reformat windows xp

[phillyjohn]

Good morning

I have had Windows XP for about 10 years. Should I reformat & how.

I am not a computer wiz

Thanks

John

[COMPUTIAC]

Hi, it will help a lot if you would post the specs of your machine. This contributes to the determination if it is capable of a major upgrade. Also, what OS to you want to install on it ?

[noknojon]

Hi John, and Welcome -

You will generally need your XP SP2 CD to do an effective full reinstall, or some options for a Repair install.

Then you will need to update to XP SP3 or you will not get the M/soft updates you require.

Link to SP3 Upgrade that you may need to use once you are finished with the reinstall -

The following are various lists of some of the tutorials on reinstalling your XP system.

How to perform a Clean Install by Tim Fisher

Clean Install Windows XP by Michael Stevenstech

Windows XP Clean Installation - Partitioning and Formatting using Windows XP CD. By Windows XP. MVPS

Clean Installation of Windows XP by 5 star support

Clean Install of Windows XP by Webtree

An Illustrated Step By Step Instruction for Doing a Clean XP Install by Pruitt Family

It is best for you to read at least a few of these tutorials to get some of the information required First -

Also below is a link to a XP Repair install that you may wish to read -

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/138-how-to-repair-windows-xp/page__view__findpost__p__489

Thank You -

[phillyjohn]

Hi John, and Welcome -

You will generally need your XP SP2 CD to do an effective full reinstall, or some options for a Repair install.

Then you will need to update to XP SP3 or you will not get the M/soft updates you require.

Link to SP3 Upgrade that you may need to use once you are finished with the reinstall -

The following are various lists of some of the tutorials on reinstalling your XP system.

How to perform a Clean Install by Tim Fisher

Clean Install Windows XP by Michael Stevenstech

Windows XP Clean Installation - Partitioning and Formatting using Windows XP CD. By Windows XP. MVPS

Clean Installation of Windows XP by 5 star support

Clean Install of Windows XP by Webtree

An Illustrated Step By Step Instruction for Doing a Clean XP Install by Pruitt Family

It is best for you to read at least a few of these tutorials to get some of the information required First -

Also below is a link to a XP Repair install that you may wish to read -

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/138-how-to-repair-windows-xp/page__view__findpost__p__489

Thank You -

[phillyjohn]

Thank You for responding. The reason I am wondering about this is, I just had an infected computer and even though everything seems to be back to normal. I am still not comfortable using the computer. I have a Dell Dimension DIM 2400 with Windows XP Home Edition. So I will follow them links.

Thanks for your responses.

John

[noknojon]

Hi again -

If you feel that there may still be something left from the infection, please read and follow the information below -

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=69723&view=findpost&p=357702

Don't use any temporary file cleaners unless requested - This can cause data loss and make recovery difficult.

Thank You -