Deleting windows xp

[tony draper]

Bro Draper is having trouble with his puter,my normal action is to format the hard disk and reload every thing,noticed there is a option in add/remove progs to delete XP,what would happen if I deleted XP with this,would I be able to do a new clean install of XP and not lose some of the other stuff he has on his hard disk,ie photo albums music ect.
In the past with a bad windows problem I have tried reloading windows over the top of the original install but what happens is you tend to finish up with the same problem you started with.
Also if I delete XP in the manner above would the machine still boot?

[Saab Dastard]

Sure it's not a Windows XP service pack that is in Add / Remove Programs?

There's no such possibility on my PC! One has visions of XP disappearing up its own orifice :}

Best to backup all the userdata first, to an external drive or second disk.

Best practice in my opinion is to have 2 partitions or even better 2 physical disks, so that you can install Windows on C and store all data on D.

That way you can more easily recover from a re-install. Of course, the default path for all Userdata is to the Documents and Settings folder on C, so you either have to remember to copy that (or back up) regularly to another drive, or else set the path to the D drive.

SD

[tony draper]

Hmmm ok reckon tiz a fromat then,def says Windows XP Uninstal,one shall do it the way one knows best, clean install.
Thanks Mr B.

[Saab Dastard]

Tony,

If you have done an install "over the top" in the past, that might leave you the possibility of a Windows uninstall in Add / Remove Programs.

After you've done your backup, why not try it and see what happens - you're not going to lose anything as you're going to reformat anyway!

We're all dying to know, now! ;)

SD

[Keef]

Wot SD said.

I once did a wipe-and-reload. it took me weeks before everything was back in place. It went on the blink again soon after. Not doing that again!

Back up your important stuff, then do a "new installation". Ignore the first repair option it offers you (the one that's in geekspeak). When it says it's detected an existing installation and do you want it to use that, tell it yes. That's always fixed it for me.

If you think the hard drive might be dying, buy a new one (avoid Maxtor) and clone the old installation to that. Cloning tips are in here. Then remove the old HD and see if the new one will boot OK. If yes, you won. If no, repeat the "new installation" above.

[SawThe Light]

Tony,

Google - XP non-destructive rebuild

I have followed Fred Langa's recipe on a couple of machines and it worked just fine, all my files were un-touched.


STL