Can you erase a hard drive without loosing your operating system?

Question

I want to erase all nonessentail programs from my computer, so I can give it to my mother, but i don't want to erase the operating system. I have Win. XP. I don't have a recovery disc. My computer was purchased with XP allready loaded on it. And a XP disc was not included.

Answer 1

If you go into your control panel, there is an icon that says "Add or Remove Programs".
Press Start. Press Setting. It will look like a box with a CD in front of it. After you press it, it may take a little while to finish searching for programs, so just wait. Press the programs you want to remove. You will see an option to remove the software. After you have finished, restart your computer.

One thing I would suggest is to get a backup software and backup your computer first. Norton Ghost is the best for people who don't know much about computers.

You did ask only for programs, right?
If it is files that you want to delete, and don't know where they are, just use your file manager and search for them.

Answer 2

If it was a licenced copy on a computer like and IBM, HP, or Compaq, XP is in a dedicated partition, and can be reloaded exactly the way it came from the factory. Everything else is erased. If it was installed from a disc, and the disc is misplaced, you can't. We need more details.

Answer 3

there's a much better application to Defrag a hardchronic than the microsoft defrag software. it truly is loose and it truly is called Defraggler.(exe). Google it. make constructive you've defraggler decrease back UP your registry in the previous it does something. one element which could be functional your speed is to sparkling your registry too. CCleaner is one application it truly is meant to be good, yet in case you ask 5 human beings you will get 5 diverse solutions. no longer all and multiple that gives you an opinion has finished the study to diminish back up what they say. If funds isn't the challenge then try something referred to as RegCure. autonomous comments say it truly is a good one. eliminate Microsoft amenities that you do not favor. This one is a discomfort contained in the butt cuz you want to attraction to close what you're doing the following. MS does no longer do a good pastime of explaining each and every thing that a particular provider does, so be very careful in case you disable a provider. do not merely take a persons' opinion the following cuz stuff that used to paintings would now no longer paintings. There are of direction particular amenities that are challenge-intense and also you won't be able to disable. you ought to likely upload some ram and which could be functional some yet no longer as a lot as you could desire. the acceptable element you could do is to Backup your entirechronic in the previous you do something. i'm getting the fundamentals on my hardchronic the way i favor it (gadget Drivers protected), then I replica that partition to a separate hardchronic, then close the computing gadget off. bypass contained in the case and disconnect the means and ribbon cables on the Backupchronic so as that the OS and the BIOS do not see thechronic. i ought to a lot fairly replica from onechronic/partition to anotherchronic/partition than to ought to round up each and every of the discs and go by all that nonsense back.

Answer 4

If by erase you mean to completely wipe out all data(format) then the answer is NO. Your best have someone lend you a copy of the same version of XP your running(home/pro/media center and then enter in the Serial # that's on your case. Good luck.

Answer 5

You could do a system restore, back to the date of the earliest checkpoint. Most computers have a purchase date checkpoint, which starts off with the only the barebone files on it.

Answer 6

I recently ordered a FREE restore CD from Dell. Everything was done online and I received my CD in 2 days.

Answer 7

yes.. deleted the files which you think should not be in your system.. search it and delete it