Reinstall XP 2

[awreneau]

Isnt it possible to reinstall xp w/o formatting the ntfs partition and doing what you might call an overlay of the OS?

Also, is it possible upon install to leave the admin password blank and at a later time still access the machine with a blank admin password?

Thanks

Which one of me are you talking to?
My very own LUG!

http://www.lugot.org

 

[YBNormal]

There are two installations possibel. One is like you say an overlay or a Repair reinstall of Win Xp or you could do a Parallel Installation of Win Xp.

Follow the following steps for a Repair Reinstall:
Reboot your computer with the Windows XP CD in the CD drive.
The following message will appear on a black screen with white letters: Press any key to boot from the CD.

Press the <Spacebar> to boot to the Windows XP CD.
After several moments of initializing some modules, the Windows XP Setup screen will appear.

Windows XP Home Edition Setup
_____________________________

Welcome to Setup.

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft<R> Windows<R> XP to run on your computer.

To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using
Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Enter=Continue R=Repair F3=Quit



NOTE: The second option reads R=Repair, Do Not Press the <R> Key at this time. This option is for the Recovery Console.
There will be another repair option available in this process.

Press the <Enter> key.
The Windows XP Licensing Agreement appears.

Press the <F8> key to agree.
Setup will search for previous versions of Windows.

Windows XP Home Edition Setup
_____________________________

If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an installation.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation,
press R.

To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

C:\WINDOWS &quot;Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition&quot;




F3=Quit R=Repair ESC=Don't Repair



Press the <R> key to repair.

NOTE: Setup will examine your computer and copy files to the Windows installation folders. This process will take some time. Once it has completed, setup will initialize and then restart the computer.

Do not press any keys when the message Press any key to boot from the CD appears. Let Windows boot normally.

The amount of time it takes to complete the above process will vary depending upon the size of the hard drive and the speed of your system. You can step away from the computer at this time.

Setup will pause at the Regional and Language Options window.
Click the Next button.
Setup will continue to install files.
After several minutes the Welcome to Microsoft Windows window appears.

Click the Next button.
The Thank You! window appears.

Click the Next button.

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin

 

[awreneau]

Ok thanks, I'll try that but what about the admin password?

Which one of me are you talking to?
My very own LUG!

http://www.lugot.org

 

[YBNormal]

yes it is possible to leave the password blank. infact its a good idea if you have the habit of forgetting passwords

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
- Jeff Raskin