how do I reformat when system is XP PRO but only have XP HOME disc

[Guest]

I received a DELL OPTIPLEX GX150 w/ windows xp professional on it from my
internet based company job and then they laid me off. i didnt get the xp pro
discs before leaving. i also have a labtop w/ windows xp home on it and i
have the xp Home disks. i need to reformat both pc's. i started with the Dell
OptiPlex that has the xp Pro on it - i tried using the HOME disc to reformat
and received message - something like the operating system you are attempting
to install is older than the current one - and i couldn't go on. what do i
do? should i just buy the windows xp pro? or do i need to wipe clean the
system. i really don't see a difference in having pro or home for me so don't
mind if i end up with the home on the desktop. i also wouldnt mind saving the
money...please help me out here!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I received a DELL OPTIPLEX GX150 w/ windows xp professional on it
from my internet based company job and then they laid me off. i
didnt get the xp pro discs before leaving. i also have a labtop w/
windows xp home on it and i have the xp Home disks. i need to
reformat both pc's. i started with the Dell OptiPlex that has the
xp Pro on it - i tried using the HOME disc to reformat and received
message - something like the operating system you are attempting to
install is older than the current one - and i couldn't go on. what
do i do? should i just buy the windows xp pro? or do i need to wipe
clean the system. i really don't see a difference in having pro or
home for me so don't mind if i end up with the home on the desktop.
i also wouldnt mind saving the money...please help me out here!

You purchase a license and media for whatever operating system you want on
the desktop. You install from that.

Likely the Windows that was on the Optiplex GX150 was volume license - so
you lost rights to it (although I would have figured you lost rights to the
whole system actually) when you were laid off.

Here's the general thing. You have a single license/copy of Windows XP
Home - which is attached (by the EULA if nothing else) to the laptop it
is/was originally installed on. That means you can format said laptop and
use tyhat CD/license to install it back on that laptop. Hope you have the
other software too - Office (Word/Excel/Etc..) is *not* nor has ever been a
part of the Operating System.

In order to install Windows XP (any version) on the GX150 - you need a
license and a CD. Since you will be buying it, you should probably just get
an OEM version of Windows XP Home edition - that would be the least
expensive option.

And yes - to install XP Home over Professional is a CLEAN installation only.

Be sure you have all the latest hardware drivers and Service Pack 2 ready to
install before that machine has ANY access to connect to the Internet.
Otherwise - you'll probably be all infested with crud before you can blink.

 

[d_may]

I will briefly walk you through the steps needed to set up Windows XP
in a fashion that will provide continuous, reliable uptime. This
assumes that you already have some knowledge of the Windows XP
installation process and the operating system.

Before starting, you will need the following:

Windows XP Product Disk
Windows XP Product Key


Step 1. Formatting your computer and installing Windows XP
This step is the most crucial. Instead of upgrading from a previous
Windows release, or installing Windows XP on top of itself ("in-place"
upgrade), we will want to do a clean installation. This will ensure
that Windows runs correctly.

Back up any data you wish to keep (important documents, pictures, etc.)

Unplug your network connection.

Place the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD/DVD drive. Restart your computer.
Go into your system BIOS (the key to press varies on each system; it is
usually DEL or F1.) Set the boot order to look something like this:

CD Drive
Floppy Drive (If Available)
Hard Disk
Once you have done this, save your changes and restart again. You
should see a prompt that looks like this:

Press any key to boot from CD.

When you see this prompt, press any key within five seconds to launch
the Windows XP installation program. Follow through the questions setup
asks you; partition your hard drive (if you don't know what this is,
then you don't need to do this,) and format the drive as NTFS (this is
VERY important, and should only be skipped if dual booting with a
Windows 9x OS and you'd like to read/write to the Windows XP drive.)

Setup will the copy files to the hard disk and restart the computer.
You should see the Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional
boot screen. The rest of setup should be fairly easy; just follow the
instructions and accept most of the defaults. If you need information
on completing setup, please visit The Elder Geek.

Step 2. Configuring Windows
Now that you have completed the Windows XP setup program, you should be
looking at a functional Windows XP default desktop. If you connect to
the internet directly using a broadband modem, you may wish to turn on
the Windows Firewall (or Internet Connection Firewall in pre-SP2
installations.) This will prevent hackers from being able to exploit an
unpatched system.

If you are connected using a broadband modem (such as Linksys, NETGEAR,
etc): you don't need to do anything at this point, the built in
firewall on your router will be fine for now.

Step 2a. System Performance Options
Click Start, right click on My Computer, and click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click the Settings button.
Click the Advanced tab in the Performance Options window.
Under Virtual Memory, click the Change button.

If you have less than 512MB of physical memory, set both the min. and
max. settings to 2.5x the amount of physical memory in your system.

Example: 128MB = 320MB min and max

If you have 512MB or more of physical memory, set both the min. and
max. settings to the exact amount of physical memory in your system.

Example: 512MB = 512MB min and max

Click OK, and then click OK again. In the System Properties window,
click on "Environment Variables."
Delete the two USER variables, TMP and TEMP. Click OK.

Now, click the System Restore tab. Turn System Restore off for all
drives. Close the System Properties window. If asked to reboot, click
No.

Once you have done this, right click on the Recycle Bin. Set the
overhead for all drives to 1%. Click OK.

Next, go to Start, Run, and type "services.msc" (without the quotes).
Follow the Services Configuration Guide at Black Viper.

Reboot.

Install applications, in this order:
Windows Media Player 10, DirectX 9.0c, Microsoft Office, Adobe
Applications, Utilities, Antivirus, etc.

Reboot.

Run Disk Cleanup. You can do this by clicking Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.

Defragment your hard drive. Do this by clicking Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

Reboot.

Install the latest updates or service pack from the Windows Update Web
site.

Reboot.

Run Disk Cleanup and Defragment your hard drive again.

Create your normal user accounts and configure them as needed.

Defragment the drive again.
Finished

 

[Ace Hung]

Must we turn back system restore at the end?

I will briefly walk you through the steps needed to set up Windows XP
in a fashion that will provide continuous, reliable uptime. This
assumes that you already have some knowledge of the Windows XP
installation process and the operating system.

Before starting, you will need the following:

Windows XP Product Disk
Windows XP Product Key


Step 1. Formatting your computer and installing Windows XP
This step is the most crucial. Instead of upgrading from a previous
Windows release, or installing Windows XP on top of itself ("in-place"
upgrade), we will want to do a clean installation. This will ensure
that Windows runs correctly.

Back up any data you wish to keep (important documents, pictures, etc.)

Unplug your network connection.

Place the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD/DVD drive. Restart your computer.
Go into your system BIOS (the key to press varies on each system; it is
usually DEL or F1.) Set the boot order to look something like this:

CD Drive
Floppy Drive (If Available)
Hard Disk
Once you have done this, save your changes and restart again. You
should see a prompt that looks like this:

Press any key to boot from CD.

When you see this prompt, press any key within five seconds to launch
the Windows XP installation program. Follow through the questions setup
asks you; partition your hard drive (if you don't know what this is,
then you don't need to do this,) and format the drive as NTFS (this is
VERY important, and should only be skipped if dual booting with a
Windows 9x OS and you'd like to read/write to the Windows XP drive.)

Setup will the copy files to the hard disk and restart the computer.
You should see the Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional
boot screen. The rest of setup should be fairly easy; just follow the
instructions and accept most of the defaults. If you need information
on completing setup, please visit The Elder Geek.

Step 2. Configuring Windows
Now that you have completed the Windows XP setup program, you should be
looking at a functional Windows XP default desktop. If you connect to
the internet directly using a broadband modem, you may wish to turn on
the Windows Firewall (or Internet Connection Firewall in pre-SP2
installations.) This will prevent hackers from being able to exploit an
unpatched system.

If you are connected using a broadband modem (such as Linksys, NETGEAR,
etc): you don't need to do anything at this point, the built in
firewall on your router will be fine for now.

Step 2a. System Performance Options
Click Start, right click on My Computer, and click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click the Settings button.
Click the Advanced tab in the Performance Options window.
Under Virtual Memory, click the Change button.

If you have less than 512MB of physical memory, set both the min. and
max. settings to 2.5x the amount of physical memory in your system.

Example: 128MB = 320MB min and max

If you have 512MB or more of physical memory, set both the min. and
max. settings to the exact amount of physical memory in your system.

Example: 512MB = 512MB min and max

Click OK, and then click OK again. In the System Properties window,
click on "Environment Variables."
Delete the two USER variables, TMP and TEMP. Click OK.

Now, click the System Restore tab. Turn System Restore off for all
drives. Close the System Properties window. If asked to reboot, click
No.

Once you have done this, right click on the Recycle Bin. Set the
overhead for all drives to 1%. Click OK.

Next, go to Start, Run, and type "services.msc" (without the quotes).
Follow the Services Configuration Guide at Black Viper.

Reboot.

Install applications, in this order:
Windows Media Player 10, DirectX 9.0c, Microsoft Office, Adobe
Applications, Utilities, Antivirus, etc.

Reboot.

Run Disk Cleanup. You can do this by clicking Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.

Defragment your hard drive. Do this by clicking Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

Reboot.

Install the latest updates or service pack from the Windows Update Web
site.

Reboot.

Run Disk Cleanup and Defragment your hard drive again.

Create your normal user accounts and configure them as needed.

Defragment the drive again.
Finished