Uninstalling Win XP without formatting?

  • Thread starter Thread starter keith
  • Start date Start date
K

keith

Hi,

I currently have Win XP Pro installation, which Im considering
reinstalling.

What I'd like to do is create a new installation on a seperate
partition, redirect user docs and program files to the locations on
the existing drive, and then remove the current installation.

I'm fairly sure I can (with the aid of google) do everything except
the uninstallation of the current win XP install. Is this actually
possible without reformatting the drive and losing the data? Or shall
I just start backing up?
 
What is your purpose / perceived wisdom in installing winxp to a new
partition, does the installation have a problem?

You couldnt redirect your Program files to a new winxp partition, they would
all require reinstalling.
You cannot uninstall a win o/s, you can delet it.
 
You could do a repair installation into your present installation which
would keep all.........it would reset XP back to whats on the CD and you
would of course have to redo all those lovely time consuming updates..
or is there a specific reason you are trying to install onto another
partition????
if its a space problem you can extend a partition....you can install new
programs into another partition.....you can move IE cache to another
partition........you can move mail cache to another partition......you can
move MyDocuments to another partition..etc etc
peter
 
Windows OS's do not have an uninstall (some upgrades excluded), you would
have to manually delete any unwanted files/folders.
 
To respond to a few points:

Why am I reinstalling? Because I upgraded mobo & cpu a while back and
its been way too slow since, think I need a clean install to get the
drivers back right.

Why was I looking to put it in a seperate partittion? Was remembering
that people I knew used to have the OS in a seperate partition, so
that they could perform a clean install simply by formating that
partition, leaving data intact. Now I actually think about it tho,
that was back in the Win 98 days, and the people were fairly hardcore
gamers who felt the need to do a clean install every few months to
keep the system from slowing down. As neither really applies to me I
guess its not that necessary.

On the other hand I have more data on the drive than I have an easy
way to back up.
 
If you allready have a seperate partition, or hd, move / copy all data to
that.
Boot from winxp cd and delete current C partition, create a new partition
and proceede with install of win, update and install your apps.
You can move My Documents to a different location (Properties of My
Documents>Move)
 
If you allready have a seperate partition, or hd, move / copy all data to
that.
Boot from winxp cd and delete current C partition, create a new partition
and proceede with install of win, update and install your apps.
You can move My Documents to a different location (Properties of My
Documents>Move)
Click to expand...

Second partition is to small, will have to see if I can borrow or
acquire a USB drive for backup.

thanks for the advice
 
Ensure you verify your backups

keith said:
Second partition is to small, will have to see if I can borrow or
acquire a USB drive for backup.

thanks for the advice
Click to expand...
 
To respond to a few points:

Why am I reinstalling? Because I upgraded mobo & cpu a while back and
its been way too slow since, think I need a clean install to get the
drivers back right.

Why was I looking to put it in a seperate partittion? Was remembering
that people I knew used to have the OS in a seperate partition, so
that they could perform a clean install simply by formating that
partition, leaving data intact. Now I actually think about it tho,
that was back in the Win 98 days, and the people were fairly hardcore
gamers who felt the need to do a clean install every few months to
keep the system from slowing down. As neither really applies to me I
guess its not that necessary.

On the other hand I have more data on the drive than I have an easy
way to back up.
Click to expand...


Keith, even if you DO "create a separate partition for just the OS", you will
STILL have your problems.
1) Its NOT possible to move some programs entirely out of the System partition.
(Such as Office, e.t.c.)
2) Any version of Windows previous to Vista loves to "live" on Drive 0,
Partition 0. It's NOT a good idea to install it elsewhere.


You would be BETTER OFF to do this:
1) Download XP SP3 RC.
2) Back up all your data to ANY partition except Disk0, Partition0.
3) Install XP on Disk0, Partition0 after deleting that partiiton and recreating
it, then formatting it as NTFS (it can all be done from within the XP
installer).
3a) Make sure you create this partition large enough. I suggest a minimum of
80GB for your System Partition. With today's huge drives, 80GB is not
unreasonable, and gives you plenty of room for the OS and its files.
4) Install XP SP3 RC, rather than going to Windows Update. It may be downloaded
from Microsoft if you have a hefty Internet connection. If not, it may be
purchased from Microsoft starting next week. Usually, these disks cost about
$10 for shipping and handling.


This has decided advantages:
1) It leaves XP on the recommended partition, if you ever decide to upgrade to
Vista (or Windows 7).
2) It leaves the Registry clean as a whistle.
3) XP SP3 RC will really improve your OS performance, as well as your machine
performance. I've not seen any bugs yet.
 
Windows OS's do not have an uninstall (some upgrades excluded), you would
have to manually delete any unwanted files/folders.
Click to expand...

That's normally done by simply deleting the System partition, and reinstalling
the OS.
 
Not if you want to save data on that partition, as the OP does.
Click to expand...

I had already understood that the OP wanted to save his data. He was given the
correct advice: Back his data up, and reinstall the OS.
 
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