I want to erase everything but keep windows

[chadm_88]

OK, i have windows xp, and there is a bunch of crap on here that i dont want, and i just want to get rid of everything so its like the day i bought it. the thing is i dont have the xp cd or anything, it all came preinstalled and didnt come with one. how do i do this?

 

[IAM_7154]

you cant. Next time you should demand a recovery cd or windows cd when you buy a computer. You can always go through and delete everything you dont want or borrow a friends xp cd if your product key sticker is on your case, you can reinstall

 

[intercodes]

chadm_88,

If you can't get a XP cd .....try this

1) Goto Add/remove programs remove all the stuff.[except for any drivers or system tools] .Its better to get a 3rd party add/remove program. They have lot of options to work around with

2) Get 'registry cleaner' . Clean all your registry with this one [ follow this sequence]

3) Next is.hmm...get 'dll cleaner' . Clean all the unused dll files used by the system.

4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 for atleast 2 times.

5) Manually delete all the left out folders/files in the program files/other drives....

Ive run otta idea's...maybe someone can post more of em...

This should pretty much clean your system.

 

[TheMajor]

Empty recycle bin and temp folders.

 

[chadm_88]

ok...so when we had something wrong with it the first time and took it to a place in town, he erased everything, im guessing he had a cd or something to do that with?

 

[GeckoEcho421]

Delete any and all temperory files.

 

[killians45]

what kind of system? the system restore info maybe on its own partition like some cheap companies *ahem, midwest micro* does.

 

[GeckoEcho421]

Yeah, try system restore. They may have made a restore point during system configuration at the factory or whatever. Other than that you could call the manufacterer and ask for a cd which they have to give you because you paid for that version of XP.

 

[OIDanTheManIO]

There's no easy way around that except to completely reformat and reinstall your OS.

-Dan The Man