i dont know what james was trying to say, but where you get the actual files is not important. what matters is do you have a unique key/serial for the product. Now with a factory system like yours, you want to try and use the restore disk that is provided by the manufacturer since it will contain all the drivers and software necessary to make the computer work the way it was designed to. you could probably call or email MS and they would give you the files. hell, they even some what endorse the piracy of their products since it helps keep it mainstream, thats why they offer support for them, but thats a whole nother topic in itself. that 16 digit serial on your case is your lifeline for legality. now there are different versions of XP so you have to be careful, I have pro running on all my client systems at work which is a volume license (all the same keys) which is authorized by MS. you have Home if i remember correctly.

follow the instructions on that link and you are set. everything on your drive will be erased if you dont move it elsewhere prior to the clean install.

 

You can buy a copy of pro anywhere. Home being something you already own might be fine for your uses...

Pirated copies of Pro have a number of problems - and not at all advisable for a business computer...

Try reinstall home as you said - and I bet dimes to dollars that you'll find it faster than it was. Less crap, less slow. Then try some more ram... and then consider more hd space as needed.

Are you planning on having the internet on this computer?

 

50 seconds this time Rrasco

 

lol, i know, i posted it, then editted it and yours was there. oh well.

 

Haha, thats great. But anyways, yes, I do plan on having internet, wireless on it. My place has wireless and I was going to get one of those wireless router deals. So, can I do this stuff, the burning of the cd and all from my laptop, then throw it in my desktop, or will I have to have internet before I can do it on my PC?

 

you dont have to have internet to install xp. you need internet to get updates, but not to just install it.

 

If you already have wireless in the house, then use that.

If it is someone elses wireless, then don't use it. Especially if you plan on running a business from home. If you are going wireless then make sure you set it up properly. When it is setup properly it isn't hacker proof, but it sure makes it less of an easy target for the real threat of script kiddies.

If you buy wireless avoid D-Link. I've had many of these perform poorly in bizaar ways. Things like working well for awhile and then dropping ports/connections silently. You think you're still connected, and you can still do some things, however, not all things - you reset the connection and it suddenly works again. Linksys has worked well for me in the past - but look around and see what you can find.

If you do go with the wireless option - consider putting the router next to this computer, and plugging this computer into the router directly... it'll be faster, and somewhat safer.

Woot.

 

i have also had good luck with linksys. however, i dont mess with wireless.

 

Rrasco - at home and at work I'm wireless free. (Myone consideration for wireless is setting up the DS and Wii)... I probably have more networking gear at home than many small businesses... but man when it's setup it's very convient.

That being said - alot of the people I end up helping have gone wireless and love it. I personally have problems with 90% of the setups I see. No one sets them up with any form of security - which is ok if you live in the country, but not fine if you live anywhere else. The other problem many people have is with the quality of the signal - setting their router up in spot that causes the signal to be very weak where they actually use it.

I have seen some nice setups where the wired connections were trusted, and the wireless connections were isolated... it meant that the wireless connections had good internet connections, but were difficult to setup for connecting to wired shares... a feature IMHO.

Woot.

 

yeah i know what you mean. someone who doesnt know better is gonna stop trying to get it to work as soon as they get the internet working.