Restoring a windows xp

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Author Info Last Updated: June 3, Backup your data. Although a Repair Install should not affect any of your data, it is always good to be prepared in case something goes wrong. Make sure to get files from all of the possible locations, including My Documents, Desktop, and any other folders you may have created and placed files in.

You should also track down your Windows Product Key in case you end up needing to do a complete reinstall. Your Product Key is typically located on the case that the Windows disc came in, or on a sticker affixed to your computer. If you bought your computer from a manufacturer such as Dell, you may have a recovery disc instead of a Windows XP disc. Close out of the program that autoruns when you insert the disc. With the disc inserted, restart your computer.

The key varies from system to system, and will be displayed beneath the manufacturer's logo. Common keys include: F2, F10, F12, and Delete. If Windows begins to load, the Setup key was not pressed in time and you will have to retry. Change your boot order. It may be labeled slightly differently depending on your specific BIOS. Normally, the hard drive is the primary boot device. This means that the system attempts to boot from the hard disk first, loading your installed copy of Windows.

You want to change it so that it attempts to boot from your Windows disc before trying the hard drive. Once you've changed your boot order, save your changes and restart your computer. Start the installation. After you computer reboots again, you will see the message Press any key to boot from CD Press any key on you keyboard to start the Windows setup program. Setup will load the files necessary to install Windows. This may take a few moments. Navigate to the Repair Installation option. When the setup program first loads, you will be greeted with a Welcome message.

At the bottom of the screen, you will see keys that you can press to navigate the options. Press F8 to agree to the Windows License Agreement. After the license agreement, you will see a list of your drives. One of them should be labeled "Windows" and will usually be highlighted automatically. The only time you will need to manually select it is if you have multiple operating systems installed. Start the repair. Once you have your copy highlighted, press R to start the Repair process.

Windows will begin deleting system files. After the system files are deleted, fresh copies will be installed. No personal files should be deleted during the repair. During the reinstallation, you will need to select your Region and Language options. You will also need to set your network settings.

Most users can choose the first option, "No, this computer is not on a network, or is on a network without a domain. Wait for setup to finish. Once you've entered your preferences, you'll need to wait a few more minutes for Windows to finish copying necessary files.

Your computer will likely reboot during this process. Create your user names. After installation is complete and your computer reboots, you will be asked if you would like to register with Microsoft.

This is not the same as activation, and is completely optional. After that, you will be asked to create your user name and any other user names for people using the computer.

You can add and remove users later if you wish. Update Windows. After setup is complete, you will be taken to your Windows XP desktop. The repair installation reverted Windows back to its initial state, which means any updates, patches, and service packs that were installed have been removed. You need to update your computer as soon as possible to ensure that you are protected from threats.

Continue troubleshooting. If your problem has been fixed, then your repair installation most likely worked. If you are still experiencing problems though, you may need to take your repair efforts further and perform a completely clean install. This will involve wiping your hard drive of all data and starting over from scratch. See this guide for detailed instruction on performing a clean installation.

See this guide for upgrading to Windows 7 and this guide for upgrading to Windows 8. Not Helpful 3 Helpful 5. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow.

System Restore appears on the screen. Select "Restore my computer to an earlier time. A calendar should appear with dates; select a date that has a bold number with your mouse. Make sure the date is before you made the mistake on your computer. Click "next" and close all open programs to ensure a safe restore. The keep clicking "Next," and the computer will then gather some information and restart your computer to the restore point.

When your computer is restarted, a similar window will be presented. It will tell you if the restore was successful and if any files were renamed in the process. The window says "cannot restore to the earlier settings". I tried different dates - same answer! What can I do? One last chance if you have already done a back-up of all data before doing the System Restore :- Go back one year earlier to the current date.

It might work. If not, maybe your OS is corrupt. Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 1. Usually, recently installed programs are uninstalled during a System Restore. It's important to keep the setup executables or archives of your programs on a separate drive or an external hard drive if you don't want to download them again.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Helpful 14 Not Helpful 7. This is a great tool if you add a program or do an update and your computer goes down. You can also follow these steps and create a restore point as well. This works by going to the System restore window and selecting "Create a restore point". Just put the name you want eg. Before install of Firefox , and if things do not well after the install of Firefox, then you can do the restore.

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