Installing OEM Windows onto PC with new H/ware??

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brensec said:
Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Also, has anyone got any idea how I "go to DOS" with my system?? (Whoever DOS is!)

Asus 7S8X (AMD 2300+) Win Me

I've also been trying for an hour to find out how to get to the place where you can choose to reboot from another drive. On the Dell, it was F2 (while the DELL LOGO displayed, but I've tried "F everything" and it won't go there.

P.S. Warez - if I delete the existing OS, I will lose the 'Install" updates that the XP Setup has downloaded (that's as far as I got before I couldn't go any further without a partition. Also if I delete the drive, the XP Setup won't be able to access the MS site to get them.

Actually, while I was playing around, trying to get XP to install, I tried to delete the existing drive but it said - "You cannot delete this partition because iot contains 'updates' which are required to complete the installation of XP!!"

That's why I think I have to partition first, format the new partition, install XP and the chuck the leftovers on the first partition.

Thanks :eek:

you are trying to install from within windows. don't do that. boot from the cd and do a fresh install. use your dell serial. call ms and tell you put a new mobo in, because your other one broke when you activate it

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/installxpcdnewhdd/indexfullpage.htm
 
Thanks for the link - It looks good and easy. Actually it looks like what I saw when i tried to install XP...

However, a couple of questions. I have a 40gb HD, which is not partitioned. After all the screwing about etc that's been going on, I really want to format the drive - I see that I get the option to do this during the XP install (at least it's shown as an option in the link above). Do I have to disconnect all the hardware from the PC when I do this install and format that's described on the link above - because it doesn't say...??

I also still have Me on the HD (with no partitions), so as soon as I get to the 'Setup' part of the XP install (third screenshot), I get a warning saying I can't install another OS in the same partition where another version exists - It says they won't work properly.

I have the option (as you can see from the screenshots) to partition the drive in the 'Setup' shot (third picture down) by pressing 'C', but it doesn't work. I keep pressing 'C' and nothing happens. That's as far as I get. (It's called 'Partition1' on my PC)

Tell me, can I safely, completely format the whole disk (dump everything and start from scratch with clean drive) and then just install XP as it is described in the link above??? If so, I will do this. If I have the XP Home Ed disk and the Serial, surely I don't need to call MS and tell them about the Mobo breaking??? Why would I need to do that??

The only thing that bothers me is that, as I said earlier, the XP disk that I have, seems to need some sort of updates from the MS site and it downloads them. I think this happens at the first screenshot and it runs (or adds) the updates in the next step. Maybe this is because I've been trying to install XP through Windows (I understand the concept of this, at least). Will I still need these "Updates" if I do it directly from the disk??

(Why do they say 'Boot from the disk' instead of 'Start the PC directly from the CD" or something as equally simple to understand...??? This is my problem, I didn't know what "booting from something" meant until yesterday...)

DO I HAVE TO DISCONNECT ALL THE HARWARE ITEMS TO INSTALL XP?? (I seem to recall this needs to be done at some point or am I thinking of formattin again??)

Finally, how do I get the PC to 'Boot from the CD' if I can't access the place to choose this option (the funny place where you can choose to boot from floppy, CD, etc?? (What's that place called??)

Thanks for all your patience, but as you can see, I have absolutely no experience with OS installs or formatting etc (I don't evn understand what DOS is and stuff like that). I have been installing hardware and software programs and building websites for years, but I have just never needed to bother about this stuff - I don;t understand the lingo... sorry

Again,
brensec :eek: :( :confused:
 
when you was hitting C you should have hit D first
(then enter, then l). D is for deleting partitiions. you need to delete your old partition first, then create (the letter C) a new one.

leave all of your hardward connected. on your activating screen, it will give you a number to called ms because that serial were already registered to other hardware. tell them your replace the mobo and they will give you a new installation id, so that it will work with the new hardware
 
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