Reinstalling Windows XP from a preinstalled version

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Neve
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Dave Neve

Hi

I have a friend who want to reinstall Windows XP from a preinstalled
version which is on his C: Drive.

He has read the following article
http://ask-leo.com/i_dont_have_an_installation_cd_for_windows_xp_what_if_i_need_one.html

and now thinks that he can reinstall Windows from his C:drive to the same
place using his preinstalled version.

He thinks that each file is overwritten during the reinstall.

I think he is confusing a reinstall with a recuperation and that Windows
will erase everything including itself (unless a warning comes up and it
refuses)

I guess he could copy his preinstalled version to another HD and then
reinstall from there to the original C:Drive

Who is right as I am sure this is going to end in tears if I can't convince
him?

Thanks in advance

Dave Neve
 
Dave Neve said:
Hi

I have a friend who want to reinstall Windows XP from a preinstalled
version which is on his C: Drive.

He has read the following article
http://ask-leo.com/i_dont_have_an_installation_cd_for_windows_xp_what_if_i_need_one.html

and now thinks that he can reinstall Windows from his C:drive to the same
place using his preinstalled version.

He thinks that each file is overwritten during the reinstall.

I think he is confusing a reinstall with a recuperation and that Windows
will erase everything including itself (unless a warning comes up and it
refuses)

I guess he could copy his preinstalled version to another HD and then
reinstall from there to the original C:Drive

Who is right as I am sure this is going to end in tears if I can't convince
him?

Thanks in advance

Dave Neve
Click to expand...

Your friend's approach won't work, for these reasons:

- If he runs winnt32.exe from within Windows then the
process will terminate with the message that his
current version is newer than the version on the "CD".

- He won't be able to run winnt.exe from within a DOS
boot because the i386 folder most likely resides on
a NTFS disk, which is inaccessible to DOS.

He could, of course, burn the i386 folder to a CD. This
would make for a cumbersome installation process because
it would still require a DOS boot and a FAT32 target disk.

Much easier to copy a WinXP CD from a friend. It's
perfectly legal. He must make sure to copy the same
flavour. If it's a different flavour then his product key
won't work.
 
Hi Pegasus

Me and my friend have got side tracked a bit and are really surprised by
your idea to use a copy of the same flavour.

What happens if the CD needs to be activated for example?

Will Microsoft accept this cos my friend is just itching to reinstall (now
with a sm else's CD) but my guts are telling me that he shouldn't yet.

Thanks in advance
 
Dave said:
Hi Pegasus

Me and my friend have got side tracked a bit and are really surprised by
your idea to use a copy of the same flavour.

What happens if the CD needs to be activated for example?

Will Microsoft accept this cos my friend is just itching to reinstall (now
with a sm else's CD) but my guts are telling me that he shouldn't yet.
Click to expand...

No, it's quite all right to use any XP install CD - as long as it is the
same version as the one for which you have the product key. The product key
is your license, not the physical CD. IOW, if you had XP Home retail
upgrade then you need to use an XP Home retail upgrade disk because that is
what will match the product key.

Malke
 
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