Step by step guide to uninstall xp pro and install xp home

[weezles]

Hi

I recently bought a pc from a friend which it now appears has a counterfeit copy of XP Pro on it. I am now crapping myself (and pretty annoyed with said friend!) I have a copy of XP home which I can put on but have absolutely no idea where to start. I'm not too hot with this type of thing either (always left it to aforementioned friend!) so a step by step idiots guide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lou

 

[vacunita]

There's really nothing to it.

Put the XP Home CD inside the CD tray. And restart PC.

It should then show a message similar to: "Press Any Key to boot from CD..."

Follow the prompt and press any key.
************
If There is no propt, and the PC boots striaght into windows post back and i'll provide you with instructions on how to make it boot from the CD
***************

The Setup program Should begin.
The 'welcome to setup' screen appears. Press enter to continue. View the licensing agreement and hit F8 to continue.

The installation program will then search your drives for any prior installation of XP. If it finds one, you will be given the option to repair it, which essentially reinstalls most system files while leaving the registry and installed programs intact. Otherwise, move forward to the partitioning and formatting section of the install.

Select the partition that contains the previous installation and select Format Paritition. This will wipe out Windows XP Pro, and prepare to install XP home. From there its just a mater of following the onscreen prompts.

If you need more info read here:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1435

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Sympology]

One thing, that may not of been that clear from the above helpful post, partioning wipes EVERYTHING on the drive. So if you have photos, documents, copy them to a CD or something first.

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[vacunita]

StuReeves is right. It will erase everything on the Pc, so if you have any documents you wish to preserve, back them up before proceeding.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[allteltec]

You say a copy of home, I hope you are taking a new never used retail or new OEM never used before if not you will be worse off then you are now.

 

[weezles]

Thanks guys, I'll give it a go. Will i need drivers for cd rom or anything? If so is there an easy way of finding out what ones i need?

I got an XP home disk with my laptop which has since died a death. I'll never use it again (unless i get a new HDD, power supply and battery!!!) I assumed i could use the disk so long as no other computer was using it, is this not the case?

Lou

 

[cmeagan656]

If it was an OEM version of XP Home that came with your laptop it is only good for the laptop.

Cheers.

 

[vacunita]

cmeagan is right. If the Windows Version for the laptop is OEM. It can't be used with anything but that laptop. If it is a full retail version then you have no issues.


As for drivers, Xp will provide most of the drivers you will need during installation. But I would download all drivers for the hardware installed from their respective manufactirer's website.
I.E. Sound Card, Video Card, Modem, Network Card, etc.. Just to be on the safe side.


----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.