Gaming Question about formating and reinstalling.

[Hardkaare]

Recently my dad got this laptop with windows xp and alot of pre-installed junk on it.
So i thougt reformating and re-installing would be a good idea but ive never done it before.

So i wanna to know if i can use the license under the laptop to activate, or do i have to buy a whole new copy to do so?

 

[Raki]

Recently my dad got this laptop with windows xp and alot of pre-installed junk on it.
So i thougt reformating and re-installing would be a good idea but ive never done it before.

So i wanna to know if i can use the license under the laptop to activate, or do i have to buy a whole new copy to do so?

you'll have to pay me 1,000,000 $, then I'll allow you to reinstall it.

No, you can just use the license supplied with the laptop

 

[Hardkaare]

But if the laptop didnt come with a cd will it work if i download a copy of windows xp home
and activate it with the key under the laptop?

 

[Raki]

But if the laptop didnt come with a cd will it work if i download a copy of windows xp home
and activate it with the key under the laptop?

well if there's no CD the laptop should have a recovery partition, which you can burn to a disc

 

[Hardkaare]

EDIT: double post screw the noobs asking stuff about the new releases.

 

[moose3]

You mention xp is the OS, so I am guessing it's a used laptop, not something new? Hence no recovery CD because it was bought/given away as is?

If so, see if you can get a copy of the user's manual online for that model, if it's a dell, it might just have a recovery partition as mentioned earlier by Raki.

If it does have a recovery partition, it has some sort of bios key combination that sends it to a recovery program where it will format and re-install the pre-loaded image.

However, I would think that some problems would still be there. They are supposed to reset the computer back to the condition in which it shipped, meaning that the recovery partition would most likely still contain all the pre-loaded bloatware crap they cram onto the system from the manufacturer.

Granted it will clean off all the stuff the original owner has put on there since getting the computer.

I'd say check for a recovery partition, if that is not an option, you can go with a copy of xp home, and the CD key under the comp. Not sure what MS's policy is on the license for the OS if they would give you a new key if the older one had a problem.

There is also the option of a free OS like Ubuntu (linux) if you are just interested in normal computing, not playing the latest windows only game.

 

[BiscuitBee]

A couple of things you can do before you reinstall:

1. Download and run Keyfinder (http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/)
This is display the product key of most Microsoft products that are installed on the computer (included Windows XP)
If the key matches the sticker on the bottom, then good.
If not, write down the product key somewhere so you can try this key if the sticker key doesn't work.

2. Find out which version of Windows you are running. XP Home or XP Pro
You can do this by clicking on START then right-clicking on My Computer then clicking on properties.
(or Start > Run > sysdm.cpl)
It should say "Microsoft Windows XP Version 2002" etc etc

3. Download the OEM version of Windows version from step two.
As far as I am concerned, this is a legit use of bittorrent because it is downloading something you already own.
Search your favourite torrent site for: Windows XP Professional OEM (or Home OEM)
This is pretty neat because they'll usually include Service Pack 3 with their CDs

4. Burn the CD using your favourite iso burning software. I use imgburn (http://www.imgburn.com/)

5. Boot from the CD and try to install Windows using the product key that you have.

If you want, you can always make a backup of your current install using clonezilla and a USB harddrive. That way, if the CD install doesn't work but you formatted your drive, you can always go back.

EDIT: I should note that you'll probably have to download the drivers for all of your stuff to get things working, again. With pre-installs, sometimes it is just easier to uninstall all the junk using the add/remote programs.