How To Uninstall Xp, To Reinstall From Disc

Hi guys. I am having trouble uninstalling XP. I actually want to uninstall the OS completely so I can reinstall. Its an old but genuine MS XP disc. The PC will only be used for browsing, I know about the risks of XP and that it wont update but that doesnt matter, I wont be banking on it and the pc wont hold any sensitive data at all.

I cant uninstall from add/remove programs and I cant install and format from the disc because when i try it I get told the version on the pc is more up to date than the one on the disc, and it wont do anything.

Any ideas?

 

If you have another working computer then the best thing would be to create a bootable CD and use it to reformat the XP disk. I recommend Minitool Partition Wizard. Download the ISO, burn it to CD and boot the XP computer with it.

 

HERE's a better link for the bootable CD iso.

 

Thanks, but cant I just somehow delete the existing OS, and then start again with the XP disc on a 'clean' computer? Would this not be simplest? I just need to know how to uninstall the OS, or wipe the old PC?

 

It's impossible for Windows to uninstall itself. You can only do it using a boot disk - a disk that can start your computer without starting Windows. Use my second link and it's straightforward. The difficulty you are having atm is really nothing compared to the problems you are going to have reinstalling an old, probably pre SP1 version of XP. However there are XP enthusiasts here who I'm sure will have some helpful tips for you.

 

You can format the hard disk using the Windows XP CD. Load the disk and restart the PC. If you don't see a black screen with "Press any key to boot from CD", you'll have to change the boot order in the BIOS.

 

Something else occurs to me. Using the original XP disk, why not create a new disk by slipstreaming SP3 on to it on a new disk.
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/soft...eam-an-xp-disc-with-sp3-and-all-other-updates
Then when you set BIOS to load from CD, you just format the drive and reinstall from the slipstreamed DVD with out having to do massive updates.

 

Sorry, but this thread really bothers me! I'm really surprise wile e coyote hasn't beat me to the pounce. "The PC will only be used for browsing"
That's about the worst thing that could be done with your machine. Fine if you don't get an infection, but don't you realize your machine is at a great risk to being a carrier to spread problems to other sites? I'm inclined to help you fix your XP if it isn't working right and to make it less likely to be a threat to the rest of us. Yet, for the life of me, I can't understand why you want to go backwards with this OS. Tell us what
really is going on with your comp and why you think scrapping all is the way to go. Start with this link here:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/index....rt-please-tell-us-about-your-computer.279929/

 

@StruldBrug

I think there is a misunderstanding.
The OP is not 'going backwards'. The system is already XP and they merely want to wipe the drive (fully format it) and reinstall XP afresh. There isn't anything problematic about that as long as the original XP license is valid for that hardware.
It is slightly exaggerated about the risks of XP if it is brought fully up to date. If the OP has up to date good security software, and uses something like CryptoPrevent free, and they are not using it for any critical data or transactions, then frankly they are safe (as millions do) to use it.
Any so-called 'risk' to others is neither their problem nor ours nor even a great one in my view. There are literally 100s of millions of Windows systems (right up to Win 10) all over the world that are riddled with malware, as there always has been.
If the OP can slip stream a new disc with SP3 I see no problem.

 

With the earliest XP version there's a risk of infection because there's no firewall to block connections from the Internet. It's better to install XP offline and update it to at least SP2 before connecting it to the 'net.

There's also a danger when using XP for browsing when Flash or Java are installed and active in the browser, later versions of Windows have had a large number of patches in recent years specifically to block the threats from malware designed to leverage these plugins to infect the operating system. XP hasn't had such patches for a long time.

 

It was always standard practice to install a very good third party Firewall in XP for every version. SP3 with a decent FW (I use Comodo in an old system that still has XP) and other small-load protection such as CryptoPrevent and MalwareBytes Anti-Exploit, Spywareblaster and Spybot, should enable a user not using it for anything critical (that's what they said at the start - are people not seeing it?) then I don't see a problem for them to do a clean reinstall.

 

"Any so-called 'risk' to others is neither their problem nor ours nor even a great one in my view" I hope you're right.

 

If you know the history of Windows systems worldwide you'll know how widespread malware is. But no it isn't our concern. Our systems are our concern.