Prepping computer to give away

[Guest]

Good Morning;

I am giving my mom my old computer and would like to know how to clean up
the system so it's like new for her. I'm not new to computers but far from
being a "techie". I'm just the average "home user" if that tells you
anything. lol I would like to take it back to it's original state. Just
like it was when I purchased it. My os is windows sp2 and I do have the disk
for it. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Good Morning;

I am giving my mom my old computer and would like to know how to clean up
the system so it's like new for her. I'm not new to computers but far from
being a "techie". I'm just the average "home user" if that tells you
anything. lol I would like to take it back to it's original state. Just
like it was when I purchased it. My os is windows sp2 and I do have the disk
for it. Any help is greatly appreciated!

To protect your personal information and data from any future users
of average skills, you should, at the very least, format the hard drive.
If you wish to do a more thorough job of protecting your friend's
personal data, WipeDrive
(http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php) meets U.S.
DoD standards for securely cleaning surplus unclassified hard drives,
and could be used before formatting and reinstalling the OS and
applications.

In your specific case, a simple format and clean installation should be
sufficient. 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


--

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

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am giving my mom my old computer and would like to know how to
clean up the system so it's like new for her. I'm not new to
computers but far from being a "techie". I'm just the average "home
user" if that tells you anything. lol I would like to take it back
to it's original state. Just like it was when I purchased it. My os
is windows sp2 and I do have the disk for it. Any help is greatly
appreciated!

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

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much for your replies. I have been trying to do a clean install
using the windows xp cd but it states the boot was a failure. So I went into
my BIOS Features Setup and beside boot sequence it has CDROM,A,C. Doesn't
this mean that it will boot from the cd first. I've been following the
instructions listed on the site below. I don't have any floppies. Just my
Win XP sp2 cd. In the BIOS it also says Boot Up Floppy Seek......Enabled.
What am I doing wrong? Please help!


http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks so much for your replies.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

I have been trying to do a clean
install using the windows xp cd but it states the boot was a failure.

Please provide the exact verbatim test of the error message.

So I went into my BIOS Features Setup and beside boot sequence it has
CDROM,A,C. Doesn't this mean that it will boot from the cd first.

Yes, that's good.

I've been following the instructions listed on the site below. I
don't have any floppies.

None should be needed.

 

[Guest]

Hung up in the middle of install....now what do I do? I'm sorry for being
such a pain! I finally started to install winxp and when I got to the part
that states:

"The partitions may contain diagnostic or hardware configuration programs....

Delete a system partition only if you are sure that it contains no such
programs or if you are willing to lose them.

To delete this partition, press enter.

To go back to the previous screen without deleting the partition press ESC."

So I pressed ENTER. This is where the system froze. I tried pressing
escape and it doesn't do anything either. Oh heavens, what do I do now?