when reinstalling windows...

newguy5

newguy5

New Member
do you need to format, or what? i installed a new cpu/ram/mobo/video card and was told i needed to reinstall windows although i used the same HD from my old system. i just don't want to have to format.
 
you will mostly have to if you are using windows xp oem.

it is better to reinstall anyways. the cd will do it for you during setup.
 
Sometimes you can get away with simply deleting the current installation of Windows without wiping the drive. That means you then have to reinstall all of the programs/softwares/games/whatever you currently have using. If the drive was new and nothing important is there a fresh partition works better. Often people split a single drive into two partitions in the event of virus infection or like you did there upgrade of hardwares. The second partition preserves and stores your files even when the primary is wiped. Try the delete current installation option first to see if Windows goes on and runs ok.
 
With the swapout of a motherboard and video card included the repair install method usually doesn't see good results. XP takes a snapshot of the total hardware environment when you first install. Deletion of the current installation without wiping the drive entirely will clean off all of the old drivers and see a fresh detection of the new board and video card alike. There's too much hardware being changed for that method.

You can try it by following the instructions at the link I'll post here but it usually fails. I tried that to see if it would work on the new board, cpu, and video card here last spring to see... oops! drive wipe time! http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
 
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