want to start over

[quinealty]

i have a aol optimized systemax pc running xp home. seems to have minor problems do to installs and uninstalls. would like to get rid of everything and then start over again. i have three disk from the factory 1 ( aol 9.0 optimized recovery cd for systemax pc ), 2 (driver resourse, diagnostic tools ) 3 (software cd-rom for distribution with a new pc only, the software on this cd-rom was pre-installed on your hd at the factory and may only be used for backup and recovery of your pc ). i dont know how to do this by myself and dont know if this kind of help could be gotten form this site, but i have looked here often for help and am amazed at the talent that is here. so i was hoping someone might be able to guide me through this task. at this point everything is saved that i wanted saved (jpeg/doc).

[GX1_Man]

If everything is saved, then boot with CD #3 you mentioned and see what happens. No instructions came with it?  Is this a Tigerdirect system?

[quinealty]

tried w/#3 first file is xp (warning cannot install older version if you install you will lose your settings) have installed sp2 since purchased.

[quinealty]

got system direct from aol.

[GX1_Man]

tried w/#3 first file is xp (warning cannot install older version if you install you will lose your settings) have installed sp2 since purchased.

Do you know what your settings are? Is this Dial up or cable or what?

[quinealty]

broadband

[quinealty]

no idea about settings

[GX1_Man]

As long as you have your username and password you should be OK. It would be good to have that AOL number nearby, just in case.

[quinealty]

so you think it will be ok to run the first xp file anyway

[quinealty]

will it override the system and get rid of everything that is on the pc or do i need to get rid of everything first then run the disk

[GX1_Man]

I suspect it will format the drive first (blank it out) and then reload everything to like the day you got it. That's how these usually work.

[quinealty]

thanks i will give it a try.

[GX1_Man]

Be sure and post back and let us know how it went!  

[cajunmike]

tried to reuse previous id but things got screwed up. system rebooted back up fine the only thing was i had to change user id because i forgot last info. THANKS FOR THE HELP GX1_Man  YOU WERE A LIFE SAVER!!!!!

[Backdated]

A small tip for a future restore - Use XPs "Files and settings transfer wizard". Burn the resulting file to a CD along with any other important data that you will need such as SP2.