Install XP HOME over XP HOME - OEM

[Guest]

Problem:
HP desktop computer that came with no CD of operating system (XP Home).

Only choice is "format hdd, reload original out-of-box setup". Lose *all*
installed software, setups, etc. Lose SP2. Lose all security updates.

(Did this once 2 years ago; it TOTALLY sucks).

I want to purchase a new copy of XP and install it so if I have a system
problem, I can whip out the CD's and do a system repair instead of a system
destroy.

Question:
1. I already have XP HOME (oem version) installed. If I attempt to install
a new CD version of XP HOME, will it destroy everything on my drive?

2. Is there a better solution?

 

[AllenM]

How new is this pc? Normally if they do not ship an OEM copy of the OS it is
because they have a recovery partiton on the hdd. check with your
manufacturer is this is so on your pc.

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Where I said " Only choice is "format hdd, reload original out-of-box
setup", that *is* the result of invoking the recovery partition. You get one
choice " Format the hard drive and reinstall as original?" YES/NO.

THAT's the problem. I don't want an "out of the box" system without any
updates, without all my data, without all my installed software. I don't
want a new system with all the crapware that comes from HP. I want to be
able to fix my system if it needs it.

 

[Rock]

Problem:
HP desktop computer that came with no CD of operating system (XP Home).

Only choice is "format hdd, reload original out-of-box setup". Lose *all*
installed software, setups, etc. Lose SP2. Lose all security updates.

(Did this once 2 years ago; it TOTALLY sucks).

I want to purchase a new copy of XP and install it so if I have a system
problem, I can whip out the CD's and do a system repair instead of a system
destroy.

Question:
1. I already have XP HOME (oem version) installed. If I attempt to install
a new CD version of XP HOME, will it destroy everything on my drive?

2. Is there a better solution?

Do a repair install with the new copy. It should retain all programs
and data, but to be sure you should always have a backup of critical data.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Guest]

Rock - that's a great idea! Assuming it doesn't bark at me because it has a
different serial number than the oem version already installed, this would
solve all my troubles. If the repair install can't fix it, then I can at
least do a new install and have a system I can probably fix in the future if
it gets snafu'ed.

Thanks!

 

[Rock]

Rock - that's a great idea! Assuming it doesn't bark at me because it has a
different serial number than the oem version already installed, this would
solve all my troubles. If the repair install can't fix it, then I can at
least do a new install and have a system I can probably fix in the future if
it gets snafu'ed.

Thanks!

You're welcome. The repair install will ask for the new license number.

 

[Guest]

You're welcome. The repair install will ask for the new license number.

It did. The install went fairly smoothly until the end. Instead of a 30
day grace period to activate XP, it would not allow me to log on until I
activated it. And it could not successfully find my DSL line and the dialup
option continually was busy. Finally, I resorted to the voice line and had
an exchange of data with their robot voice system. To my surprise, this
worked.

I now have my system "healed" possibly... time will tell. But it has run for
24 hours now without rebooting spontaneously.

Of course, I'm still unhappy with having to purchase a copy of the OS when I
bought the system originally with one. If MS is trying to get people to be
pissed off enough to try Linux, they are succeeding. I have no major
complaints about the OS, just their practice of making my life difficult.

 

[Rock]

It did. The install went fairly smoothly until the end. Instead of a 30
day grace period to activate XP, it would not allow me to log on until I
activated it. And it could not successfully find my DSL line and the dialup
option continually was busy. Finally, I resorted to the voice line and had
an exchange of data with their robot voice system. To my surprise, this
worked.

I now have my system "healed" possibly... time will tell. But it has run for
24 hours now without rebooting spontaneously.

Of course, I'm still unhappy with having to purchase a copy of the OS when I
bought the system originally with one. If MS is trying to get people to be
pissed off enough to try Linux, they are succeeding. I have no major
complaints about the OS, just their practice of making my life difficult.

Glad things are working for you. Your beef about having to buy another
copy of the OS is not with Microsoft. If it's with anyone it's with HP.
The OEM has the choice of how they want to configure the system -
supply an installation CD, a recovery CD or a restore partition. HP and
some other vendors choose the restore partition for cost reasons. I
wouldn't recommend to someone to get a system without an installation CD.