I'm having a similar problem.  I want to reload xp pro because I believe I have an infection that is slowing my pc to a crawl.  When I try to reload using the origional disk it says it is older than the version I am using and stops me.
I also have a problem with Office and when I try to reload it it goes aminute or so and then reboots the pc and stops.
I need help.  I went to the site but could not figure out how to use it.

--
David

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Thomas Harold <[log in to unmask]> 

> Donald DeWitt wrote: 
> > *I have a four year old Dell desktop that was factory equipped with XP Home 
> > addition. Some time ago I had upgraded to XP Professional. Now I intend to 
> > give the computer to my grand daughter and I'd like to format the hard 
> > drive 
> > and reinstall the original operating system for her. However when I place 
> > the original CD in the drive and click on the reinstall option, I get a 
> > "can 
> > not do" response. Something about cannot downgrade to XP Home. * 
> > 
> > *Is there a way around this installation problem?* 
> > Donald DeWitt 
> > 
> 
> Assuming that you don't want any of the data that was on the drive 
> already, there are a few options. Most require the ability to create a 
> bootable CD. 
> 
> 1) DBaN the drive (Derik's Boot and Nuke) which will completely 
> obliterate any data that was on the drive. Windows XP Home will then 
> see the system as a blank drive. The downside is that you might lose 
> any hidden volumes that Dell placed on the drive. 
> 
> http://dban.sourceforge.net/ 
> 
> (If you create a DBaN CD, keep it under lock and key and well away from 
> any curious users. It won't wipe your disks as soon as you boot, but 
> it's only a few short keystrokes to get to that point.) 
> 
> You can also simply wipe out the partition table using the fdisk command 
> on a Knoppix or Ubuntu LiveCD. WinXP Home would then see the drive as 
> being blank. 
> 
> 2) The original Dell CDs might have come with an option to reset the 
> system back to factory defaults? 
> 
> OTOH, why not give her WinXP Professional as-is? I don't remember if 
> the upgrade version will let you install over an existing version and 
> still offer you the change to format. 
> 
> Visit our website regularly for FAQs, 
> articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more 
> http://freepctech.com 

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