remove & new installation XP

[Helmut Mellin]

I bought a used notebook with XP still installed. In order
to install my own licensed version of XP I want to remove
they existing one from the HD.
1. How can I save the drivers in case I need them for the
new installation?
2. What is the recommended way to remove the old OS?

Thank you for your advise and help!

Helmut

 

[BillW50]

In Helmut Mellin typed on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:41:13 +0100:

I bought a used notebook with XP still installed. In order
to install my own licensed version of XP I want to remove
they existing one from the HD.
1. How can I save the drivers in case I need them for the
new installation?
2. What is the recommended way to remove the old OS?

Thank you for your advise and help!

Helmut

DriverBackup! (free)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/

Driver Magician ($29.95)
http://www.drivermagician.com/

Driver Genius ($29.95)
http://www.driver-soft.com/

--
Bill
2 Gateway MX6124 - Windows XP SP2
3 Asus EEE PC 701G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
2 Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 1GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2 ~ Xandros Linux - Puppy - Ubuntu

 

[Mark Adams]

I bought a used notebook with XP still installed. In order
to install my own licensed version of XP I want to remove
they existing one from the HD.
1. How can I save the drivers in case I need them for the
new installation?
2. What is the recommended way to remove the old OS?

Thank you for your advise and help!

Helmut

Helmut, go to the website of the maker of the notebook and download the
drivers for Windows XP for that model notebook. Copy the drivers to a flash
drive or burn them to CD. Take the hard drive out of the notebook to examine
it. The hard drive maker's identification should be obvious. Go to the
website of the hard drive maker and download their free formatting utility.
Burn the utility to CD. Put the hard drive back in the notebook, set it to
boot from CD and use the formatting utility to reformat the hard drive. This
will erase the existing Windows installation. Now reinstall Windows and use
the flash drive or the CD with the drivers that you previously made to
reinstall your drivers. You should be good to go.

 

[Mark Adams]

Helmut, go to the website of the maker of the notebook and download the
drivers for Windows XP for that model notebook. Copy the drivers to a flash
drive or burn them to CD. Take the hard drive out of the notebook to examine
it. The hard drive maker's identification should be obvious. Go to the
website of the hard drive maker and download their free formatting utility.
Burn the utility to CD. Put the hard drive back in the notebook, set it to
boot from CD and use the formatting utility to reformat the hard drive. This
will erase the existing Windows installation. Now reinstall Windows and use
the flash drive or the CD with the drivers that you previously made to
reinstall your drivers. You should be good to go.

Oh, yes. One other thing. If this is an older notebook that originally came
with Windows 98 installed (look at the COA on the bottom of the notebook) and
has been upgraded to XP by the previous owner, download Magical Jellybean
Keyfinder to extract the Product Key from the existing installation. If you
have a Windows XP Upgrade install disk, you can reinstall XP from your disk
and use the product key from the existing install on the notebook.. This way
you can save your Product Key for another computer. If the notebook
originally came with XP (look at the COA) and you have an OEM XP install
disk, you should be able to use the Product Key that is on the COA for the
install.

 

[LVTravel]

Helmut, go to the website of the maker of the notebook and download the
drivers for Windows XP for that model notebook. Copy the drivers to a
flash
drive or burn them to CD. Take the hard drive out of the notebook to
examine
it. The hard drive maker's identification should be obvious. Go to the
website of the hard drive maker and download their free formatting
utility.
Burn the utility to CD. Put the hard drive back in the notebook, set it to
boot from CD and use the formatting utility to reformat the hard drive.
This
will erase the existing Windows installation. Now reinstall Windows and
use
the flash drive or the CD with the drivers that you previously made to
reinstall your drivers. You should be good to go.

Mark, all good suggestions except for the removal of the hard drive and
formatting with the hard drive maker's formatting utility. The proper thing
would be to boot with the XP CD and have it delete the existing partition
and remake the partition and format the partition during the installation of
XP.

 

[LVTravel]

I bought a used notebook with XP still installed. In order to install my
own licensed version of XP I want to remove
they existing one from the HD.
1. How can I save the drivers in case I need them for the new
installation?
2. What is the recommended way to remove the old OS?

Thank you for your advise and help!

Helmut

Go to computer manufacturer's web site and download drivers for your make
and model of computer.

Burn to CD or copy to USB drive of some type.

Put the Windows XP CD in the CD drive and boot from the CD (you may have to
change the boot order in the bios to enable booting from the CD.) When the
installation starts have the installation program delete the existing
partition, create a new partition and format it then continue installing the
operating system.

See Microsoft KB article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941 for more
information and http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html for more
information.