Re: Reformat and install XP
From: Yabbadoo (lsdolby_at_ignore.ntlwor.com)
Date: 02/10/05
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Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 18:28:40 GMT
Ken -
QUOTE from yr reply -
>It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
>people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem
>they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's
>the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
>always works...etc. UNQUOTE
Totally agree! Had XP(OEM) system 3 years now. Within a week had a prob with
CDRW, OEM helpdesk advice was "re-install XP from recovery disk". Was a real
novice then, so did that, prob solved. Since which, have lost my OEM disk,
but XP still works despite the many changes made since.
Bog-standard routines and protection (AV, Firewall, Spybot, disk hygiene,
defrag and automatic updates) has kept my system virtually trouble-free. And
I'm a Silver Surfer, no expert, but still with enough savvy to learn (you
CAN teach an old dog new tricks).
Reading these NG postings should be compulsory. Funny how most posters blame
XP when it's actually user error, often of the most basic kind!
"Ken Blake" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
news:%231lsQe4DFHA.4072@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> In news:AfLOd.229795$Np3.9531391@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca,
> Happy <happy@trial.ca> typed:
>
>> How do I reformat & re-install XP? I can't seem to get past the sys
>> configuration files at the beginning, after experiencing some
>> problems. I don't mind losing existing data, it's all backed up.
>
>
> You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since that would
> leave Windows without a leg to stand on.
>
> Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary
> to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation
> (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create
> a new one).
>
> You can find detailed instructions here:
> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
>
> or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
>
> or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
>
> However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view, it's almost
> always a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to
> reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1,
> WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for
> the period of time before the next version came out, and each on two
> machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
> anything more than an occasional minor problem.
>
> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
> people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem
> they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's
> the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it
> almost always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real
> troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any
> great degree).
>
> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
> restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs,
> you have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to
> locate and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to
> recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable
> with.
>
> Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may
> have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can
> you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to
> restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may
> have installed to make everything work the way you like?
>
> Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve that
> Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far between;
> reinstallation should not be a substitute for troubleshooting; it should
> be a last resort, to be done only after all other attempts at
> troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.
>
> If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone can help
> you and a reinstallation won't be required.
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
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