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General discussion

Reinstalling Windows XP??????

Dec 3, 2004 4:34AM PST

Hi, I was wondering if there was a way to reinstall WindowsXP home edition with out having to format everything and with out ending up with Windows XP installed over the other one??
The reason I want to reinstall windows is because the color schemes are all screwy, I have tried the restore point option but that didn't fix it at all...So I want to be able to reinstall Windows XP with out losing all the info I have on the computer..
Thanks...

Discussion is locked

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Re: Reinstalling Windows XP??????
Dec 3, 2004 5:01AM PST

Do you have only one partition of C: or do you have other partitions as well? If you have others, you can do what I do. Create new folders on another partition and call them OLDMAIL, OLDADDY, OLDFAVS, etc. and then go into Search and locate the .dbx files and the .wab files and right drag and COPY HERE to those new folders. Then open your Favorites folder, click Edit, Select All, and right drag the contents to the OLDFAVS folder with COPY HERE.

As for the My Documents, right drag it also to the other partition and choose MOVE HERE. Now change the properties on the desktop for My Documents to show the new path to the other partition where they are located. Do this for MY MOVIES, MY WEBS, MY PICTURES too if they aren't inside the My Documents folder already.

Now you can reinstall XP over the top of itself to correct problems, and your data will be safe because XP leaves everything on partitions alone, including system folders such as My Documents.

You may or may not have to reinstall some of your programs......some have been left alone and run fine for some reason when I've done a reinstall, while others won't run at all without being installed again. I believe it has something to do with whether the system .dll files, etc. that the programs use to run are located inside their own folders or if they have to be installed to the windows system32 folder instead.

TONI

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Re: Reinstalling Windows XP??????
Dec 3, 2004 1:00PM PST

I have only one partion, so I dont think your idea would work would it? But if I am understanding the other part of your idea, is that it is aok to reinstall Windows XP over it self? Thanks...

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tholmes, Yep, Here's The Way...
Dec 4, 2004 3:15AM PST

The link below describes the procedure to run a "repair" install of XP. It "should" reinstall without losing any of your programs, but be sure to make backups anyway. It's also good to have a set of backup drivers, such as your video, audio, etc. just in case you need to install them when you're done. You'll need an XP CD to do it:

Windows XP Repair and Reinstall

Hope this helps.

Grif