How do I reinstall XP?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Glenn Jarvis
  • Start date Start date
G

Glenn Jarvis

The subject is not as simple as it sounds. Hopefully my explaination
doesn't confuse anyone :-)

My sister is quite new to computers. Her system had XP Home on it, and
it seems that a virus infected her system. She fiddled here, fiddled
there, friends of the kids got involved, and you just imagine what the
end result was after it was all over. One system that is a complete
disaster. Anyway, she shipped the thing to me (over 400 miles) and here
it sits... the drive had been formatted. Wonderful, no O/S on the
system. This is a great start. Her Windows XP cd is MIA since she moved
and she can't locate it, much less remember where is was in the first
place. Ah wonderful... can it get any worse? Yep.. I live in a small
community in the middle of nowhere (the nearest city is about 2 1/2
hours away). Now what the heck do I do... Then I thought, hey, XP has a
product actviation thing with it ( I run 98SE here on my systems, please
don't shoot me, it's not related to this problem<g>). So I checked over
the case of her system and sure enough, there is that funny sticker
showing the Product Key. Mmmm, okay, maybe I can work something to get
the thing running and surf over to Microsoft, enter the information and
re-obtain her O/S so I can re-install it for her. No such luck, at least
not that I can find on their site.

Anyone have some suggestions? She's a little short in the cash division
now since it cost her an arm and leg to ship the thing here. Since she
is the registered person for that Product Key, why can it be re-obtained?

Thanks in advance
Glenn
 
Glenn said:
The subject is not as simple as it sounds. Hopefully my explaination
doesn't confuse anyone :-)

My sister is quite new to computers. Her system had XP Home on it, and
it seems that a virus infected her system. She fiddled here, fiddled
there, friends of the kids got involved, and you just imagine what the
end result was after it was all over. One system that is a complete
disaster. Anyway, she shipped the thing to me (over 400 miles) and
here it sits... the drive had been formatted. Wonderful, no O/S on the
system. This is a great start. Her Windows XP cd is MIA since she
moved and she can't locate it, much less remember where is was in the
first place. Ah wonderful... can it get any worse? Yep.. I live in a
small community in the middle of nowhere (the nearest city is about 2
1/2 hours away). Now what the heck do I do... Then I thought, hey, XP
has a product actviation thing with it ( I run 98SE here on my
systems, please don't shoot me, it's not related to this problem<g>).
So I checked over the case of her system and sure enough, there is
that funny sticker showing the Product Key. Mmmm, okay, maybe I can
work something to get the thing running and surf over to Microsoft,
enter the information and re-obtain her O/S so I can re-install it
for her. No such luck, at least not that I can find on their site.

Anyone have some suggestions? She's a little short in the cash
division now since it cost her an arm and leg to ship the thing here.
Since she is the registered person for that Product Key, why can it
be re-obtained?

Thanks in advance
Glenn
Click to expand...

The answer is simple (and I'm surprised the MS site didn't tell you this).
It came preinstalled, ergo is OEM and, therefore, all responsibility for
support (including replacement keys and media) lies with the manufacturer
and/or vendor. MS does not, will not and, indeed, cannot assist with OEM
supplied software.

What were you expecting, pray, to be able to download the entire OS?!

Your sister would have been better (and if you knew anything about anything,
you should have advised her correctly in the first place) to have called the
manufacturer's TS dept and had it out with them.

Ship it back, and tell her to call them. If they attempt to tell her that
it's a Microsoft problem, she's going to have to stand her ground, because
it isn't. It's /their/ responsibility. If all else fails, she's just going
to have to purchase a new copy (full licence, unless she has a qualifying
product - 95 (clean install only), 98 or ME. Windows 2000 is /not/ a vaild
qualifying product for Home, nor is NT).
 
First is it an oem or retail edition?
Retail edition:
How to replace a lost, broken or missing microsoft
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;326246
OEM:
contact the oem company.

then once you have the cd in hand:
The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools
necessary to partition and format your drive. Follow this
procedure and allow Windows XP to partition and format
your drive:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your
peripheral hardware devices, except the monitor, mouse and
keyboard, before installing XP.
NOTE: If you have an internal Zip Drive installed,
physically disconnect the EIDE and power cable to it
before proceeding, otherwise your main hard drive may not
be assigned the customary C: drive letter.
After installing Windows XP, you may then reconnect it.


1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first
bootable device".

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===>
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot
your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the
instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to
delete all the existing Windows partitions, then create a
new partition, then format the primary partition
(preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. ==> Immediately after installing Windows XP, turn on
XP's Firewall.
==> http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows
Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.
asp
-you can order a cd with all the windows updates
thru oct 2003.

8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and
visit the support website of the manufacturer of the
computer to download and install any available Windows XP
compatible drivers, such as video adapter and audio
drivers.

9. If you happen to run into any installation
difficulties, use the following resources:

How to Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During
Installation
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?
scid=kb;EN-US;310064

Troubleshooting Windows XP Setup
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]
 
Glenn Jarvis said:
The subject is not as simple as it sounds. Hopefully my explaination
doesn't confuse anyone :-)

My sister is quite new to computers. Her system had XP Home on it, and
it seems that a virus infected her system. She fiddled here, fiddled
there, friends of the kids got involved, and you just imagine what the
end result was after it was all over. One system that is a complete
Click to expand...

Too many cooks spoil the soup.
disaster. Anyway, she shipped the thing to me (over 400 miles) and here
it sits... the drive had been formatted. Wonderful, no O/S on the
Click to expand...

How did this get formatted? Oh, forgot, the small vendors use FAT32 vice
NTFS version 3 used for XP.
system. This is a great start. Her Windows XP cd is MIA since she moved
and she can't locate it, much less remember where is was in the first
place. Ah wonderful... can it get any worse? Yep.. I live in a small
community in the middle of nowhere (the nearest city is about 2 1/2
hours away). Now what the heck do I do... Then I thought, hey, XP has a
product actviation thing with it ( I run 98SE here on my systems, please
don't shoot me, it's not related to this problem<g>). So I checked over
the case of her system and sure enough, there is that funny sticker
Click to expand...

This for using in concert with the restore CD which you said she does not
have. So?
showing the Product Key. Mmmm, okay, maybe I can work something to get
the thing running and surf over to Microsoft, enter the information and
re-obtain her O/S so I can re-install it for her. No such luck, at least
not that I can find on their site.

Anyone have some suggestions? She's a little short in the cash division
Click to expand...

Is this supposed to be a reason for not purchasing something if its a
requirement?
now since it cost her an arm and leg to ship the thing here. Since she
is the registered person for that Product Key, why can it be re-obtained?
Click to expand...

Registered with whom?
What is "it"?
Who made "it"?
Who supplies "it"?
 
Glenn Jarvis said:
The subject is not as simple as it sounds. Hopefully my explaination
doesn't confuse anyone :-)
Click to expand...

Makes sense to me. However, despite the fact that its OEM windows you might
have a chance. Provided its a "generic" PC and not a major brand-name system
like Dell or Compaq or something, you might be able to borrow an XP CD from
a neighbour or someone and install their copy on your system, but entering
the license number that came with your computer. ITs a bit of a reach, but
it might work if they are both the same version.
 
First is it an oem or retail edition?
Click to expand...

Had you bothered to read the question properly, you'd have know this -
retail editions don't put stickers on computer cases.
 
Brian said:
Makes sense to me. However, despite the fact that its OEM windows you
might have a chance. Provided its a "generic" PC and not a major
brand-name system like Dell or Compaq or something, you might be able
to borrow an XP CD from a neighbour or someone and install their copy
on your system, but entering the license number that came with your
computer. ITs a bit of a reach, but it might work if they are both
the same version.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter whether it's branded or not. An OEM key won't work with a
retail version and vice versa.
 
IF your sister had read the manual supplied with the PC, she would have
found out that the cd should have been kept SAFE, that in the event of a
complete system failure, the cd is REQUIRED to get the PC back to factory
default.. in the event of loss, she should CALL THE VENDOR.. letting
everybody in the neighborhood try to FIX problems on the basis that they
have a computer at home is SHEER madness..

SHIPPING it 400 miles to get it fixed by another party who does not have
ACCESS to the original software in the hope that it can be fixed on the
cheap has proved to be a FALSE economy.. and of course there is no OFFICIAL
website where you can type in a keycode and download XP in its entirety..
there is worse to come..

OEM recovery cd versions of XP are not just XP installation files.. they
also contain drivers that XP might otherwise not PICK up on.. each
manufacturer has its own versions of sound, modem, network files.. A Dell
OEM recovery cd would not work on an IBM, HP, or Compaq machine.. BORROWING
a retail version of XP would not work because the KEY would be wrong..

Ship it back and advise your sister to take it back to where she bought it
so that they can fix the thing..
 
Cerridwen said:
The answer is simple (and I'm surprised the MS site didn't tell you this).
It came preinstalled, ergo is OEM and, therefore, all responsibility for
support (including replacement keys and media) lies with the manufacturer
and/or vendor. MS does not, will not and, indeed, cannot assist with OEM
supplied software.

What were you expecting, pray, to be able to download the entire OS?!

Your sister would have been better (and if you knew anything about anything,
you should have advised her correctly in the first place) to have called the
manufacturer's TS dept and had it out with them.
Click to expand...
I got the point... she didn't buy the thing, her ex-husband did. No I
didn't think I would be able to download the whole O/S, but was hoping
MS could ship it.
Ship it back, and tell her to call them. If they attempt to tell her that
it's a Microsoft problem, she's going to have to stand her ground, because
it isn't. It's /their/ responsibility. If all else fails, she's just going
to have to purchase a new copy (full licence, unless she has a qualifying
product - 95 (clean install only), 98 or ME. Windows 2000 is /not/ a vaild
qualifying product for Home, nor is NT).
Click to expand...

Since it is a OEM, the idea of MS helping is nilsville.... Alright.
Thanks for the help and the insult. Next time, I'll just call MS and
avoid this.
 
On Thu, 20 May 2004 13:30:03 -0400, Glenn Jarvis wrote:
Anyone have some suggestions? She's a little short in the cash division
now since it cost her an arm and leg to ship the thing here. Since she
is the registered person for that Product Key, why can it be re-obtained?

Thanks in advance
Glenn
Click to expand...

You didn't mention brand for the computer but one route to try would be
contacting the OEM for replacement of the original media that came with the
PC.
 
Sharon said:
You didn't mention brand for the computer but one route to try would be
contacting the OEM for replacement of the original media that came with the
PC.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sharon. It's a no-name, but there is a sticker on the back
showing where her ex-husband bought it from. I'll contact them and see
what I can do.
 
Cerridwen said:
It doesn't matter whether it's branded or not. An OEM key won't work with a
retail version and vice versa.
Click to expand...
Right. I wasn't specific about that, sorry. When I said the same version, I
meant it would have to be somebody else who has an OEM version. For the most
part, "clone" retailers all buy the same OEM Windows CDs from MS. So there
is a chance it might work.
 
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