The best way to re-install XP?

[Gold_Disk]

I think I need to re-install Xp as I have had this problem http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...hreadid=52169.

I have a ASUS A7V333 RAID Motherboard. The HDD is running as RAID 1, I have a CDRW as Primary IDE master, a DVD-ROM as salve and then on IDE secondary I have a DVD-RW. It blue screens and restarts (details can be found in the above thread).

Someone suggested re-installing XP so I was just wondering the best way to do it without deleting all my important files and having to re-install all programs.

Thanks guys.

[mike breck]

Go into the BIOS and set the CD-Rom as the first boot device.
Insert the Windows XP compact disc into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message is displayed on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP compact disc.
The following message is displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen that appears:
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.

Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
Follow the instructions on the remaining screens to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may be required to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.

HTH

[Gold_Disk]

Os that upgrading from 98/ME/2000 or will that work form XP - XP too?

[mike breck]

It shouldn't matter if it was an upgrade or a clean install of XP. The Repair/Reinstall process will still work.

It doesn't matter whether the XP CD is the full version or the upgrade version.

Does that answer your question?

While the Repair/Reinstall process is fairly safe as far as retaining data is concerned, it is always a good idea to backup any "really" important data if possible.

In other words, there is no 100% guarantee that some data may not be corrupted or lost.

[Gold_Disk]

OK I will try that soon, thanks m8!

[Tuf]

Make sure when it says to install SCSI drivers push F6 that you do. XP won't be able to find your hard drives an the RAID controller otherwise. At least that has been my experience with every controller I have used.

[Cricket]

Hi Gold_Disk,

This website may come in handy: WindowsReinstall.com

Cricket

[jeresimo]

I hope I'm not late to tell you these:
Before you repair XP, better BACKUP your Favorites if you are using IE as your browser. You will be surprised to see them gone after that. So as you important Words files they too will be gone. I don't know why these happened twice to me when I did that REPAIRl. I really hate to tell this I am starting to hate XP Pro. I never experienced these hassles with Win 2000 Pro.

[catswed]

as far as I've experienced the info posted by Mike Breck is correct. Doing the repair installation will keep all personal files, but your personal settings (for the account you use to log in) are not implemented. However, they can be found under documents and settings but need to be restore manually.