Can't Reinstall Windows XP

[blueskyler]

I wanted to reinstall windows on a machine that came with windows preinstalled. I read somewhere that for preinstalled machines, there is a folder (i386) and you can run winnt32.exe which will reinstall it. When I run it, it says that the version on the computer is newer than the one on the disc. I figured this must mean that I have to uninstall servicepack 3, and then servicepack 2 (since it came with sp1), but when I try to uninstall sp3, it always gets stuck on step 1. I even let it sit for several days, and when I looked at it again, it was still on step 1. I know it shouldn't take this long, and even though it might take a while, it should at least get past the first step. Oh, and another thing is that a couple minutes into the uninstall, it says there is a problem with the keyboard driver. I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, but it only comes up when I am trying to uninstall sp3, and goes away after I cancel the uninstallation. Does anybody know what is wrong?

 

[ksiemb]

I wanted to reinstall windows on a machine that came with windows preinstalled. I read somewhere that for preinstalled machines, there is a folder (i386) and you can run winnt32.exe which will reinstall it. When I run it, it says that the version on the computer is newer than the one on the disc. I figured this must mean that I have to uninstall servicepack 3, and then servicepack 2 (since it came with sp1), but when I try to uninstall sp3, it always gets stuck on step 1. I even let it sit for several days, and when I looked at it again, it was still on step 1. I know it shouldn't take this long, and even though it might take a while, it should at least get past the first step. Oh, and another thing is that a couple minutes into the uninstall, it says there is a problem with the keyboard driver. I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, but it only comes up when I am trying to uninstall sp3, and goes away after I cancel the uninstallation. Does anybody know what is wrong?

Are you wanting to Reinstall because you have a problem that Windows Restore cannot correct ? - Reverting back to that original installation will undoubtedly cause you more grief !

 

[blueskyler]

I just wanted to reinstall, just because there are a lot of files I don't need any more, and I just want to start off clean again.

 

[ksiemb]

I just wanted to reinstall, just because there are a lot of files I don't need any more, and I just want to start off clean again.

Doing the reinstall is going to cause problems with all security updates for your OS, browsers, drivers, 3rd party software and virtually anything you have installed on your computer.
You will be much better off to use add/remove programs. Then navigate to your hard drive using explorer and delete folders files you do not want, staying out of the Windows and winnt directories. Follow up with a disk cleanup in system tools and a defrag of the hard drive.