Need help with clean install of XP Home

I have a very ill Acer Aspire 5004 laptop. Windows XP Home. I have the XP disc and discs with all the drivers. What do I need to do to effect a nice clean install of XP? I have backed up all my important data to an external HD and just want to wipe clean this laptop and start fresh. It is partioned into a C drive (the one with Windows on it) a D drive and a hidden Acer recovery partition. I would like to completely wipe everything for a do-over. Advice?

Edited by krazyklown, 17 December 2009 - 02:14 PM.

I have backed up all my important data to an external HD

You are correct in wanting to use the disks instead of the recovery partition
If you have a rootkit or virut you might want to reconsider using you saved data, as it can still be infected

So, what's the approach to delete the recovery partition and the C and D drives and reload XP on the machine?

XP Clean Install, Stevens - http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Louis

klown,

First of all, you need to enable the boot priority to boot from a CD-ROM as a first option... then only HDD (if it isn't enabled by default). For that, you must access your BIOS.
Now, as you can boot into your Windows XP CD - do so...
Then, look for available partitions listed. Detele all, if you have no important data on them (or if you backed up, as you've said)...
After that, choose an "allocated space" to install XP there. First, you'll have to format (fast is just a detetion of an access paths; full is a single cluster erasion and ready up).
Now, you'll see the setup... Be careful what you choose, check options, specify the default language, etc..

After mentioned is done, just set up your windows' look, etc., parameters and so on... after, I recommend making a restore point, with a clarification of what it stands for.

Don't forget about Adobe Flash, Reader, Anti-malware, on-demand anti-malware scanner (like Malwarebytes'), office, VLC, browser of your choice... and so on and so on... Then make a second "setup" restore.

Be careful with using your windows, and if you're maintaining it with some software, like registry cleaner(s) - I can only suggest Auslogics' FREE products.
I'm using: Auslogics' Registry Cleaner and HDD Defragmenter, CCleaner (<== can delete old or unneeded restore points) and Revo Uninstaller (<== uninstalls any software completely).

Hope this helps to you... if I haven't forget something,
rhino



www.auslogics.com | www.ccleaner.com | www.revo.com

Edited by rhino1366, 17 December 2009 - 03:12 PM.

Hey, thanks. CCleaner is a great little program. I have recent versions of AVG Antivirus, ZoneAlarm, Firefox, Adobe Reader, Malwarebytes, SpybotSD on a thumb drive ready to go. So, the XP CD will let me delete (or full format, erasing all data) partitions and then set up new ones. I'm going to try this out tonight. Hopefully all goes well and I'll be able to post the results here tomorrow or over the weekend.

OK. All went well with clean install of XP Home except...

Shutdown doesn't work correctly. System just hangs. CTRL-ALT-Delete doesn't bring up Task Manager after attempt to shut down. Only way is to use the power button to shut it off. After restart, the language bar (which I had previously hidden) returns to the taskbar. Other than that, all seems OK. Any ideas or a setting I have overlooked?

Edit: I also installed XP SP3 while I was at it. This Acer Apsire 5004 has an AMD Turion 64 ML-34 processor. I saw somewhere about SP3 not getting along well with non-Intel processors.

Edited by krazyklown, 19 December 2009 - 02:15 AM.

Troubleshoot XP Shutdown Problems (MS) - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308029

Windows XP Shutdown Troubleshooter - http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php

Troubleshooting Windows Shutdown Problems - http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_...s-Shutdown.html

Troubleshooting Windows XP Shutdown Issues - http://www.theeldergeek.com/shutdown_issues_in_xp.htm

The SP3 problem really was a manufacturer/Intel issue, rather than a problem with AMD systems. The problems were caused by the method of installing Windows used by the system manufacturer. Individuals who built their own systems or had their systems built by a manufacturer who did not commit the same errors as HP...had no problems.

Does your AMD-based computer boot after installing XP SP3 - Jesper's Blog - http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/arc...ing-xp-sp3.aspx

HP Instructions for SP3 - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...cname=c01452495

SP3 Install Issues, Sysprep Used On Image - http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=953356

Louis

rhino1366

In my humble opinion, you should not be recommending any registry cleaners, e.g. CC Cleaner.
I believe you have already been informed of the views of these forums on registry cleaners
in previous posts.