Reformat/Reinstall help for WinXP on Sony VAIO RX640

[Bill Deckard]

I need to reformat my macine and start from scratch. I was having some
issues and tried to do a system restore..however I remembered to late that I
had lowered the amount of space dedicated to SysRestore to increase
perfomance, and when XP restarted I had lost most of my program files...and
much of my data on D drive/partition. I have been comtemplating a
reformat/reinstall for some time and looks like I need to now. I haven't
attempted something like this yet and just wanted to know what all I need to
back up, and if I need recovery CD's or not. I purchased my computer
used...so it didn't even come with XP CD in the beginning. I have since
gone out and purchased the full version of XP ($200 version)..which is
considered the retail if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone tell me if this is
all I need to carry out the reformat and reinstallation of XP? And if I
need recovery CD's is there any way I can create one from my system before
reformatting, or maybe somewhere I can download necessary info. Don't
really want to have to order and wait for the to arrive before I am able to
repair. If anyone can help I'd be mighty greatful.

Thanx
Billy the Hero

[Michael Stevens]

"Bill Deckard" > wrote in message
...
> I need to reformat my macine and start from scratch. I was having some
> issues and tried to do a system restore..however I remembered to late that
I
> had lowered the amount of space dedicated to SysRestore to increase
> perfomance, and when XP restarted I had lost most of my program
files...and
> much of my data on D drive/partition.

The loss of your programs was not due to reducing the amount of space, as
system restore will remove restore points it doesn't have the data to
restore. It must have been some glitch in the system.

I have been comtemplating a
> reformat/reinstall for some time and looks like I need to now. I haven't
> attempted something like this yet and just wanted to know what all I need
to
> back up, and if I need recovery CD's or not. I purchased my computer
> used...so it didn't even come with XP CD in the beginning. I have since
> gone out and purchased the full version of XP ($200 version)..which is
> considered the retail if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone tell me if this is
> all I need to carry out the reformat and reinstallation of XP? And if I
> need recovery CD's is there any way I can create one from my system before
> reformatting, or maybe somewhere I can download necessary info. Don't
> really want to have to order and wait for the to arrive before I am able
to
> repair. If anyone can help I'd be mighty greatful.

See the link below for doing a clean install.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP

http://michaelstevenstech.com

[Michael Stevens]

"Bill Deckard" > wrote in message
...
> I need to reformat my macine and start from scratch. I was having some
> issues and tried to do a system restore..however I remembered to late that
I
> had lowered the amount of space dedicated to SysRestore to increase
> perfomance, and when XP restarted I had lost most of my program
files...and
> much of my data on D drive/partition.

The loss of your programs was not due to reducing the amount of space, as
system restore will remove restore points it doesn't have the data to
restore. It must have been some glitch in the system.

I have been comtemplating a
> reformat/reinstall for some time and looks like I need to now. I haven't
> attempted something like this yet and just wanted to know what all I need
to
> back up, and if I need recovery CD's or not. I purchased my computer
> used...so it didn't even come with XP CD in the beginning. I have since
> gone out and purchased the full version of XP ($200 version)..which is
> considered the retail if I'm not mistaken. Can anyone tell me if this is
> all I need to carry out the reformat and reinstallation of XP? And if I
> need recovery CD's is there any way I can create one from my system before
> reformatting, or maybe somewhere I can download necessary info. Don't
> really want to have to order and wait for the to arrive before I am able
to
> repair. If anyone can help I'd be mighty greatful.

See the link below for doing a clean install.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP

http://michaelstevenstech.com