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XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option

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Boot from your XP setup CD to gain access to the no-reformat reinstall option.
Let the CD boot proceed normally and automatically through ''Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware...'' to the ''Windows Setup'' screen.
The ''Starting Windows'' screen is a bit of an overstatement; it's just the setup process getting going. Windows, as we normally think of it, isn't running yet, and no changes have been made to your PC.
The ''Welcome to Setup'' screen is poorly worded; the ''Repair'' option we want isn't the one explicitly offered here. In fact, the repair option we want isn't shown at all. See the text for full detail.
Screen One
Boot from your XP setup CD to gain access to the no-reformat reinstall option.
Screen Two
Let the CD boot proceed normally and automatically through "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware..." to the "Windows Setup" screen.
Screen Three
The "Starting Windows" screen is a bit of an overstatement; it's just the setup process getting going. Windows, as we normally think of it, isn't running yet, and no changes have been made to your PC.
Screen Four
The "Welcome to Setup" screen is poorly worded; the "Repair" option we want isn't the one explicitly offered here. In fact, the repair option we want isn't shown at all. See the text for full detail.

The licensing screen gives no indication that this is a Repair and not a brand-new, from-scratch installation. But don't be alarmed. You're on the right track.
Our intent is to repair the same version of Windows as is on the setup CD, but another poorly worded screen makes it seem like you're upgrading a previous version of Windows or installing one anew. But don't let the bad wording alarm you; we're still on track for a nondestructive reinstall.
At long last, Setup begins to refer to a Repair option. Here, Setup should have found your damaged XP setup, which you can select and then press R to start the nondestructive repair.
The Repair operation replaces all potentially damaged system files with fresh copies from the CD.
Screen Five
The licensing screen gives no indication that this is a Repair and not a brand-new, from-scratch installation. But don't be alarmed. You're on the right track.

Screen Six
Our intent is to repair the same version of Windows as is on the setup CD, but another poorly worded screen makes it seem like you're upgrading a previous version of Windows or installing one anew. But don't let the bad wording alarm you; we're still on track for a nondestructive reinstall.

Screen Seven
At long last, Setup begins to refer to a Repair option. Here, Setup should have found your damaged XP setup, which you can select and then press R to start the nondestructive repair.

Screen Eight
The Repair operation replaces all potentially damaged system files with fresh copies from the CD.

There's no fanfare, but this is one of the nicer parts of the Repair process: Setup retains what it can in the current Registry so that already-installed hardware and software will remain installed.
With the system files freshly copied and the Registry ready for rebuilding, the system needs to reboot. Remove the CD from the drive so that the PC will boot to the hard drive instead of to the CD.
When Setup resumes, it will appear that you're performing a full, from-scratch setup. But don't worry--you're still indeed repairing your existing version of XP.
When Setup resumes, it will appear that you're performing a full, from-scratch setup. But don't worry--you're still indeed repairing your existing version of XP.
Screen Nine
There's no fanfare, but this is one of the nicer parts of the Repair process: Setup retains what it can in the current Registry so that already-installed hardware and software will remain installed.
Screen Ten
With the system files freshly copied and the Registry ready for rebuilding, the system needs to reboot. Remove the CD from the drive so that the PC will boot to the hard drive instead of to the CD.


Screen Eleven   Screen Twelve
When Setup resumes, it will appear that you're performing a full, from-scratch setup. But don't worry--you're still indeed repairing your existing version of XP.

The Repair version of the setup process skips or shortens many steps because it already has the information it needs from the existing setup. For example, Repair's ''installing devices'' and the network setup steps are both much faster and require less user input than a new setup does.
Just as with ''installing devices,'' the network setup proceeds rapidly because Setup can reuse many of the configuration details from the current installation. In fact, a Repair setup takes far less time than the installation progress bar indicates.
The ''completing installation'' screen means most of the heavy lifting is done, and you're just minutes away from finishing the repair operation.
With the bulk of the repair work done, your PC needs to reboot once more and will do so automatically. The reboot will take a bit longer than a standard boot, but this is normal.
Screen Thirteen
The Repair version of the setup process skips or shortens many steps because it already has the information it needs from the existing setup. For example, Repair's "installing devices" and the network setup steps are both much faster and require less user input than a new setup does.

Screen Fourteen
Just as with "installing devices," the network setup proceeds rapidly because Setup can reuse many of the configuration details from the current installation. In fact, a Repair setup takes far less time than the installation progress bar indicates.
Screen Fifteen
The "completing installation" screen means most of the heavy lifting is done, and you're just minutes away from finishing the repair operation.
Screen Sixteen
With the bulk of the repair work done, your PC needs to reboot once more and will do so automatically. The reboot will take a bit longer than a standard boot, but this is normal.

The Repair process ends with still more screens borrowed from the full setup.
The final steps in the Repair process pass very quickly, and you'll soon reach the last screen in the Repair operation, a ''thank you.''
With a final, fully normal reboot, you're done. Your copy of XP should be as good as new, but with all your previously installed hardware, software, and user configuration data undamaged!
Screen Seventeen
The Repair process ends with still more screens borrowed from the full setup.
Screen Eighteen
The final steps in the Repair process pass very quickly, and you'll soon reach the last screen in the Repair operation, a "thank you."
Screen Nineteen
With a final, fully normal reboot, you're done. Your copy of XP should be as good as new, but with all your previously installed hardware, software, and user configuration data undamaged!


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