[Houdini]

Never done this before and am looking for stepwise instruction.


Good books or website recommendations, please.

[GCW]

Have you got a full/ proper Windows install disc? Or a computer manufacturer back up/re install disc?

[Houdini]

Can't answer that right now, tell you in 2 days.

[Bubba]

I'd try to do a repair install first: http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[GCW]

Uncle Bill has some instructions.

If you are doing a full re-install, you can just bung the disc in and it'll run.  You may need to change settings so you are booting from CD/DVD though.

[Houdini]

Cheers, that's the sort of thing I was after, something I can read through step by step on one PC while fiddling w/ the other.  It'll be on an old PC though, so repairing won't be important as it's so shagged it often won't stay on long enough to perform many functions (though I'm not sure if that's a hardware problem as it always did have overheating issues) so I'd be more into a full wipe.

No idea if I still have the original discs, I may ask a friend to upload a copy of XP for me.

[GCW]

If you get a copy of XP (or whatever) full installation (not repair) you'll be fine.  Get into your boot memory by pressing whichever key it tells you to at start up.  Go to the Boot settings and change the order to boot from optical drive, and then restart with the CD in- should be self explanatory then.  You may need to read up a bit if you are having a go at partitioning.

[apologies if it's a bit simplistic, but I'm not sure how PC au fait you are.]

[Houdini]

Just assume I'm a simpleton 

[Jim]

If its an old computer that overheats then unplug everything and get a hover and a paintbush and clean all the dust out of inside the case and from around the fans.
This should help a bit with the overheating problem and is good to do every so often

[GCW]

get a hover

How will that help?




Good idea though, it's usually fairly simple to take the back off and clean it.  You could invest in a compressed air can for cleaning, they are fairly cheap.

[Palomides]

Houdini - if you're doing a full install, make sure you have a valid licence key. Also be aware that if you follow the usual routine of installing XP and then going online and run windows update to get all the latest patches then you'll potentially have two problemes:

 "Windows Genuine Advantage" might end up being installed. This is only a problemo if you are using a dodgey version of XP or a duplicate key.

 You'll be having an unpatched version of windows sitting on the internet for a significant time - if you believe statistics about automatic infections of unpatched Windows PCs, then this is a bad idea.

To solve the first one, either use a genuine version of XP, or a proper key (of be really careful about what updates get downloaded)

To solve the second, if you're feeling paranoid, then install something like ZoneAlarm (free firewall) from CD or USB key before connecting to the internet.


However (in the apparent absence of Slack---line) you could get around all this by installing Linux. Download a disk image, burn to CD, boot from CD and you're off.

I've had a very good experience using xubuntu on an older laptop. Freely available from http://www.xubuntu.org

[slackline]

However (in the apparent absence of Slack---line) you could get around all this by installing Linux. Download a disk image, burn to CD, boot from CD and you're off.

I've had a very good experience using xubuntu on an older laptop. Freely available from http://www.xubuntu.org

  I was on t'other thread.  Glad to hear you're enjoying Linux land 

[Jim]

that magical land were no one ever has any problems (apparently)

[slackline]

that magical land were no one ever has any problems (apparently)

Not quite, but you don't get ripped off paying for something that purports to "just work" when in actual fact it doesn't and you still have to learn how to use your tool (i.e. computer operating system) anyway. 

[lagerstarfish]

If you don't know what your reg key was/is for the windows on your machine, this is allegedly a way to find it
http://www.skaro.net/cd-keyreader/
However, when I tried it on my laptop the product key turns out to be different to the one on the windows sticker that my laptop came with  - same thing with Mrs Starfish's laptop 

Magical Jelly Bean Key finder found the same product keys, maybe the stickers are dodgy?