
> CD reader but not a burner.
>
> When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old geezer
> and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> --
> Tony Vella, Ottawa, Canada
>
>

Tony Vella wrote:
>
> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of other
> stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft Office
> 97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not have
> to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous
> owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has a
> CD reader but not a burner.

Delete all partitions, or just write zeros to the HDD first.

















--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

It is perfectly legal to sell or give a computer and its operating
system to anyone you wish and that person will then legally own the
computer and will be able to use it without impediment. There is
absolutely no legal requirements that a new copy of the operating system
be purchased.

John

Andrew E. wrote:
> A great place to start is at microsoft,try this link for xp
> info:http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sol.../winxphow.mspx
> Youre only problem(s) is the pc & OS is registered to the previous owner
> (actually
> not legal with microsoft),purchase a retail version of xp or vista,& you can
> register in youre name...
>
> "Tony Vella" wrote:
>
>
>>I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of other
>>stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
>>rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft Office
>>97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not have
>>to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
>>some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous
>>owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
>>Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has a
>>CD reader but not a burner.
>>
>>When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old geezer
>>and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>--
>>Tony Vella, Ottawa, Canada
>>
>>

Reboot the machine & keep tapping the F11 key to bring up boot options.
Does one of these options say something like "Recovery" or "Restore"? If
so, selecting that option will use a hidden recovery partition to restore
the machine to the condition it was in when it was purchased.

[To navigate in the boot option screen, use the up & down arrow keys. To
select an option, press the ENTER key.]

Using the restore/recovery option will end up giving you the equivalent of a
"new computer" so take care of everything on the following webpage before
otherwise connecting the machine to the internet (e.g., to browse, email,
chat, or download anything other than an anti-virus application):

Before You Connect a New Computer to the Internet
http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/before_you_plug_in.html

Security FAQ & Checklist
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/8463

You may find all sorts of free-trial software installed, including an
anti-virus application. Do NOT assume any of them will work! Uninstall all
of them, and purchase a reliable anti-virus application.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L.ORG http://66.39.69.143/


Tony Vella wrote:
> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of
> other
> stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft
> Office
> 97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not
> have
> to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The
> previous
> owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has
> a
> CD reader but not a burner.
>
> When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old
> geezer
> and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
>
> Thanks in advance.

Tony Vella wrote:
> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds
> of other stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would
> like to do is get rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then
> install my Microsoft Office 97 and nothing else. I also want to put
> the machine in my name and not have to use a password every time I
> turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to some page some place that
> teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous owner did not have
> Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop
> has a CD reader but not a burner.
> When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old
> geezer and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
>
> Thanks in advance.

If you do not have some way of recovering the computer, or putting it back
to the way it was delivered, see where you bought it from and ask for those
instructions. They have to accompany any computer sold with XP on it.

Failing that, you'll have to buy a copy of XP for yourself.

Without your COA and a recovery method the first time it crashes you'll be
finished and unable to rebuild it. YOu'll have trouble with Activation and
updates, also, so this should be gotten out of the way ASAP.

Then, do a complete clean install of XP and reinstall the apps you want with
it, assuming you have all the keycodes etc. to go with those things. If
not, you don't have a valid license to run them.

HTH

Before I went to all the trouble of reinstalling XP, I would
click START>Settings>Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs.
There I would remove every program you have no use for.

Then play with the PC for a while.

You might also search the hard drive (is it just a C: drive
or is it partitioned into a C: and a D: drive?) for installation
files that might come in handy in the future.

OBTW - I am older than you. This ain't rocket science.

nick

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:22:34 -0500, "Tony Vella"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of other
> stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft Office
> 97 and nothing else.


Good. That's a wise thing to do with a used machine.


> I also want to put the machine in my name and not have
> to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The previous
> owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed.


You should contact HP for instructions on how to do this. The
instructions can vary depending on the particular computer, so general
information may not help you.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:31:35 -0600, "philo" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
> "Tony Vella" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I bought a used laptop that has Windows XP Pro on it plus all kinds of
> other
> > stuff most of which I never even heard of. What I would like to do is get
> > rid of everything except Windows XP Pro and then install my Microsoft
> Office
> > 97 and nothing else. I also want to put the machine in my name and not
> have
> > to use a password every time I turn it on. Can anyone please direct me to
> > some page some place that teaches me how to do the *safely*. The
> previous
> > owner did not have Win XP CDs because the laptop is a Compaq and like all
> > Hewlett-Packard machines came with Windows pre-installed. The laptop has
> a
> > CD reader but not a burner.
> >
> > When recommending a site, please bear in mind that I am a 63 year old
> geezer
> > and not the sharpest tool in the shed.
> >
>
>
> Just uninstall any unwanted applications from add/remove programs (in the
> control panel)


Sorry, but I think that's poor advice. With a used computer, he
*should* reformat and reinstall Windows cleanly. He has no idea how
the computer has been maintained, what has been installed incorrectly,
what is missing, what viruses and spyware there may be, etc. I
wouldn't want to live with somebody else's mistakes and problems,
possibility of kiddie porn, etc., and I wouldn't recommend that anyone
else do either.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup