This is kinda simple, but my years old install of windows on my HP whateverthehell it is is showing its age.
I’m wondering if there’s any downside to just jamming my copy of XP pro in and blowing the drive and reformatting as opposed to using the system restore disks
I’ve run into wonky issues with doing this on laptops with mobo drivers, but I’d like to avoid the cruft that HP ships with it, too.
Get all your ducks in a row beforehand. HP doesn’t make it as easy as Dell does with service tags, so you might have some trouble locating drivers for the audio or TV tuner if it has one.
Do a clean install though, you’ll save yourself time doing the bloatware removal, and if the computer shipped pre-SP2, and you’ve got an SP2 (or SP3!) slipstreamed XP disc, then right off the bat you save yourself 30 to 60 minutes worth of Windows updates.
You’ll want to track down the latest drivers for all your components first. This is especially important if you don’t have access to another PC.
Otherwise you’ll be good to go.
The Audio is an old Audigy Gamer and the video is an after-market, so those two I’ll need drivers for–and arguably could be enough of a variable to bork the HP install.
If you’ve got aftermarket parts and plan on using the HP restore discs, pull the parts and reinstall them after the fact.
Which is just one more reason to go with a clean install.
Just a follow up. Went flawless. No “?” in Device Mangler.
Went flawless doing a clean install, or a HP restore?
Clean install
Congrats man. Good choice.
Yeah, that was my preference. However, after having gone through this routine with laptops and spent the next 2 weeks sorting out driver issues, I was leery of some proprietary mobo driver.