Reinstalling Your Operating System
So a lot of people are wanting to reinstall their OS and don't really know how to go about it. This thread applies tp XP, for other operating systems please post and ask for advice.
The OS, if formatted will wipe your PC clean and send it back into a "out of the box" state.
Everything on the machine will be wiped away unless you back it up using a disc/USB etc. All software you have downloaded will go, all saved games (unless saved on a server), images, videos, documents etc.
This is why backing up before the reinstall is vital. Backing up relevent drives will also be beneficial.
To reinstall the OS, it is best to format the Hard Drive.
To do this in Windows you need the following:
OS Serial Number
The OS disc (another disc borrowed from a friend can be used if its
exactly the same as the one you had installed on your machine).
You can also
ISO burn Windows to disc if you have a DVD/Rewriter.
Insert the disc, restart your computer and follow the on screen instructions. If restarting just boots your normal windows again then you'll need to change boot priorities in the bios settings so that your computer will boot from CD before hard drive. There should be some clue how to change your bios settings when you computer starts up. Normally it's one of the F keys.
Those without a XP disc-Summary.
You can download XP from Microsoft. Make sure it is exactly the same one as you have on your machine (e.g if you have XP SP2 then you must download XP SP2). You should then burn this to a disc. My earlier post will have some more info on this.
Your PC should have a serial number on the side of it, a shiny sticker. This is the serial number for the disc with your OS on it.
So insert the disc and follow the instructions and use the serial number already on your machine.
If you download the wrong copy of your OS, or you previously had an illegal copy this will not work.
To Repair Windows Using the OS Disc follow these steps
1) Boot the machine using the XP CD. To do this, insert the disc then restart. If this fails BIOS settings will need to be sorted. Please post your Machine Model here so we can help.
2) You will arrive at the welcome screen. There are three options available.
You
must choose
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.. Simply press the Enter key.
3) Accept the License Agreement
4) Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If repair is not an option see here:
Clicky
5) Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
For more information on Repair, see here:
Clicky
For more information of Formatting, see here:
Clicky
Any questions, post here.
Regards
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Useful Resources:
Reinstalling/Repairing Your Operating System
