XP reinstall advice?

G

guttadaj

New member
Howdy, folks.

I thought my trusty Audiophile 2496 soundcard was hosed since my comp was not recognizing it properly, but the good news is that I don't think that's the case. I tried my old Santa Cruz in the computer and got the same problems, and I tried my Audiophile in an old computer and it was recognized just fine. M-Audio support was baffled at my problem too... see this thread for background.

Anyway, I think I'm faced with reinstalling Windows XP Pro. I've never done this, and, although I work with computers and am fairly computer-savvy, I find this to be a rather daunting task and am scared silly about it. :eek: Does anyone have any lessons learned or other helpful advice/references they could share regarding performing an O/S (particularly XP Pro) reinstall?

Thanks! :)
-Jeff
 
i just did it, and although it seemed so easy at first, it quickly turned into hell. haha.

Make sure you make at least 2 backups of anything you want to keep - and make sure the backups work fine.
Have all the software you need ready.
Try to download any drivers you'll need ahead of time, put em on a cd or disc for later.
this includes chipset drivers or bios updates if you need them.

then, good luck, haha. it takes a long time - esp. with all the windows updates you'll have to catch up with, etc. etc.
 
I've done it two times, was not a big deal. If you are really screwed up, you might need to do a full reinstall rather than a repair, in which case you might want to reformat too . . . make sure to backup data, as well as gather all necessary drivers and application install disks beforehand. Then there's the annoying crap like getting all of the helper apps for your browser back again, and all of the XP updates that aren't on your install disk.

The worst part for me was reactivation, since I had previously activated, I was forced into phone queue hell . . . twice!
 
Make sure you back everything up. (important files, songs, internet favorites, etc,). I have learned to always create one folder and point everything to it. When it comes to reformatting time, I just need to back up that one folder. Make sure that you have all your proper drivers, as well. Disconnect from the internet, pop in the windows disk, and go (check out how to slipstream...saves a lot of time and secures your computer before going on to the internet).

FYI, these are the steps that I take...others may have better ways. Good luck!

Edit: Here is the link on how to slipstream: http://unattended.msfn.org/
 
Thanks, guys, for the advice. :) Didn't exactly fill me with confidence though - I'm more scared now than before! :eek: ;) But it's good to know all the possible things to be aware of. I'm really dying to get this done because I just bought a new guitar so I'm anxious to get recording (or at least fooling around). I hope I can find the time this weekend.
 
Since your are going to reinstall anyway why not make a partition on the drive strictly for windows? That way if Windows ever hoses you again You can save some time by just formatting the windows section of the disk and reinstalling. All your important files will be safe on another space on the disk. Works well for me... Still back up your data to disk though you never know when the hard drive might fail.

Good luck
 
Iv done it a million times man...nothing to worry about. Just do like these other guys say and get all of your drivers ahead of time....if you are using a factory restore disk, all that stuff should be on the disk. If you have purchased a copy of XP pro, then you will need your drivers for things like video card, modem, network card, any PCI card you have. Also, before you start...make sure you have your Product Key for the XP install....it would suck to get to that point and realize you dont have it.
Anyway...i usually just use a win98 boot disk and run FDISK to set up my partitions after I format. Then you may need restart and go into setup when your computer boots up to change your boot sequence to boot from CD first. then pop in your XP cd and go from there. Its really not that bad and after you do it a couple of times...you will be able to do it with your eyes closed.
 
This is from my tenure as corporate second level support.

  • You will always fail to make backups of everything you need.
  • You damn well better have the setup disc for your motherboard, specially if it has integrated LAN, Audio, Video, USB, FireWire, etc.
  • Microsoft outsources Windows activation to India. I have been successful in boring these people to tears so that they give me the activation code just to get rid of me.
  • It always pays to buy peripherals whose drivers are already included in WinXP.

I am sure that I am forgetting four or five things... I'll remember them the next time I have to reinstall.

Luck!
 
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