Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (
More info?)
Ken Blake wrote:
> In news:OW0dHQbvFHA.4032@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl,
> Thief_ <thief_@hotmail.com> typed:
>
> > I want to re-install WindowsXP Pro on my notebook but don't
> > have a
> > floppy disk, so how do I fdisk the hard disk?
>
>
> Even if you had one, that's not how you do it. FDISK is an old
> tool and can't even handle NTFS partitions.
I wouldn't use NTFS these days -- whatever theoretical
superiority it may have to FAT32 is largely besides the
point to being able to easily backup and recover from a
serious Windows problem or infection.
>
> Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
> necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
> installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
> prompted, then create a new one).
> You can find detailed instructions here:
>
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
>
> or here
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
>
> or here
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
>
> However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view,
> it's usually a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never
> be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've
> run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
> 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time before the next
> version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
> reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than
> an occasional minor problem.
If a PC has been whacked once too often with sophisticated
worms or there have been an awful of programs installed
and removed, especially with XP, a clean reinstall is just
about the only thing that will get you back a speedy, clean
running system.
>
> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
> support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
> almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
> "reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
> It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and it
> doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill that
> most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).
>
> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
> have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
> your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
> application updates,you have to locate and install all the needed
> drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all
> your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.
>
> Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
> you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
> application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
> Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
> customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
> everything work the way you like?
Most people are happy with the defaults and just want
things to work without a hassle.
>
> Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
> that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and
> far between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
> troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
> after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person
> have failed.
Your average tech will just clean up the hard drive, maybe
the registry, and then run some antivirus and antispyware
utilities. Anything beyond that by a more serious tech
will likely be cost prohibitive considering the cost of new
PC's these days.
>
> If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone
> can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.
>
Nowadays, anyone who contemplates reformatting the hard
drive is doing so because of a huge slew of issues.
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