Summary: If you don't have your Windows installation CD there are still a few things you can do. If you have an image of your CD, you may be able to do more.
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I have no CD - how do I get at Windows XP setup? |
I discussed in a prior article what to do if you have no installation CD for Windows XP. But now once you've found your CD image - where's the setup?
What you need will depend on what you're attempting to do.
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If you want to make a change to your system configuration - perhaps adding an accessory that you neglected at the original setup - then the place to go is not setup, but the control panel:
- Start
- Settings (if you're using classic start menu)
- Control Panel
- Add or Remove Programs
- Add or Remove Windows Components
That will bring up the dialog that's extremely similar to setup in which you can select the optional Windows components to add or remove.
If you're looking to reinstall system files because you suspect corruption what you really need is the System File Checker. This utility validates that all of Windows' system files are correct and fixes those that are not:
- Start
- Run
- Type: "sfc /scannow" without the quotes followed by Enter
sfc may ask for your installation CD-ROM. (See this article if you don't have one.)
Finally, if you really, honestly and truly want to re-install windows, the first step would be to run your installation CD. If you don't have one, you may have an image of the CD on your hard disk. In the I386 directory are two files:
- winnt32.exe is the "32 bit" version of the character mode Windows setup. You may be able to run this from within Windows.
- winnt.exe is the "16 bit" version of the character mode Windows setup. Why a 16 bit version? If you can't run winnt32.exe and are able to boot from an MS-DOS floppy or are able to boot to Win9x DOS mode, then this setup program will work for you.
WARNING: character.exe and winnt32.exe are the "start-from-scratch", "do-it-all-over-setup" programs. Use them only if you want a complete re-install of Windows - possibly losing any prior custom configuration changes you made, depending on whether setup is installing on top of and can understand a prior installation.
Related:
Why can't I activate Windows XP? I tried to activate Windows XP Home and it didn't work. Thus began a phone saga with Microsoft support, ending in failure. Until I fixed it myself.
Can I revert from Windows XP and NTFS to Windows 98? Reverting to Windows 98 from Windows XP and NTFS can be done, but it's a lot of work and not recommended.
Article C1875 - December 31, 2003
I have no setup CD or i386 directory. I want to make a boot CD. Can I use i386 from another source?
Posted by: Myrna Taylor at March 27, 2009 7:38 PMHi! I have an slip-streamed xp which basically needs to me to boot from that resource. However, the slipstream xp in on the hard disk. Any Possible ways for me to access it from boot directly? Thank you v much
Posted by: MoFirouz at March 30, 2009 2:35 AMHey leo i have a windows xp pro and i have found it on the side of the street and it boots runs and everthing but i want to reinstall it but i dont have the disk and also the drives dnt work can u help me out
Posted by: Leonardo at March 30, 2009 9:34 AMA friend bought this dead HP pavilion 364n desktop for pennies(I don't buy used computers) and asked me to help fix it. It has product key for Windows XP Home Edition label attached to the case.I replaced the PSU, then I was able to boot the computer. However, I can't do anything with the guest account and the admin pw is unknown. I will like to do Recovery. The Recovery option F10 during booting process is not responding though I see the recovery partition present. What are my options? If I call microsoft and give the product key will they send me win xp cd? Or is there any other means to access recovery partition?
Posted by: ndemena at March 30, 2009 6:57 PM...i believe my "friend" installed a bootleg version of windows on my computer...now i have lost capability to be computer administrator and i have been attempting to become this again...how do i go about doing this OR will i have 2 purchase a legal copy of windows to do so???...thanks..
Posted by: Lester at April 17, 2009 11:15 PMHey there! I was wondering if you had any thoughts... My Sony desktop was running an antivirus software program when XP Media Edition decided to automagically reboot. When the desktop came back around, I tried to log in. When I went to log in, the computer said, "welcome" and then "logging off" and took me back to the user screen. I've tried entering all of the accounts (range from user to admin) and haven't been able to get in.
Is there a way for me to reinstall XP - Media Edition on the computer without losing all of my information and applications? Or, Just putting regular XP - SP3 on it? I've looked it around but haven't found any real help.... thanks.
23-Apr-2009
i have 2 window 2000s and 1 laptop windows 1995 my sister worked for a company that expected her to buy the computers and of corse when she left she took them with her the company loded there own software on them with codes to break ive got one of the 2000 done ive teried to load wireless internet on this computer the stick is not recognized to be istalled what to do. tom
Posted by: thomas navolt at April 25, 2009 5:13 PMive lost the disk but i have the product key. I hit reboot not knowing what it ment and am still not sure. now my computer wont do anything unless im in safe mode help!!
Posted by: Amber at May 3, 2009 4:21 PMi seem to have had my ntldr deleted or something my desktop comes up with ntldr is missing press ctrl,alt and delete to restart and i have no installation discs at all not even back up discs is there anything i can do to get my pc back online, the deleted files should still be in the trash can is there any way to restore them, please help
Posted by: kevin suttling at May 25, 2009 12:46 PMhi I'm trying to install east asian language files and it's telling me I need the xp cd. how should I solve this issue? thanks
Posted by: jp at June 24, 2009 4:25 PM