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    Can I wipe my HDD and clean install XP?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by sunwoosj, Jan 9, 2008.

  1. sunwoosj

    sunwoosj Newbie

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    Hi, I couldn't really find specific answer to this question in the forum.
    I have Lenovo T61p with Vista Home Premium and XP Pro.
    And now because I don't like Vista, I want to format the HDD and install only XP.
    I am also planning on deleting the system restore partition because it became useless when I divided C drive into two in order to install XP.

    So my question is, if I take out my HDD and connect it to another computer and format it, it'll be completely empty.
    Then can I install just XP on it as I would on any other native XP machine?
     
    sunwoosj, Jan 9, 2008
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    Yes, you can. You don't even need to take the drive out to format it; you can just boot from CD and take care of formatting during the XP installation.
     
    Commander Wolf, Jan 9, 2008
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  3. HerrKaputt

    HerrKaputt Elite Notebook User

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    I have done that several times with a desktop HDD and it worked just fine. I guess there won't be any problems with a laptop HDD.
     
    HerrKaputt, Jan 9, 2008
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  4. jcovelli

    jcovelli Notebook Deity

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    yep, xp will ask you if you want to format the hard drive and setup partitions.
     
    jcovelli, Jan 9, 2008
    #4
  5. mothman

    mothman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ditto on the yes's...i've done exactly that on my Sony Vaio laptop.Easily format your drive to wipe vista and proceed to install XP.I also partitioned my drive to eventually put Vista back on in a dual-boot.You just need to make sure all the Lenovo XP Drivers for your machine are available.Download them and burn to cd first.
     
    mothman, Jan 9, 2008
    #5
  6. Arki

    Arki Super Moderator

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    Use the clean installation guide in my signature.
     
    Arki, Jan 10, 2008
    #6
  7. klutchrider

    klutchrider Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes on what everyone else has stated but make sure you burn a back-up if you ever want to go back to Vista it won't be to big of a hassle. But that's already stated in Art's guide...just make sure you do it! :)
     
    klutchrider, Jan 10, 2008
    #7