Reinstalling XP

[Erik]

How do I wipe the hard drive clean and restore the system (Windows XP) to
its bought-condition?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

How do I wipe the hard drive clean and restore the system (Windows XP) to
its bought-condition?

Thank you for your help.

Here is what you do:
1. Reboot the machine and press the appropriate key to get into the BIOS
setup.
2. Make your CD drive the primary boot device.
3. Boot the machine from your WinXP CD.
4. Allow the disk to be formatted.
5. Install WinXP.

 

[Daave]

How do I wipe the hard drive clean and restore the system (Windows
XP) to its bought-condition?

Thank you for your help.

Once we know what the make and model of your PC is, we can offer
guidance. The reason: Different PC maunfacturers provide users with
different methods.

In the event you have a full-featured Windows XP installation CD, the
method outlined here should help you:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Otherwise, presumably you have either a PC-specific recovery/restoration
CD or a hidden recovery partition on your hard drive.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

How do I wipe the hard drive clean and restore the system (Windows XP)
to its bought-condition?

Thank you for your help.

Simply follow the recovery instructions in the manual that came
with the computer, or are displayed on the manufacturer's support web site.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

HOW TO do a clean install of WinXP: See
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps and/or Method 1 in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978307

After the clean install, you'll have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a network and before using a USB key that
isn't brand-new or hasn't been freshly formatted:

4 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/security/pypc.aspx

Other helpful references include:

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b

Tip: After getting the computer fully-patched, download/install KB971029
manually: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029

NB: Any Norton or McAfee free-trial that came preinstalled on the computer
when you bought it will be reinstalled (but invalid) when Windows is
reinstalled. You MUST uninstall the free-trial and download/run the
appropriate removal tool before installing any updates, Windows Service
Packs or IE upgrades and before installing your new anti-virus application
(which will require WinXP SP3 to be installed).

Norton Removal Tool
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool
http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe