Guys, can anyone give me a step by step guide to complete the above? I am almost certain I have the XP disc and all the Dell drivers, I have done a bit of googling but all the guides seem very long winded and complicated......

Good question, I'm looking to do the same thing to newly formatted PC.

The search results are so different, some say just stick the CD in and follow the instructions, others go on about partitioning the drive etc....

A local PC repair shop can do a clean install for 50 quid, but in the current economic climate 50 quid is still 50 quid!! :(

Dell xp rebuilds are easy.

Pop cd in and away you go.

Different people will recommend different ways, for me I'd partition the drive so that the operating system is on one partition and the program's and data are on the other.

What size hard disk is it?

Have you got the dell drivers disk? If not don't worry, just note the network card make n model before flattening it. Download it onto a flash drive before you start.

So, install dells XP operating system, install drivers, install anti virus, Avast will do, install xp service packs and updates.

Then when you go to install any program's install them to the other partition you made, D:\ for example.

Keep me posted, I'll help.

Paul

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I agree with splitting the drive into two, but I'd keep the programs on the first partition with the OS, as they aren't any use on D if you have to rebuild again in the future

Windows XP?

Time to move on, Windows 7 for now and with Windows 8 just starting to loom on the horizon, you'll soon find that any support for XP will finish.

I'm using Windows 7 x64, stable & solid as a rock.I will undoubtedly move forward to Windows 8 x64 within a matter of months of its release.

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Anyway here's the easy solution: How to reinstall Windows XP

Another useful source of information is: The Elder Geek

Google is also your friend. Type in "reinstalling windows XP" sans quotes.

Just make sure that if you have TWO hard drives you format the right one, to avoid formatting the wrong one once you know which is which disconnect the second one so that you don't format that in error!

(Been there done that)

Windows XP?

Time to move on, Windows 7 for now and with Windows 8 just starting to loom on the horizon, you'll soon find that any support for XP will finish.

I'm using Windows 7 x64, stable & solid as a rock.I will undoubtedly move forward to Windows 8 x64 within a matter of months of its release.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway here's the easy solution: How to reinstall Windows XP

Another useful source of information is: The Elder Geek

Google is also your friend. Type in "reinstalling windows XP" sans quotes.

Just make sure that if you have TWO hard drives you format the right one, to avoid formatting the wrong one once you know which is which disconnect the second one so that you don't format that in error!

(Been there done that)

Microsoft have stated that they will continue support for XP until 2020 , 7 is excellent but its not worth the cost involved to convert an older machine to run it .

Edited 13 February, 201214 yr by deecee

If you are not technically minded, just stick in the cd snd follow the instructions. If you want to partition the HDD afterwards, there are plenty of programs that can resize your HDD, shrinking the partition XP is installed on, and creating a new one from the freed-up space.

If the drive is smaller than 180GB it isnt really worth it though, modern programs are so bloated and Windows itself just keeps stealing more and more space; if you want a second partition for data, buy a second HDD.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

@ profle - It's only got a 160gb HDD so probably not worth partitoning, how will I find out info on the network card? I am 90% I have all the drivers and installation disc, so is it as easy as backing up any files/ folders I want to keep, turn off the machine then turn it back a put the installation disc in. From there I will get on screen instructions about loading drivers extra?? I have AVG antivirus software which I can possibly reload from the original email or their website?

To install service packs and updates, will I need to go to the Microsoft site or Dell?

@ Evening Star - I know, I know Windows XP is dated now (we have a Windows 7 laptop as well) but I only want to run it as a back up, mainly for the kids to go online and do their homework, I've always found XP to very stable, but after 8 years of being filled up with crap it's dreadfully slow.....

One other thing, can anyone tell me how to save itunes 'playlists'? When I installed itunes on the laptop, I copied the itunes music folder to an external HDD, then transferred the music over, it all works fine but the playlists are not there? :(

Thanks for all the replies guys.

@ profle - It's only got a 160gb HDD so probably not worth partitoning, how will I find out info on the network card? I am 90% I have all the drivers and installation disc, so is it as easy as backing up any files/ folders I want to keep, turn off the machine then turn it back a put the installation disc in. From there I will get on screen instructions about loading drivers extra?? I have AVG antivirus software which I can possibly reload from the original email or their website?

To install service packs and updates, will I need to go to the Microsoft site or Dell?

@ Evening Star - I know, I know Windows XP is dated now (we have a Windows 7 laptop as well) but I only want to run it as a back up, mainly for the kids to go online and do their homework, I've always found XP to very stable, but after 8 years of being filled up with crap it's dreadfully slow.....

One other thing, can anyone tell me how to save itunes 'playlists'? When I installed itunes on the laptop, I copied the itunes music folder to an external HDD, then transferred the music over, it all works fine but the playlists are not there? :(

even 160gb is worth partitioning. It's a small install and only grows a bit. 50gb would be more than plenty. Leaving 110gb for data like music, pictures etc.

Drivers only get installed when the machine has been built, if you've the drivers cd then don't worry as they'll all be on there.

Network card info:

Click the Start Button and then click the "Programs" folder.

Next, click the "Accessories" and then the "System Information" folder.

Within the System Information window, click the + symbol next to Components.

Click the "+" next to "Network" and highlight "Adapter", in the right side of the window you should be able to locate complete information about the network card.

Microsoft windows update for all updates. windowsupdate.com

There is a files n settings transfer wizard in XP.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293118

Use that to transfer stuff you wanna keep.

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Microsoft have stated that they will continue support for XP until 2020 , 7 is excellent but its not worth the cost involved to convert an older machine to run it .

Microsoft may support XP till 2020, but most hardware manufacturers have already ditched support. Good luck finding XP drivers for printers, graphics cards etc. as more and more drop support. The number of PC's running XP is now very small and dropping, so vendors see little point in developing something for a defunct OS.

if you can install it from scratch depends on if you have an appropriate product key for the CD you have. There are different versions, and each also has 2 or more different versions, and the keys are not interchangeable.

XP has the following flavours.

XP Home OEM, XP Home Retail, XP Pro OEM, XP Pro Retail, XP Pro Corporate and XP Pro 64bit. each has its own key and as I said you cannot use an XP pro OEM key on XP pro corporate or retail.

If you are going to install using the key on the base unit, then you'll need to have an OEM install disk for Home or Pro (depending on sticker).

The number of PC's running XP is now very small and dropping.

Still about 35% market share, similar to W7

Microsoft may support XP till 2020, but most hardware manufacturers have already ditched support. Good luck finding XP drivers for printers, graphics cards etc. as more and more drop support. The number of PC's running XP is now very small and dropping, so vendors see little point in developing something for a defunct OS.

if you can install it from scratch depends on if you have an appropriate product key for the CD you have. There are different versions, and each also has 2 or more different versions, and the keys are not interchangeable.

XP has the following flavours.

XP Home OEM, XP Home Retail, XP Pro OEM, XP Pro Retail, XP Pro Corporate and XP Pro 64bit. each has its own key and as I said you cannot use an XP pro OEM key on XP pro corporate or retail.

If you are going to install using the key on the base unit, then you'll need to have an OEM install disk for Home or Pro (depending on sticker).

......or the Vendor editions (HP, Dell etc).....no key required, no activation required either! (Legit too)

Let us also not forget XP MCE too in all it's flavours

even 160gb is worth partitioning. It's a small install and only grows a bit. 50gb would be more than plenty. Leaving 110gb for data like music, pictures etc.

Drivers only get installed when the machine has been built, if you've the drivers cd then don't worry as they'll all be on there.

Network card info:

Click the Start Button and then click the "Programs" folder.

Next, click the "Accessories" and then the "System Information" folder.

Within the System Information window, click the + symbol next to Components.

Click the "+" next to "Network" and highlight "Adapter", in the right side of the window you should be able to locate complete information about the network card.

Microsoft windows update for all updates. windowsupdate.com

There is a files n settings transfer wizard in XP.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293118

Use that to transfer stuff you wanna keep.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Till recently I had win 98/2000/XP Pro on an 80GB disc . Most drivers are somewhere on the net . driverguide ( think it's .net) is a good place to use . As said - the "system info" on XP should list all the bits you need . Sometimes bigger sites have an option to let the site see if you need a driver ( Take care it's not a bogus site, or you'll end up with more than drivers ) .With my new MB I find the board id is on the start up page .

For partitioning ,I can use FDISK, but prefer a small program called CPM ( think i found it on either TUCOWS.COM or download.com).

If you have problems with drivers ,and devices not working properly - XP has a facility to let you go on the net to locate drivers . Look at control panel/system /device manager .If you see a device with a "?" -it's not working properly . Double click on it ,and you have a chance to update the driver . And that's where the facility is .Personally ,I try and get latest drivers downloaded and stashed on a DOS HDD ,before an install . ( But then I'm an old DOS fan) .