Acer Aspire 9804 WKMi - Clean install - Help

Hi

I have the above notebook, the OS is XP Home.

I'd like to undertake a clean install with Windows Media Centre 2005, or XP Pro.

Is it possible to wipe the hidden partition, maybe merge this into C with Partion magic, then do a clean install from CD boot with a new XP cd?

I appreciate that the drivers will have to be re-installed, however, providing these are obtained from the Acer website before hand, and then installed after the clean install, will everthing work as before??

Or is that to easy!!!!????

ps, i'm not bothered about keeping the factory partition with the original OS.

Please advise

Thanks

Lee

 

Possible but that might mean throwing away the money...
MCE < XP HOME < XP PRO
(unless you want to do media job but it doesn't seem so.)

You can do it with part :
www.ranish.com/part/
Use it at your own risk.

 

Please Help ASAP

Cheers

Lee

 

Hi all

This maybe a bit technical for this forum, not sure??

if so could you direct me to one that may know??

Cheers
Lee

 

Hi lee and welcome to the nbr.com forums Let me reassure you that there are very capable people on this forum to answer your questions.

First and foremost to reinstall windows xp (mce / home / pro) it is not very difficult overall, and if you know what you are doing it should take no more than 1 - 2 hours total to get xp installed and configured the way you want.

Before we begin, lets look at the FAQ's and pre-written guides for problems similar to this. First of for reinstalling windows xp is basically universal on any pc you look at. The methods are the same, but the drivers and software might be different.

For installing windows xp on the 5672wlmi look here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=77995 . We cover a few steps on where to obtain the base set of windows drivers and software needed. The order listed is also fairly basic and similar to follow.... you know (chipset ---> video ---> audio ---> additional software etc.)

I also suggested to several people previously that before you touch the hidden restore partition or make any large changes on your acer laptop you do several things... look here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1656216&postcount=57

A. Obtain a windows xp home / pro oem disk to reinstall xp with your existing license (or purchase a new license if you want pro)

B. Download Acronis True Image 7 for FREE and backup your entire hard drive partition table - http://www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7 This is your safety net if your hard drive dies etc.

C. Create a backup DVD with Acer's software

D. Download all needed drivers before you format, and save them to a flash drive / CD / DVD etc. (use the links provided above)

E. Format the ENTIRE partition with NTFS (not the quick format) to free up extra space and reinstall XP with the key on the bottom of your pc.


Other than that you are all set. You will not have the previous OEM software that came with your pc (unless you dig into the restore DVD you created with Acer's software).

Hope this helps and yes it's very possible and straight forward. Don't bother "merging partitions" when you immedetatly talk about doing a clean install of xp. Because once you format and do a clean install there is no need for merging or anything else you talked about.

Look though the guides and the links provided for how to go about the process if you need more help.

--ssx--

 

Hi

Thanks very much for the info

Kind regards

Lee

 

Why is XP Home > MCE?