Quick XP Pro Reinstall Question

[RedVR6]

Hi all,

I have a quick question. I need to re-install my XP Pro on my box and was wondering if I should go ahead and blow the drive away or go ahead and use the "Win XP within Win XP Reinstall" noted on MS's support pages.

Obviously the clean install would give me the best result, I realize that...but my system is running very good right now but due to a "bad" CD-Key, I recently bought a copy of XP Pro to be a good upstanding citizen. Doing the Windows in Windows reinstall...would one forsee issues or extra overhead running...as in a Win9x --> WinXP upgrade for example?

[catch23]

I don't ever bother with upgrades, or re-installing from Windows....because you're left with the same mess on your drive you had before...one of the advantages to formatting a drive and re-installing the operating system is knowing you're starting clean again....you're not when a operating version of Windows performs the installation, and puts back the files that were there before.

[lil Jimmie]

The repair option is often a coin toss. I have had a lot of success with it and only a few failures, but I only use it when the OS has a problem booting and all other means have been exhausted in repairing the boot problem. If you’re not having problems and would like to keep most of your data and settings then it is worth a shot, but you will have to reinstall all MS updates. Worst case is wiping the HDD and installing from scratch.

[RedVR6]

I will try it first and see how the machine behaves for a day or so...if all is well, I will leave it. Otherwise, I will just wipe it. Thanks for the replies guys!

Still listening though for others' experiences.