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Clean XP Install Advice

post #1 of 8
3/9/07 at 8:19am
Thread Starter 
Hi. I have an acer 5611AWLMi notebook which came with XP media centre edition. As far as im concernced I wouldnt use an of the media centre features and I dont really want any of the acer software. I dont know what it is but it feels dirty at the moment and im looking to start fresh and doing things my way. Im looking at installing XP Home/Pro, I suppose Pro but im not sure.?.?

Some questions that I have about the proccess:
How simple is it to do a clean install. Do I just need to borrow an XP CD and boot from it and use the serial code thats on the sticker on the bottom of the notebook?

How will it affect the existing 3 partions: C, D, Hidden Recovery?

Will I still be able to use my burnt acer restore DVD's and get back Media centre edition and turn it back to its facotry state?

Will doing this affect my warrenty in anyway?

Im not sure what happens with drivers but ill worry about that if I decide to do a clean install


Thanks.
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post #2 of 8
3/9/07 at 3:37pm
I prefer pro myself. It basically has extra administrative features.
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Some questions that I have about the proccess: How simple is it to do a clean install. Do I just need to borrow an XP CD and boot from it and use the serial code thats on the sticker on the bottom of the notebook?
Sorry, but because XP requires activation, you won't be able to use someone else's disc. Once you try to activate XP, it will fail because it's already been activated on a different system.
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How will it affect the existing 3 partions: C, D, Hidden Recovery?
The Windows XP installer has a built-in basic partition manager, so you can install it on C, and it will keep the others. That said, you should probably get rid of "hidden recovery" because there's no point in having it if you're installing a different version and configuration of XP than the recovery partition will have on it.
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Will I still be able to use my burnt acer restore DVD's and get back Media centre edition and turn it back to its facotry state?
Assuming they contain the full XP MC installation and everything, yes.
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Will doing this affect my warrenty in anyway?
It shouldn't, but you never know with big stupid companies like Acer.
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Im not sure what happens with drivers but ill worry about that if I decide to do a clean install
If the drivers work for XP Media Centre, they'll work for XP Home or Pro; they're all the same operating system, just with varying levels of features. You should download all the drivers from each device manufacturer's website anyway.
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post #3 of 8
3/10/07 at 12:11am
Thread Starter 
So basically does this mean I have to buy Windows XP to do a clean install?
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post #4 of 8
3/11/07 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 
Hi. Just an after thought. Im getting a Vista Home Premium upgrade cd/dvd though acer. Would this mean I could do a clean install of vista? Im not sure what vista is like but i will probably just change the interface to the classic windows as this is what im most comfortable with.

Also, does windows vista install allow partitioning. Ie. will I be able to re-partition the harddrive and get rid of the hidden partition during installation of vista.

And, will the acer recovery disks i burnt be able to restore my notebook back to facotry state(windows xp media centre ed.)?
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post #5 of 8
3/12/07 at 2:24am
I believe the upgrade CD would require you to install XP first. There is a way to bypass this by installing Vista on trial mode, and then upgrading Vista on top of that.

I don't believe it can partition your system once its installed. And if you change the recovery partition, your recovery disks may not work
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post #6 of 8
3/12/07 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
I was meaning can it partition during the install. (The reason for this is becuase I would prefer the partition for system/program files to be less than the other partition becuase at the moment its about a 50:50 split: around 53Gb each.)

Also, can anyone confirm whether the acer recovery disks will work if i install vista/remove the recovery partition.
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post #7 of 8
3/12/07 at 12:06pm
Couple of incorrect things from a few people's posts in here.

First of all, you can use whatever XP install CD you want... activation is only dependant upon the serial number you use during the install. It has nothing to do with the CD you use. (However, OEM serials will not work on Retail CD's of XP.)

Second, while XP or any previous OS will not let you repartition a drive AFTER the OS is install "natively", Vista does. It can shrink and grow a partition via the Drive Management utility in Windows. It's similar in design to XP, but allows for this added feature of managing parititions better. With Vista you no longer have to buy third party utilities to change the partition sizes.... even if it's the boot one and even if it has data on it.
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post #8 of 8
3/12/07 at 1:32pm
A lot of info on this topic in other messages. I recommend a search.
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