Re-installing Windows XP SP2

[Zeev Schor]

I have received an advice from a hardware support , because of a hardware
malfunction, to re-install Windows XP SP2 from my original SP2 CD.
Can re-installing Windows XP SP2 cause lost of data and/or have an effect on
running of other applications?
Kind Regards and thanks
Zeev

 

[Kevin]

Take the same precautions as when you first installed the Service Pack.
Back up your data, make sure your hardware has the latest drivers, clean up
your hard drive, check for viruses, disable your anti-virus software before
installation and so on.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Check here for How To Run a Repair Install
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

 

[GTS]

That advice is, at least 90% of the time, a brush off because the support
person either doesn't know how to solve a problem or just wants to get you
off the phone. If you describe the problem someone might be able top help
you.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

That advice is, at least 90% of the time, a brush off because
the
support person either doesn't know how to solve a problem or
just
wants to get you off the phone.

I couldn't agree more, except that 90% might be an
understatement.

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.



And to answer Zeev's question below, "Can re-installing Windows
XP SP2 cause lost of data and/or have an effect on running of
other applications?" the answer is that not only *can* it do
those things, a clean reinstallation (which is what the support
person wanted you to do) definitely *will* do both those things.
It will cause the loss of all data (which you'll have to restore
from a backup) and the loss of all applications (which you'll
have to reinstall from the original media).