Guest paul1961 Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 I have a Dell which I am about top reformat. I have the XP2 Reinstallation Disk (Home Edition). It appears that when I begin reinstalling process that I will end up with 2 versions on the disk. Is that avoidable or do I have to just get rid of the first edition after re installing ? (There is nothing on Add Remove Progs.) Thanks.
Guest John John (MVP) Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Re: Re Format xp2 Boot the computer with the Windows XP CD and when you are at the disk/partition selection screen do a full NTFS format of the partition containing the present installation then proceed with the new installation. John paul1961 wrote: > I have a Dell which I am about top reformat. I have the XP2 Reinstallation > Disk (Home Edition). It appears that when I begin reinstalling process that I > will end up with 2 versions on the disk. Is that avoidable or do I have to > just get rid of the first edition after re installing ? (There is nothing on > Add Remove Progs.) Thanks.
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Re: Re Format xp2 On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:10:00 -0700, paul1961 <paul1961@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I have a Dell which I am about top reformat. I have the XP2 Reinstallation > Disk (Home Edition). It appears that when I begin reinstalling process that I > will end up with 2 versions on the disk. No, you are doing it wrong. You are trying to reinstall from within Windows. Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one). You can find detailed instructions here: http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html or here http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm However why do you want to do this? In my view, it's usually a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now Windows Vista, each for the period of time before the next version came out, and each on two or more machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional minor problem. It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support people at many of the larger OEMs. 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. And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the same situation. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest paul1961 Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Re: Re Format xp2 Thanks Ken Blake. My browser has been getting worse and worse for ages. I do have all the drivers saved to a disk and I don't run too many programs on my work computer so shouldn't spend too much time re downloading them. I have however wasted countless hours already trying to mess with I.E. 7 and doing all kinds of virus checks etc all to no avail. I probably deserve this misfortune due to my downloading of dodgy software on peer to peer and so on, so I suppose i should just cut that out in future. I do regular spyware and virus checks and have a firewall so there can't be too much more I could have done? Thanks for the advice, I will check out the url's you mention. "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:10:00 -0700, paul1961 > <paul1961@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > I have a Dell which I am about top reformat. I have the XP2 Reinstallation > > Disk (Home Edition). It appears that when I begin reinstalling process that I > > will end up with 2 versions on the disk. > > > No, you are doing it wrong. You are trying to reinstall from within > Windows. > > Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if > necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean > installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when > prompted, then create a new one). > > You can find detailed instructions here: > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html > > or here > http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm > > or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm > > or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm > > However why do you want to do this? In my view, it's usually a > mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to > reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, > 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and > now Windows Vista, each for the period of time before the next version > came out, and each on two or more machines here. I never reinstalled > any of them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional > minor problem. > > It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical > support people at many of the larger OEMs. 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. > > And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without > finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the > behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the > same situation. > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience > Please Reply to the Newsgroup >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Re: Re Format xp2 On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:26:40 -0700, paul1961 <paul1961@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Thanks Ken Blake. My browser has been getting worse and worse for ages. I do > have all the drivers saved to a disk and I don't run too many programs on my > work computer so shouldn't spend too much time re downloading them. I have > however wasted countless hours already trying to mess with I.E. 7 and doing > all kinds of virus checks etc all to no avail. I probably deserve this > misfortune due to my downloading of dodgy software on peer to peer and so on, > so I suppose i should just cut that out in future. I do regular spyware and > virus checks and have a firewall so there can't be too much more I could have > done? Thanks for the advice, I will check out the url's you mention. You're welcome. Glad to help. > "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote: > > > On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:10:00 -0700, paul1961 > > <paul1961@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > > I have a Dell which I am about top reformat. I have the XP2 Reinstallation > > > Disk (Home Edition). It appears that when I begin reinstalling process that I > > > will end up with 2 versions on the disk. > > > > > > No, you are doing it wrong. You are trying to reinstall from within > > Windows. > > > > Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if > > necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean > > installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when > > prompted, then create a new one). > > > > You can find detailed instructions here: > > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html > > > > or here > > http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm > > > > or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm > > > > or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm > > > > However why do you want to do this? In my view, it's usually a > > mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to > > reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, > > 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and > > now Windows Vista, each for the period of time before the next version > > came out, and each on two or more machines here. I never reinstalled > > any of them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional > > minor problem. > > > > It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical > > support people at many of the larger OEMs. 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. > > > > And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without > > finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the > > behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the > > same situation. > > > > -- > > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience > > Please Reply to the Newsgroup > > -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
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