How To Reinstall or Repair Windows XP Without Formatting Your Data

What does reinstall Windows really mean? What about reformat computer? Some people also say fresh or clean Windows installation. To me, I think that reinstall Windows means reinstall Windows over the existing Windows without formatting the hard drive. As for reformat computer, it means wipe off everything on the partition or hard drive and install a fresh Windows. As for fresh or clean Windows installation, it might mean installing Windows on ANOTHER partition without affecting the current installed Windows.

I seldom use the term "reinstall windows" because some people might think that they have to reformat their hard drive and reinstall Windows. The better term that I always use is "Repair Windows". Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information or settings. It just repairs the operating system.

Windows XP repair feature is a great feature but I ONLY use it when the operating system files are way too corrupted to fix. In another words, this is my last resort before reformatting the hard drive and doing a fresh windows installation. Here is how to reinstall or repair Windows XP.

Before you start repairing your Windows XP, please be informed that it will remove any updates you have previously installed and drivers will be reverted back to the original XP versions. Some Windows XP settings might be also be reset to their defaults. So make sure you have your drivers ready and also run Windows Update once it has completed repairing Windows XP. Oh and remember to backup your important files because you might never know what will go wrong during the process.


1. First step is to boot up the computer with the Windows XP CD. You can configure that in BIOS.

2. You will get a message "Press any key to boot from CD" on your screen. Simply hit any key on your keyboard to boot from Windows XP CD.



3. A blue screen will appear and begin loading Windows XP Setup from the CD.

4. When completed loading files, you will be presented with the following "Windows Setup" screen. You will want to select "To set up Windows XP now, press Enter." option. Just press the ENTER key to continue. Remember, do NOT press the "R" key because that option will bring you to recovery console.



5. Next screen is to agree with Windows XP licensing agreement. Press F8 key to agree and continue.


6. Windows setup will now look for existing Windows XP installations. If it finds any, you will be asked to repair an existing XP installation, or install a fresh copy of Windows XP. Press the "R" key to start repairing Windows XP. Otherwise press "Esc" key for installing a fresh copy of Windows XP.


Now you just have to wait for it to reinstall Windows XP over the existing Windows XP. Get your Windows XP product key ready because you will need key it in again. Remember to run Windows Update once the repair has completed!

For branded computers such as HP, there are 2 CDs. One is the Recovery CD and the other is the Operating System CD. To repair Windows, you need to boot up the Operating System CD first, then it will ask you to put in the Recovery CD for verification. Once you've loaded the Recovery CD and verified, you will need to put back the Operating System CD. Now it will start the Windows XP repair process...

There are people that encountered problems in using Automatic Updates after repairing Windows. To solve this problem, you need to manually visit Windows Update or Microsoft Update site, download and install at least one security update or Service Pack, and it will solve the problem.