My HP came with Windows XP Home already installed. I need to uninstall and reinstall it. Problem? No disk.?

Question

There were never any Windows disks for my computer, I guess because it was already installed. The computer was acting up. It was recommended that I uninstall and reinstall Windows. How on earth do I do that without a disk? I tried researching this myself--no dice. Microsoft said to contact HP. HP says they can't help me because it's out of warranty (purchased in 2002) unless I am willing to pay for technical assistance. I don't want to pay unless I must. It's an HP Pavilion 511w desktop w/Celeron, in case it matters. Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

depending on the problem you are having, you may not have to reinstall windows. try to restore it.

start
programs
accessories
system tools
system restore

good luck

Answer 2

HP is correct, it is out of support timeline, BUT They can sell you the recovery disc, My father-in-law had a 5 yr. Old E-Machine with windows 98 preinstalled, it was a display unit at sears. I notified the support of E-Machine and for $25.00 They sent me the Restore CD in a week. All Manufactures of PC's Will have these CD's, so don't let them tell you any different... All New PC's coming out now are going to be shipped without them, but the option of restore will be on the harddrive, My new Dell came that way, I called and threw a fit, Because Dell Support said the harddrive restore is only good if you perform it within 15 minutes of windows crashing, I demanded the CD's, they sent them at a charge of $25.00. So HP does have them, and if they insist they don't, I know of several companies on ebay that sell them reasonably cheap.... Good Luck

Answer 3

If you bought it new it should have come with disks. Too late for that now. The last resort as I see it is to go to Wal-Mart or order Windows XP Home online (about $100) go to Control Panel and uninstall it and then download the new one. You don't say exactly what it is doing. Maybe running "disk cleanup" and "system restore" from the start menu will help.

Answer 4

What is the problem you are having?
perhaps you dont need to re-install windows. Its strange that your PC did not come with a restore CD. Some PC manufacturers now have a system restore partition on the PC, so no need for a disk

Edit your original post and lets see if we can resolve your issue without re-installing windows

Answer 5

It should have come with a recovery disk. If not, either purchase a new verysion of xp, or get it from a friend, or download it. But remember to pay for the license. lmao....

Answer 6

My sony has the install files on the hard drive. Reboot, hit F8 and it will give you a list of things like Reformat, reinstall windows, etc.

Answer 7

some recovery systems come in a partition on the disc, when you start-up the computer you could see a message "press F12 to recover" or something like that, if don't, contact Hp support center.

Answer 8

Obviously there was a disk someplace to install the system and register the product license...4 years later, however, you may have a hard row to hoe???????

Answer 9

Chances are you have a portion of your hard drive reserved for cases such this. power up your machine and press F10 for the system recovery. if it hasn't been deleted you can restore your system to the original configuration from here.

Answer 10

hey u have to buy a cd for sure..

but the best thing is to borrow it from somebody(friends).. saves cash.. any windows cd is fine..

dont download.. its a waste.. time takin,frustratin and hectic..

try borrowing a cd and for the installation part u can contact me or yahoo answers for tat.

all the best