Doing a "Repair install of XP"

[hagatha]

I'm getting ready to upgrade my motherboard, cpu, vid card and memory... My hard drives and the rest of the system are already in place.
My question is... When I start this new system, is there a way to do a "repair install" of XP so that I don't have to reinstall all the software and drivers? Could someone point me in the right direction with pointers or a good source of info on this subject?

I'm keeping the same brands as I upgrade.

AMD AthlonXP 2800 to AMD Athlon64 3800
ASUS A7N8X-E to ASUS A8N5X
ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 (AGP) to ATI X1300PRO 256 (PCI Express)
Crucial 1gb adding 2gb (total of 3gb)

Thanks in advance!
Lee
hagatha@hot.rr.com

[freakitchen]

Yes, a repair install is exactly what you need to do. Follow the instructions in this thread:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=151522

Just a note regarding your RAM, XP has trouble utilising more than 2GB of RAM. You might get 2.5GB recognised, but anything more than that is wasted. XP 64 will recognise 4GB of memory, but it's got poor driver/software support and is best avoided.

Also make sure your power supply is up to the task of running a PCI-Express system. It needs to be a quality ATX 2 unit.

FK

[jollyjohn]

Originally Posted by hagatha I'm getting ready to upgrade my motherboard, cpu, vid card and memory... My hard drives and the rest of the system are already in place. My question is... When I start this new system, is there a way to do a "repair install" of XP so that I don't have to reinstall all the software and drivers? Could someone point me in the right direction with pointers or a good source of info on this subject? I'm keeping the same brands as I upgrade. AMD AthlonXP 2800 to AMD Athlon64 3800 ASUS A7N8X-E to ASUS A8N5X ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 (AGP) to ATI X1300PRO 256 (PCI Express) Crucial 1gb adding 2gb (total of 3gb) Thanks in advance! Lee hagatha@hot.rr.com

G'day Hagatha
I find this to be the best way to repair Windows XP. If you already have it installed. You won't lose any data nor installed software. Just be careful to follow the step by step instructions.
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/articl....jsp?id=8658-0
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/articl....jsp?id=8658-0
Good luck
John

[GaryRouth]

The guide by Charlie White, (link in the above post) is a pretty good guide, but is starting to show it's age. There are a few things (cautions) to keep in mind before trying this sort of over-the-top reinstallation - the most thorough treatment might still be M.Steven's guide (linked to in the thread here at PC Mechanic in the Tips & Tricks forum).

I think your best bet might be to read through several guides, and have a view of it from several sources. One aspect missing from a fair number of older guides is the presence or absence of Service Pack 2 [most techs find such reinstalls go better with an installation disk that has SP2 "slipstreamed" in it ahead of time].

Since your reinstall is for a home build, and not an OEM-built system (like IBM, Dell, Hp...), the worry about the pre-SP1 OEM-installation file "Undo_guimode.txt" shouldn't apply.
____________________

There is also the no-reinstall method you can try, mentioned by glc in a reply to the XP Reinstall guide I posted in Tips & Tricks: it involves using Device Manager to switch the IDE controllers to Standard IDE controller, to allow the system to boot while using the new motherboard. Uninstalling the drivers for the other cards moving over preps the way for installing those in Safe Mode. When this method is successful, the "over-the-top" reinstall isn't necessary.

Best of luck
. . . Gary