To do the M$ dance...

finally my home pc is beginning to flag, time for a fresh start

Sooo wish me luck lol.. full reformat and reinstall for me

See you in a weeks time :P

See you in a weeks time :P

Its funny because its true!

Yeah.. its gonna take me a week to download all the updates + drivers etc

Currently 65% thru XP sp2... 260mb

It's easier to defrag, disk cleanup, delete unused programs, registery cleanup, good anti virus and adware programs etc than a complete re-install. TBH i've never had to re-install XP just good house keeping keeps it running right.

It's easier to defrag, disk cleanup, delete unused programs, registery cleanup, good anti virus and adware programs etc than a complete re-install. TBH i've never had to re-install XP just good house keeping keeps it running right.

I have only ever had to reinstall xp when my pc crapped itself. Say what you like about microsoft, but XP is a massive improvement over their other os's. Mine is still running lovely

Ive never reinstalled or completly wiped my HD, bought the PC in 2000, upgraded to XP Pro in 2002 or so, and its still working fine. Might do a defrag soon, but it takes absolutely ages!

I usually do a bit of a clean-out every couple of weeks, keeps my PC running nicely, never had anything serious happen as yet in 2 year's ownership (touch wood)

i re install xp every few weeks on my works laptop, well it gives me something to do at work , did it yesterday including getting all my stuff off that i needed rebuilding and reinstalling everything i was finished by 4:45

I have a laptop that needs a fresh install but the only media I have is a "recovery CD" which gives you no options but to reformat and start completely from scratch. I have no means of backing up my data (I've got another thread running on this) so I really don't want to have to do that. I'm not very clear on the XP registration process. If I use an OEM CD to refresh the XP installation, can I just use the licence number on the sticky label on the laptop, or do I have to go through some online registration process? I've read somewhere that you only get a limited number of reinstalls with XP also. What will happen?

you can use the number on the bottom of the laptop

if you need to get the info off you can buy an adapter that allows you to plug the laptop drive into a normal pc

I have another PC but not enough disk space to copy everything across - I also have a 100mbps network, so I don't need an adaptor really.

I've read somewhere that you only get a limited number of reinstalls with XP also. What will happen?

It'll stop accepting your licence number. At this point, you phone up Microsoft and a disinterested person in a call centre somewhere will issue you with a new number.

Rob.

Im back

Have had a major re-jig, it was getting annoying having 12 drive letters

well actually i lied..

i managed to get windows sorted and my apps installed.. then went to install linux on another disc, and the stupid thing didnt detect my raid array properly and wrote a bootsector on it that it shouldnt have done... making my machine unbootable and destroying the raid array:O