Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Help with old pc

May 25, 2014 7:24PM PDT

Can i still reinstall xp if i wipe hard drive

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Re: install XP
May 25, 2014 7:38PM PDT

In principle yes, if you have all needed disks, licenses and drivers. But if you have to ask, maybe the better answer is to have it done by a repair shop that has the right experience.

Kees

- Collapse -
Answer
Yes
May 25, 2014 10:36PM PDT

Yes, assuming you have all of the things Kees mentioned and you're just wondering whether or not it will still activate. It will, however, in addition to all of the things Kees mentioned, a "gold" release version of XP connected to the Internet can be compromised literally in seconds. So you need to know how to prevent that from happening long enough to be able to install up to SP3 and then all the post-SP3 updates.

- Collapse -
Answer
Yep, I Did It About 3 Weeks Ago
May 26, 2014 2:59AM PDT

In the process of donating a computer to a local charity, I wiped the drive with Eban, then used the Recovery discs to reinstall everything back to its factory condition, which included Windows XP SP2 and all the drivers and software.. After the basic install, I used a Service Pack 3 disc to update the system to XP SP3, and then I visited the Windows Updates site to install all of the Windows Updates to the current setup. I then passed the computer along to the charity and included the Recovery Discs in the deal.

Hope this helps.

Grif