Uninstalling XP

[Erna]

My husband tried to run XP on two different computers (after I told him he
couldn't) and now it won't let him uninstall it. I have tried using the safe
mode and several other suggestions posted here but since he could not
complete the registration it won't let you remove it. How stupid is that?
Any suggestions on what he can do? He has purchased a Windows 95 to use
instead but can't load it over the XP. We tried formating the drive to no
avail.

 

[sgopus]

that's correct you can't really uninstall it, what you do is format the disk
and start over, since most likely you have formatted the disk NTFS dos will
not read it boot using the xp install cd and state to format the disk using
FAT32, then (after it's been formatted) stop the install and install 95, but
why the blazes would you want to use 95? that's an extremely old system,
just bite the bullit and buy a new copy of xp.

 

[rod]

just bite the bullit and buy a new copy of xp.

Why would you want to bite a film, featuring Steve McQueen?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Use the Win95 Setup floppy. Run fdisk to create a new partition and format
the drive. Just follow the prompts. Once the disk is prepped change to the
drive holding the Win95 cd with the cd command and type setup. The Win95
installer should take over at that point.

Having said that, your computer may not be suitable for Win95, depending on
the motherboard and size of the hard drive. Windows 95 is no longer a safe
operating system for surfing the web and it cannot run most of the programs
now on the market. Please reconsider your choice of operating systems.

In your situation I would buy an upgrade edition of XP and just use the
Win95 cd to verify ownership of a previous edition of Windows when the
upgrade installer asks for proof.

 

[Script]

Can you afford to scrap *everything* on one of the two hard drives?
And do you have a floppy drive in that computer?
Can you print out or copy these directions?
If so, go to Bootdisk.com and download Windows 98 Custom, No Ramdrive.

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Save to desktop.
Copy this (below), and paste it in your browser's address bar; hit Enter;
save the Slate10 download to desktop.

ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/diskutil/slate10.zip

Extract the files.

Put a clean floppy in the drive; double-click the file from Bootdisk.com.
It will write 98 bootdisk files to the floppy. Leave the floppy in, for now.

Open the extracted Slate10 folder. Select all. Copy all, to the floppy.

Remove floppy. Put it in the machine to be erased.
Make sure the bios is set for Floppy as 1st boot device.
Boot from floppy. Wait.
At the "A:>", type Slate 1, and press enter.
[should look like this: A:\>Slate 1 ]
Type Yes at warning prompt. Enter.
Drive 1 on that machine will now appear empty to Windows.
[Type Slate 2, if you want to "erase" the 2nd drive, Slate 3 for 3rd, etc.]
Format drive/install Windows.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My husband tried to run XP on two different computers (after I told him he
couldn't) and now it won't let him uninstall it. I have tried using the safe
mode and several other suggestions posted here but since he could not
complete the registration it won't let you remove it. How stupid is that?

It's not stupid at all. Actually, it's perfectly normal.

The normal way to "uninstall" *any* operating system is to format
the hard drive and install a new OS of your choice.

Only if you performed an upgrade from Win98/Me, elected to backup
the old system files, and didn't convert the partition to NTFS, can
you then boot into Safe Mode and click Start > Control Panel

Add/Remove Programs. All of these conditions must be met for the

uninstall option to be available.

Any suggestions on what he can do? He has purchased a Windows 95 to use
instead but can't load it over the XP. We tried formating the drive to no
avail.

After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS
installation,, simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be
offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part
of the installation process. Then simply abort the installation process
after deleting all of the partitions and install the OS of your choice.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[sgopus]

Your so funny, I almost laughed!

Why would you want to bite a film, featuring Steve McQueen?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My husband tried to run XP on two different computers (after I told him he
couldn't)

Why couldn't he?

and now it won't let him uninstall it.

As a general rule, you can't uninstall an operating system. You have
to reformat the drive and install another operating system cleanly.

There's an exception to that, however. If you did an upgrade from
Windows 98 or Me, and took the option to save the previous operating
system and also did not convert your drive to NTFS, then you can find
an entry in Add/Remove Programs. Clicking on that will uninstall
Windows XP and revert to the previous operating system.

If there's no entry in Add/Remove Programs, then one or more of those
conditions wasn't met, and your only choice is to reformat and install
whatever operating system you want cleanly.

I have tried using the safe
mode and several other suggestions posted here but since he could not
complete the registration it won't let you remove it. How stupid is that?
Any suggestions on what he can do? He has purchased a Windows 95 to use
instead but can't load it over the XP. We tried formating the drive to no
avail.

How did you try to format it? You can't format the Windows drive from
within Windows, since that would leave Windows without a leg to stand
on.

Boot from a diskette with the format command on it, and format it
there. If the drive is NTFS, you'll have to first remove the partition
with FDISK and create a new FAT32 one.

Windows 95 is extremely old. Why do you want to run it?

 

[jim]

My husband tried to run XP on two different computers (after I told him he
couldn't) and now it won't let him uninstall it. I have tried using the
safe
mode and several other suggestions posted here but since he could not
complete the registration it won't let you remove it. How stupid is that?
Any suggestions on what he can do? He has purchased a Windows 95 to use
instead but can't load it over the XP. We tried formating the drive to no
avail.

I love XP. But, from what you are saying, it sounds like the PCs you have
tried installing XP on are older with not enough power to run XP.

Although I love Windows products (if not Microsoft's actions sometimes) I
also understand that the reason for using a PC is to be productive...as
productive as possible.

With that said, and since you have to format the drives anyway, why not try
PCLinuxOS? It is very much like Windows, has thousands of free applications
to do virtually anything you want or need to do, uses Open Office to trade
documents with Microsoft Office users and runs a heck of a lot faster and
safer on older hardware than either XP or 95.

You can even burn PCLinuxOS to a CD and run it directly from the CD without
installing it to see if it is something that may work better for you on the
hardware that you are using.

Like I said, I love XP. But, you have to work with what you have.
PCLinuxOS is free. The software for it is free. And, you can try it by
burning a CD and running it without installing it or overwriting ANY files
on your 2 hosed PCs.

If you like it, the same LiveCD that you use to test can be used to install
it pretty easily.

If you want to give it a shot -
http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1.

jim

 

[Plato]

My husband tried to run XP on two different computers (after I told him he
couldn't) and now it won't let him uninstall it. I have tried using the safe
mode and several other suggestions posted here but since he could not
complete the registration it won't let you remove it. How stupid is that?
Any suggestions on what he can do? He has purchased a Windows 95 to use
instead but can't load it over the XP. We tried formating the drive to no
avail.

You cant unstall XP. You have to delete the partition.