Clean install vs recovery disk rebuild

[Guest]

I got the free upgrade to Windows XP Home a few moths after buying a Compaq Presarrio in 2001. I upgraded from Windows ME. Early this year I did a clean install of XP based on a suggestion from this newsgroup. That cleared many problems but left a few new ones. The Synaptics mouse screen and buttons and volume control buttons don't work consistantly and the DVD player is unusable due to missing software (engine) that Compaq/HP says is only available from the Recovery Disk. I need to get these issues cleared up and am considering a rebuild using the recovery disk, reinstalling ME and then upgrading to XP. That scares me since I know I am loading a lot of useless stuff and may regret it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Jerry]

Go to the store and buy the full, not upgrade, version of XP Home or Pro.

I got the free upgrade to Windows XP Home a few moths after buying a

Compaq Presarrio in 2001. I upgraded from Windows ME. Early this year I
did a clean install of XP based on a suggestion from this newsgroup. That
cleared many problems but left a few new ones. The Synaptics mouse screen
and buttons and volume control buttons don't work consistantly and the DVD
player is unusable due to missing software (engine) that Compaq/HP says is
only available from the Recovery Disk. I need to get these issues cleared
up and am considering a rebuild using the recovery disk, reinstalling ME and
then upgrading to XP. That scares me since I know I am loading a lot of
useless stuff and may regret it. Any suggestions are appreciated.