Actually, I did what amounts to the same thing just recently.  I have a Dell
Dimension 4600.  Instead of doing an Fdisk/format on the old drive, I
installed a brand new drive (actually two drives in a RAID-1 array - but it
looks to the system like a single drive) and formatted it, keeping the old
drive in the system.  Then, once I was sure the system was recognizing the
new drive(s) properly, using instructions found in the user manual under
"Reinstalling Microsoft Windows XP," I booted to the DELL Windows XP
Operating System CD that came with the computer.  When asked where I wanted
the OS installed, I indicated the new drive.  From there I just followed
on-screen instructions and after much time and several reboots I now have a
complete fresh, bootable XP system installed on the new drive (and, with a
little fiddling with the boot order in the BIOS, I can still boot to the old
system if I need to).  During the installation process, I was never asked
for the product ID code, nor was I required to "activate" the new
installation.  Frankly, I was a little surprised at how easy this was.

Re: '60s damage to gray matter - me too!

Tom.

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