Uninstall Windows XP

[Charity]

I have an old computer, it's five years old. It came with
windows 98 on it and I went back to school so I upgraded
it to windows xp prof edition. I recently got a new
computer and I want to get rid of xp on the old one so my
son can play his educational games on it. I followed the
directions in the xp help about how to go to add/remove
programs and click on remove next to windows xp but it
doesn't show up on that menu. how do i get rid of it and
go back to windows 98? I never deleted windows 98 and
when I did a search for it it finds all the files for it
plus I have the cd rom anyway. is there a way to get rid
of xp and downgrade to 98?Please help me.
Thanks,
Charity

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

How to Uninstall Windows XP and Revert to a Previous Operating System
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303661

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard
Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;255867

1. Delete the Windows XP partition.
2. Create a new partition.
3. Format the new partition FAT32.
4. Install your desired Operating System.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

----------------------------------------------------------------------


|I have an old computer, it's five years old. It came with
| windows 98 on it and I went back to school so I upgraded
| it to windows xp prof edition. I recently got a new
| computer and I want to get rid of xp on the old one so my
| son can play his educational games on it. I followed the
| directions in the xp help about how to go to add/remove
| programs and click on remove next to windows xp but it
| doesn't show up on that menu. how do i get rid of it and
| go back to windows 98? I never deleted windows 98 and
| when I did a search for it it finds all the files for it
| plus I have the cd rom anyway. is there a way to get rid
| of xp and downgrade to 98?Please help me.
| Thanks,
| Charity

 

[purplehaz]

There is no way to "downgrade". If you installed xp as an upgrade install
then you can uninstall it from add/remove programs. If you did a clean
install of xp, then you have to format the drive and reinstall win98 from
the win98 cds.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

If you performed an upgrade from Win98/Me, elected to backup the
old system files, and didn't convert the partition to NTFS, then all
you need do is boot into Safe Mode and Start > Control Panel >
Add/Remove Programs. All of these conditions _must_ be met for the
uninstall option to be available.

Otherwise:

How to Manually Remove Win XP and Restore Win9x
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314052


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have an old computer, it's five years old. It came with
windows 98 on it and I went back to school so I upgraded
it to windows xp prof edition. I recently got a new
computer and I want to get rid of xp on the old one so my
son can play his educational games on it. I followed the
directions in the xp help about how to go to add/remove
programs and click on remove next to windows xp but it
doesn't show up on that menu. how do i get rid of it and
go back to windows 98? I never deleted windows 98 and
when I did a search for it it finds all the files for it
plus I have the cd rom anyway.

If you have a working dual boot of the two, you could just boot the 98
startup floppy and use its SYS C: - then remove the Windows folder that
XP is in, retaining the 98 one. But more likely you did something like
converting to NTFS that removed the uninstall option. Best to clean the
disk and start over - boot the 98 floppy, use its FDISK to delete the
current partition (non-DOS if NTFS); make a new DOS Primary one. Reboot
the floppy, with CD support, go to the 98 CD and run Setup.

Then install the XP on the new machine (unless it was an 'OEM' CD, but
you would not have been able to do an upgrade with one of those). When
it comes to activation, if it is more than 120 days since you last did
it, you will find it will go through on the net just like first time.
If not, you will have to phone a toll-free number that will be given, to
explain and swap one long number for another to check back as you type
it in