I don't have an installation CD for Windows XP - what if I need one?

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Actually there may be a setup.exe in the i386 directory, and you can run that. As long as the other computer is the same manufacturer, you should be able to burn the contents of the I386 directory and run setup, or winnt or winnt32 from it. The only trick is coming up with something to boot from. If you can boot you system into safe more or use the recovery console, that'd be best. Otherwise you'll need to come up with a boot floppy.

I have a friend who runs Win 98 on a Gateway. She cannot find a real version of 98 on her disks. Does Win 98 have the same I386 directory as XP?

Thanks,
Cathy

No it does not. Only Windows 2000, Windows XP and later versions will usually have this as an option. In your case, you'll need to find a CD.

Hello Leo,

My dad has an HP computer he purchased 2 years ago, and it didn't come with an install cd. The i386 folder is there, but he needs to have the computer formatted. I was wondering if there is a way to reinstall windows (the option where it formats a drive, then starts you off new) with the i386 one, or if he needs to buy a cd. There are so many problems with this computer, a format is the only way to go. Thanks in advance.

In a nutshell: burn the entire contents of the I386 directory and subdirectories to a CD-ROM. Get, find or make a floppy disk or CD that you can boot from that will also "see" the CD-ROM drive. Once you boot from that, run either WINNT.exe, WINNT32.exe or SETUP.exe (depending on which works, and is present) from that CD-ROM you burned.

How do i restore my computer to factory settings, i have the rebot disc and everything, i just want to reset it?

Boot from your Windows Install disk, and select a clean, new install, and have it format the hard disk. Remember: you will lose everything that you have on your hard disk now. You're starting over.

I have a laptop that has interchangeable floppy and cd rom drives. when using the 6 disk boot floppys it says it can not find the cd rom drive - (that's because I need to swap the floppy and cd)

How do I get xp installed? Help

Hi Leo,
I have Windows XP and dont have the CD. I just want to reboot my computer so that it is like the day that I bought it. The problem is the CD rom drive on my laptop does not work anymore.So how can I do this without having to use a system recovery disk? Thanks

I'd recommend getting the CD drive repaired.

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