thanks for the advise guys, is there any way to ensure that any xp prog i download hasnt got a virus or anything attached that would damage me puter, also what is the procedure to reinstall assuming i have a good copy of xp
thanks again
You will need to download all your drivers for your computer from the manufacturers website, the most important that sometimes are not installed right off the bat are audio, display, network, modem, and occasionally chipset drivers. But download all the drivers you can, as each reinstallation is unique and has its own characteristics.
As far as reinstalling, you want to format the HD, and I always recommend repartitioning and then formatting. To do this, ensure that you are set to boot to CD, then restart and when the message comes up "Press Any Key to Boot from CD", then press any key. Then it will load drivers for the setup program and after a couple of minutes, you will be at the Welcome page. Go to the page for the directory, and press the appropriate keys to remove partitions, create a partition for the entire drive, and then format using the NTFS file system. Then after that, it will start copying files, once that is done, it will reboot into a more user-friendly GUI (graphical user interface) where the mouse will work and you click the settings you want. Upon this menu will be where the CD Key comes in. I assume you downloaded one of the pieces of software previously mentioned to get your key. Enter that into the boxes. This should come up right after entering the registered name and organization (if applicable). It will finish installing the settings and after about 20ish minutes, it will reboot again. From there, you will set up usernames to use your computer. After this, you will be on your desktop. From there start installing drivers and your favorite programs.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
EDIT: As far as the CD, you might want to put the CD into your computer and go into My Computer, right-click the CD drive, then click Scan for Viruses. That will scan the CD. Most likely it will give you a comforting "Clean" report. Don't worry, a virus can't be run if no files are running from the CD.
