Help with newly installed XP please !!!

I recently had a new hard drive installed. (as well as an upgrade from 256 MB Ram to 512MB) I have recently re-installed windows XP, and it's acting very differently than it was when I first bought my computer from the vendor.
First it asked for my ISP address and password during installation (which I gave). Then when I connected to the internet I found I had 7 or 8 different garbage programs that I didn't want! Are there any little tips you can give about setting up XP so that "strange things don't happen"? It would be much appreciated.

 

I have installed and reinstalled XP on many computers, and have never had to give my ISP address and password during installation. More information would be helpful in diagnosing this. Did you use a vendor supplied restore disk? If so, this might explain the garbage programs that you didn't want as most restore disks install a bundled package from the vendor, but these should also have been present when you bought the computer, if new.

As for helpful hints about installing XP, do not be connected to the internet by any means while doing so, and always install an antivirus and firewall program before connecting to the internet. The ISP address and password bothers me. I would suggest that you download, update, and run both Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad AwareSE from the downloads section, or scroll to the bottom of this page and both can be found under Spyware tab/heading. Post back with any problems.

 

Go here after installing your OS and AV.

 

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