Is clean installing windows XP free?

October 27, 2009

I have the windows media centre edition CD sp2, (i think 2005) And my computer is really messed up I can’t even use stuff in the controll panel.
I have a working version of XP on the computer, and the CD. Will the fresh install be free? Or will I have to buy a new CD?
And How long will the install take? I’ve got a p4 3ghz, 1 gig ram, gotta formatt whole 200 gig hdd and setup 4 users.

Thank You very much! My computer is almost about to crash and I don’t want that to happen. (i’ve considered linux, but its not my computer)

How do I repair a corrupt Win XP Pro registry without the original CD?

August 20, 2009

As far as I can tell, the hard disk is ok (it still shows up in my RAID set), but Windows XP Pro won’t boot, and gives me a system error ("windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupt.")

Unfortunately I don’t have the original OS disc, but i have a XP Media Edition CD, which came with a recent Dell system purchase. I attempted to repair my old comp from the CD, but the Windows Recovery console gave me a "cannot find hard disk" error. The console gives me the same error when I tried formatting a brand new hard disk with the CD, so I am thinking something is up with the Dell software. It’s understandable that Dell would prohibit the software being used on any system but the one your bought from them.

So, would a new XP Pro CD work to repair the registry, even if it’s not the original, or is there something else I’m missing?

windows xp professional clean or reinstall with home edition cd?

June 10, 2009

I have a laptop with windows xp professional. for some reason my password is not working so i am unable to log in. i use a recovery password program but it didn’t work. now i can’t log in into my computer even if i am a guest. i use to able too. so i was wondering can i do a clean or reinstall my computer with windows xp home edition cd.? if so how can I?