Re-installing Windows XP

[sistar]

I have a self built desktop PC for which I bought a copy of XP, my wife has a laptop which came with xp installed, the registration code is printed on the underside of the machine.

Her comp has been acting up lately so I want to format the disk and reinstall XP.

Can I reinstall using my disk and her activation code?

[spacechimp]

I think so.

[joko]

No, each disc has its own key. just use the reg code that comes with your disc.

you could try just reinstalling over the top (i.e not deleting or formatting first) this will correct most errors first.

reformatting will wipe EVERYTHING off the computer, so you should only do it if the computer is absolutely ******

[joko]

ps - you don't normally need a code at all to reinstall over the top as not everything gets reinstalled.

[rojash]

If XP was pre-installed, you should have either a recovery disk, or a recovery partition on the hard drive. If you wipe it and install from another disk, this will probably not include the low-level motherboard drivers for the specific machine, so unless you've got a separate set of driver disks, after a clean install, you'll almost certainly need to get replacement drivers from the manufacturer's web site. Check it out before wiping the disk.

[mattie]

If the laptop has an XP Home licence and you have an XP Home installation CD, then you can use your CD, or any XP home CD to install the operating system on to the laptop.

As has already been suggested, check that there isn't a recovery partition first.