How can I uninstall windows xp and then reinstall it without my fi

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I want to completely delete all the files on my hard drive and basically
start over. How can I do this?
 
There is no way to actually "uninstall" windows XP, you have to format your
drive, which means losing data. Meaning, you either have to back up your data
on some storage medium like DVD disc, or you have to create a seperate
partition on your drive in which to copy and store the data, after which
formatting the other partition and installing XP anew.

Partition is like a virtual hard disk, it's basicaly dividing your hard disk
in to being interpreted as two seperate drives.

To do this you can use comercial tools like Parition Magic, which is easy to
use, or freeware programs like Ranish Partitioner, which is more complicated.
 
golfman said:
I want to completely delete all the files on my hard drive and basically
start over. How can I do this?
Click to expand...

Boot from your installation CD. You may have to make a setting in your
BIOS setup to get your machine to boot from the CD. Once you do this
you'll be presented with several choices. One of them will allow you
to wipe out your hard drive and start fresh.
 
golfman said:
I want to completely delete all the files on my hard drive and
basically start over. How can I do this?
Click to expand...


Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to
accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the
existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view, it's usually
a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall
Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I
never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
occasional minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem they
don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's the
perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a
skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs, you
have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to locate
and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize
Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may have
trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can you
find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to restore?
Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may have
installed to make everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that Windows should be reinstalled
cleanly. But they are few and far between; reinstallation should not be a
substitute for troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have
failed.

If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone can help you
and a reinstallation won't be required.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to
accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the
existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view, it's usually
a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall
Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I
never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
occasional minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem they
don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's the
perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a
skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs, you
have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to locate
and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize
Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may have
trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can you
find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to restore?
Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may have
installed to make everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that Windows should be reinstalled
cleanly. But they are few and far between; reinstallation should not be a
substitute for troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have
failed.

If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone can help you
and a reinstallation won't be required.
 
golfman said:
I want to completely delete all the files on my hard drive and basically
start over. How can I do this?
Click to expand...



After backing up any data that you want to preserve, 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. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot devices in the
PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

Then reinstall your applications and restore the backed up data.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



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. -Bertrum Russell
 
hi, i unfortunately did as ,Samsung said , reinstall, now hardly
anything works!!!!!!.
same things are wrong
ie: windows updates wont work
ie:messenger
ie: error codes all time.
what can i do? please ?!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
scmudphud said:
Ok, reading this thread makes me even more confused. I have a
computer that got very buggy after a year of internet surfing
(including reading some very interesting emails), and it is having
all sorts of problems: dropping my wireless connection (when other
computers are doing fine), freezing up in the middle of a game (not
good on a MMOG), and running a lot slower in general. I've run
McAffee and it has found some files that are not good but can't
delete them, and I am very concerned when I check out the processes
running because I find a page and a half of processes that I really
don't know. Ideally, I would love to go back to square one,
Click to expand...


Your choice of course. You've read my point of view, but you don't have to
agree with me.

but it
would not let me do a system restore,
Click to expand...


No, System Restore is a completely different tool, and is not for this
purpose. It does *not* take you back to "square one."

and I am stuck with wiping the
drive and reinstalling, unless you have other suggestions? Is Norton
Systemworks of any help?
Click to expand...


No, it's not.

Just go to any (or all) of the web sites I cited below and follow their
instaructions
 
Back
Top