Resetting Windows XP

[Quacker]

As opposed to removing it. I have taken all I need, music, photos etc. and safely backed them up. Now if I am to purchase a new machine (I am always thinking of doing this) rather than ditch this one or lock it away in a shed or loft, is there a way to clear it of all the bits and bobs leaving just windows - i.e. factory fresh?

 

How easy is it to do this and is it possible to have the service packs left as I have downloaded them? I have never used a system reload or restart disk - indeed never reset anything - I'm sure I have the XP disk somewhere though.

 

Is this straightforward, or best to have someone do it for me?

[Jelly Bean]

There are a few ways to do this:

 

How to partition and format a hard disk by using Windows XP Setup program

 

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users

 

How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

[Match]

Is this straightforward, or best to have someone do it for me?

 

If you have an XP Disk then its as simple as putting the disk in the drive and following instructions please do not confuse an XP installation disk with a system recovery disk.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx

 

is there a way to clear it of all the bits and bobs leaving just windows - i.e. factory fresh?

 

This depends on how paranoid you are over the information on the drive,

 

you can do a quick format that will mean anyone wanting to can quite easily retrieve a high percentage of any information left on it.

 

you can do a regular format making it harder to retrieve any information, but not impossible

 

or you should be able to download a disk utility from the manufacturers web site that will do a low level format, meaning that to recover anything from it will require specialist equipment.

 

or you can replace the drive with a new one, and smash the old one to pieces with a big hammer and safety equipment until you are sure the plates (Disks Inside) are shattered into a zillion pieces. thus making any information totally irretrievable.

 

personally though unless you work for government and have top secret information stored a regular format should do the job.

[Quacker]

Thanks both - no paranoia here regarding the info (who said that? :D) I always fancied a factory reset or similar, just to see if by removing everything and starting again it would behave differently.

 

I presume I just use the serial no. that came with it to re-install using the original windows XP disk. I really should be able to do this by now but have always been afraid since I did a format C a few years ago and lost a whole bunch of family photos....though I now believe there is software available to recover this!

 

Thanks again.

 

Steve