Reinstalling an older version of windows

Hi!

A while ago I borrowed a copy of Windows XP Prof. from a friend because I had a serious virus and all kinds of spyware/malware and I needed a clean start. My pc was so severely damaged that the F10 option never worked to reinstall windows.

So my friend gives me this copy and I have all kinds of issues with it. It's got a bunch of stuff locked so that I can't access it...like help.exe, and other stuff. Anyhow, I have a new cd with Windows XP Home edition, which is what I originally had. When I try to intall it I get a message saying:

Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD.

Warning: If you decide to delete the newer version of Windows that is currently installed on your computer, the files and settings cannot be recovered.

When I try to format it won't let me. It says that there is stuff still running...

Windows cannot format this drive. Quit any utilities and other programs using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of this drive. Then try formatting again.

So what can I do? The copy I have now won't even let me register with my real legitimate key, which is why I want to reinstall.

Thanks!

 

Back up anything you want to save if you can. Either burn it to CD/DVD or put it on a thumb drive or external drive, whatever. What you need to do is boot to the Windows XP Home disc. Put it in the CD drive, click Exit when the big blue window opens, then restart the PC. You should see 'Press any key to boot from CD...' at which point you'll press any key. Then it'll ask you to press Enter or 'R' for recovery... press Enter. Then at the next screen where it asks what you want to do, press Esc to start a fresh install. After that, just read what's on the screen and you can format the drive before installing Windows. Here's a good walk-through, complete with screenshots:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

 

When I restart it never gives me an option to boot from disk. F10 doesn't work and the only thing that does is F8 and I don't even get a DOS option, except in Safe Mode.

Is there anything special I need to do to the Windows XP Home disc? I got this copy froma friend, but it's not an original. It's a burnt CD. I have my original key, but I lost my disk and Microsoft said that if I borrowed a disc I could call them and use my key, kwim?

I think the Windows XP Prof. I have right now is some crazy pirated copy or something that's missing all kinds of system stuff.

 

i totaly agree with dlb,it sounds like you need a new hard drive....thats probubly not what you want to hear but thats what i think. you might have got some thing that has dammaged your hard drive, i would take and back up what i wanted onto some disks or something then installa new hdd, then put your copy of windows on it. then you might be able to make the current hdd a slave or something and then be able to format it,then you will have a new windows and more hdd space. thats just my take on it.this should work out ok.

 

My hard drive is pretty new... Got it last year. I don't think that's the problem. I think that the copy of Windows I got is a screwy one! Though the F10 didn't work before that... How can I tell if my hard drive's been damaged?

 

"When I restart it never gives me an option to boot from disk."

Check your machines bios to ensure the CDROM is set to boot before the hard disk in the Boot Device Priorities. Once you attain this, the machine should give you the 'Press any key to boot from CD...' option.

Then, booting from the XP CD, XP setup will find and list any partitions and should allow you to remove any partitions, create a new one and format it to the file structure of your choice. (ie; NTFS, FAT32.)

~If~ this fails, you can try the hard disk manufacturers utilities to "stomp" on the hard disk and either zero-fill it, or partition and format it to what you want. (Partition size/file structure.) However, I recommend letting XP set the disk up once it's "cleared".

Hard Disk Analysis/Setup Tools - Major Manufacturers