reinstalling windows on an HP

[Brightonrock]

hi everyone.........u guys know what it feels like 2 be the "computer" person in the family or the group of friends so i need ur help........my buddy has an hp i have not seen it yet but its like 2002-2003ish.........he wants me 2 reinstall windows.....i was wondering if u can install a retail version of xp on it or do u need 2 use the windows disk that came with the computer....im not very experenced with HP's or any retail computer for that matter........my gut instinct tells me i can but i wanted some feedback

thanks very much everyone......

 

[darkknight187]

ok well i would say that any way of doing it is a *****....i went through 2 pc's like this and had all sorts of trouble with video and sound. anyways you CAN use any disk.

with that said you can still only use their code. anyways you may need to look up the drivers for intel extreme graphics if you use retail along with realtek's audio drivers as Windows update sometimes doesnt like to notice that you need them.

So if you have the possibility of using an up-to-date slipstreamed disk i would use that then just go get the drivers if necessary

 

[Andyman902042]

Just use the "restore CD" that came with the computer. That way all the drivers and bundled programs get installed too (sometimes programs like MS word and stuff aren't included on a seperate cd). Also you won't have to worry about activation in most cases. There's no need to use the retail disk unless you're upgrading to a newer version of windows or he doesn't have the origional.

Also sometimes the CD just extracts a factory image from another partition to the main partition on the HD. So if there's a partition in addition to the main C: partition, don't format it if you unless he put the data there himself. Otherwise you might lose the ability to restore it (without using your own install CD).

But to answer your question, yes you can use a retail CD but you will have to buy a license. The license that is stuck to the side of the PC is an OEM license so you can only use that with an OEM install CD.(which you can get from NewEgg, ect.)

-Andy

 

[BudJB]

It depends on how much you like this friend I guess .

When I get these I explain to them this: when you get a pre-fab computer, it's loaded with tons of junk that typically bog everything down and you lose tons of performance. If you have the OEM CD, you can do a clean install (drivers are usually easily found on manufacturer's websites) and it will run much nicer, but will lack most if not all of the extras that come preloaded. It's also a bit more work. Or you can just use the restore discs, and they will get all the useless stuff back and it's less work on you.

 

[Andyman902042]

I disagree.
It takes no more than 10 minutes to go to add/remove programs and uninstall the stuff they don't need. Then run msconfig and get rid of the unneeded startup programs (programs just sitting on the HD not running don't slow it down). Then defrag and its just like you did a "clean" install plus all the bundled things. I just recently did this to a sony vaio and it worked fine, no unneeded junk.

-Andy

 

[BudJB]

I have never had a restore install perform close to a clean install ever. Guess it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[don256us]

HP's generally do not come with recover CDs. Instead, hit the F10 key during boot.

Of course, this assumes that you have the original HDD with the original hidden partition.

Otherwise, a retail version of XP will indeed work.

 

[Brightonrock]

thanks guys i forgot 2 mention he lost the restore cd so i had 2 use a real windows disk.......im going 2 reinstall windows now........hopefully i wont be back 2 this thread............thanks again