Question 'bout XP

I have a friend that has an older laptop that has a Win XP Home COA on it and the hardware seems to work OK, but it really need to have the OS re-installed and start over. Someone gave this laptop to them and it's got bloatware and all kinds of programs they don't need so I'm thinking it'd be best to start from scratch.

I don't have an XP Home (32bit...not sure if there was a 64bit in this version of XP) disc, otherwise I'd use it to load the OS and use the COA on the laptop to activate and hopefully all would be well.

So, I'm lookin on eBay which is the only place I know of to buy this and my question is... can I use an upgrade disc to do a complete install on a freshly formatted hard drive, or do I need to get a full version?

I thought I heard somewhere that you could actually do a full install with the upgrade version, but I may be thinking of Win 7, or I may have just heard that in a dream one night after trying to help someone with their computer (I'm not expert, but I like to tinker with this stuff and I continually run in to people that want me to tinker with their computer and I usually recommend starting all over and teach them to use Acronis.)

Also, is there somewhere that you can download Win XP Home in an ISO file so I can burn my own DVD since I may only ever use this once?

Any tips would be appreciated as this person can only pay with a "thank you" so it's one of those no budget deals.

Remove the current user from the machine.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/lsm_delete_user.mspx?mfr=true

When asked do not keep the files.

Open add remove programs and remove all installed programs.


Hit the Start button then Right Click My computer>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Properties>>>>>>>>>>>
Harwdare Tab>>>>>>>>>>>>>Device Manager.
Scroll down to the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controlers Left click the + to the left of the drivers.
Right Click and uninstall all of your Primary IDE drivers there most likely will be more than one of the Primary IDE Drivers Make sure and un-install All of them prior to rebooting.
Upon un-installing the last one your computer should prompt a reboot allow it.

Tell us how things are.

I'd much rather just install fresh... I've tried spending hours and hours cleaning up a PC and to me it's too much hassle compared to re-loading the OS where at least I know what I have and where I'm going.

I don't suppose there is anywhere on the web to download the OE version of XP Home in an ISO file is there?

I would not be doing anything illegal since I'd be installing the same version using their existing COA just like I'd do if they had the original install disc.

OE version of XP Home ?? << Did you mean: OEM version of XP >> Read >> OEM license version of XP?
ALL OEM copies can only be installed clean: (that is, the hard drive must be formatted before XP OEM can be installed).
They cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an existing Operating System so make sure you back up all necessary data and files BEFORE installing XP OEM, since the format of the Hard Drive will erase ALL data on it.

There are two types of OEM CDs:
1) an OEM version created by a system manufacturer. These copies are usually "BIOS-locked", and can only be used on the exact machine they were created for.
2) a "FULL OEM", or "FULL OEM DSP". These may be installed on any IBM-compatible machine. These may or may not be provided with a factory-
built machine, but are usually purchased separately for installation a home-built machine.

Edited from the above linked article by "Bill Castner" -

can I use an upgrade disc to do a complete install on a freshly formatted hard drive

Yes you can. But you will also need install media for a Windows version that qualifies for the upgrade, e.g. Win95, Win 98, WinME to show the installer during the install.

What will and won't work juggling Windows installs can just get messy. The laptop COA is likely for OEM Windows, the key will probably not work for a retail version, or may not allow activation.

Far and away the best solution is to find a way to borrow the right version disc from someone.

I have had success using any non oem disk to reinstall windows. As long as the product key does not have oem in the string then any full install disk will be fine. Upgrade disks will require the older is disk to be read to verify you own it.

How old is the computer? Did you check to see if it has a recovery partition which takes the place of disks?

How old is the computer? Did you check to see if it has a recovery partition which takes the place of disks?

No, I don't have it in my possession yet... I told them I'd like to obtain an OEM install disk first.

I'm hunting on eBay for a deal now.

I suggest you find out if it does have a recovery partition. If it does you can use that instead of buying a disk.

It would also install the drivers needed so you don't have to hunt for them on the internet and save time by not having to wait on disks to be delivered.

You should also be able to make a set of recovery disks from the partition if a set has not already been made.