Re-installing an operating system

Remember those times when you wanted to beat the hell out of your computer for not responding properly often or having a very slow boot........those times when you wished that you could get your computer restored to a new state, no matter if you even loose some of your important documents? Then this tutorial will definitely help you out in reisntalling your operating system.

Reinstalling your operating system is not too tough, all you need is an oeprating system disc and the computer to reinstall. In my view, giving your laptop or a computer to a shop just for the sake of reinstalling you os (operating system) is waste of time and money. The most common reason many would want ot reinstall their os would be large attacks by viruses or due to improper boots. Remember, reinstalling your operating system is not the only solution for repairing your system. I will be discussing about other recovery techniques in future posts, for now onto the reinstall process.

The following procedure is for Windows XP and it is almost common to all Windows operating systems.Once you have decided to reinstall your os, make sure you have an os CD-ROM. Almost everyone would have one or get one from your friends. Remember to make a copy of the os disc for future use. Then follow the steps below:

•  Keeping your system on, insert the OS cd into the cd drive. When the dialog box for Windows XP autoruns and opens, close it. If it does'nt no problem.
• Now restart your computer.
• After the motherboard company logo comes, you will find a screen which will display the following message-" Press any key to boot from cd", hit any key when you see it.
• Then a boot process will go on, just leave it till it completes.
• After the boot up completes, the system will ask you information like whether to repair or install a new os, on which drive the os need to be installed, the partition information and so on. When the system asks for repair or install select install.
• When it asks on which partition to install, select the partition ( most usually C drive ). It will already detect another os if already installed, just proceed on.
• The system will ask for the drive format, select quick format NTFS file system, only on C drive, so that C drive alone is formatted.
• Then the installation on C drive will begin after the formatting completes.
• Then the system will go into a different screen with a dialog box in it completeing the installation process, when prompted input the CD key, if you dont have it at present, just exit and shut down the system. When you start the system again after getting the key number , the system will start from the second screen instead of the first.

After the installation is complete, you will be left with the work of having to install the drivers for the in built hardware on the motherboard. If you are on a laptop, it wont be a problem as the driver files usually come along with the laptop. For a desktop, these files will be in the motherboard CD ROM that came along with the motherboard. If you dont have them, then you have to contact the guy who assembled your pc, or if you know the list of drivers, you can download them tight away from the internet.

Thats all for the installation part, if you have any doubt leave a comment and an address to contact you , or send me an e-mail.