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Ham02 · 03-31-2004, 10:15 AM

I had XP home, and did an upgrade to XP pro, but it's kind of choppy and I've read of other people having problems with upgrading. I want to just do a clean reformat of my hard drive and install XP pro, but I have no clue how. I could really use some help, thank you.

03-31-2004, 10:23 AM

Boot from the XP CD. During setup, it'll ask if you want to repair a preivious install. Press the 'ESC' key, you DO NOT want to. Then, it'll ask you to FORMAT the drive. Do so, and you'll have a clean install.

originel · 03-31-2004, 10:27 AM

it's actually not too difficult. if your xp cd is bootable (most xp cd's are) then all you need to do is boot that cd and when it asks you too, format your hard drive (it's part of the setup). make sure you back up any files first because your hard drive will be wiped clean.

here's a good step-by-step run through on it.

EDIT: beat me too it evilrick

jmichna · 03-31-2004, 10:34 AM

Do you have an XP Pro "Upgrade" media, or the XP Pro "Full" (as if for a new PC) media?

If you have the Pro upgrade version, it's a wee bit more involved, but not much.

Here's one way to do it... there are other ways of accomplishing the same:
Home-->Pro Upgrade version
1) Go to www.bootdisk.com, d/l the W98se bootdisk creator, create a W98se bootdisk on a 3.5" floppy
2) Go into BIOS and set your floppy drive as the first boot device
3) Boot up using the boot floppy, and at the DOS prompt, issue the command 'format c:" to wipe your old OS off the HD.
4) Place XP Pro Upgrade disk in CD-ROM drive
5) Shut down, set devices back to desired boot order (usually CD-ROM, then HD, then floppy... but your choise)
6) Boot up (should boot to the XP Pro install disk, proceed with installation.
7) At some point early in the install, you will be asked to insert the "upgrade qualifying media"... just put in your Home CD to prove the upgrade is valid.
8) Follow prompts to complete the Pro install -- There is no need to install before upgrading to Pro.

Pro Full version
1) Set CD-ROM as your first boot device in BIOS, put Pro dick in CD-ROM and reboot
2) Follow installation instructions and just reformat the HD when prompted, to wipe the old OS and start fresh.

[EDIT]You guys type too fast!!!!!!!

originel · 03-31-2004, 10:37 AM

Actually the upgrade disks can be bootable and all can be made bootable. just get the bootable disk set from here and voila, it turns the upgrade into a completely bootable cd and you follow the same instructions as for the full version, and since it looks for qualifying software first you don'thave to bother with giving it a cd.

EDIT: also unfortunately bootdisk.com turned into a donation supported site (i.e. you have to pay to use it except for the 9x bootdisks and stuff not hosted on their site)

Ham02 · 03-31-2004, 10:44 AM

Well see... My xp cd is a copy from a friend

yes, I pirate. But i know it works because I upgraded Home to Pro from the cd.. But I've tried putting it in the cd drive and rebooting like that tutorial said. My computer just boots up like normal, so i guess that means the cd isn't bootable or what? I know it is a full install though.

twistedbrntucker · 03-31-2004, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ham02
Well see... My xp cd is a copy from a friend yes, I pirate. But i know it works because I upgraded Home to Pro from the cd.. But I've tried putting it in the cd drive and rebooting like that tutorial said. My computer just boots up like normal, so i guess that means the cd isn't bootable or what? I know it is a full install though.

Just say no to Warez