Reformatting Windows XP the RIGHT way

Robert Hallock 21 Oct, 2008 at 12:34pm ET Article published in Tech

Restoring drivers and updating

Now that the data has been migrated back to the machine, the final step in the process is easily the most difficult. Identifying, obtaining and installing drivers will allow Windows to leverage hardware in your machine to its fullest extent. There are numerous ways to both identify and obtain the drivers which we have covered in detail in our Driver Collection Guide. Using Drivermax, search engines and manufacturer websites, it should be possible to round up and install the necessary drivers in just a few hours.

Next, get a jump on the automatic updates by launching Windows Update to immediately obtain the most recent patches for Windows:

Select this icon in the start menu to launch Windows Update.

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Comments

21 Oct 2008 ~ 1:13pm LIN Really great article; easy to read & follow. A "must read".

LIN
22 Oct 2008 ~ 11:02am QCH VERY detailed but not too complex. Nice work, again, Thrax!!!
24 Oct 2008 ~ 11:32am Ben On the size of the C drive partition: the problem there is that your desktop and the contents of Documents and Settings are automatically stored on the same drive as your OS. You might want to move your My Documents (which is easy), and you can re-define the locations of your Desktop, Temp directory, and Documents and Settings Branch in the registry, although this can get messy as it seems some programs use the registry while others will persist in using the C drive.

On the use of NTFS: Last time I checked Linux based recovery CD's have a hard time dealing with NTFS drives, so be prepared to not have that option.
15 Nov 2008 ~ 3:35pm Leonardo Excellent! From A to Z.
15 Nov 2008 ~ 6:03pm minoan "Need to repair Windows XP professional if possible"

I have a current thread with the above title, and wonder whether this article is a solution to my problem. I have a Dell Precision M50 laptop which has a corrupted Windows XP Professional installation which will now not boot up to the Desktop. It reports it cannot load hive, which is either corrupt or missing.

Does the present article cover my situation? Would I need to be able to get the hard disc out of my laptop? (which may not be so easy as getting a hard disc out of a desktop).
15 Nov 2008 ~ 6:43pm Leonardo Minoan, this is the next step for you. In your other thread we looked at possibilities for salvaging/repairing your existing Windows installation. If you cannot get your Windows installation repaired, then the guide linked in this thread is probably your next step, to reinstall Windows, fresh.

You will find in this guide by our Icrontic writer, Thrax, different methods for salvaging data from an existing Windows installation. Some of those tools may work for you, some may not.
26 Jan 2010 ~ 7:47pm Stardance In my experience, if an undetectable rootkit, or any other malware, is currently installed on a primary HDD, then there is a significant risk that it will recognize that a USB drive has been connected.

If it does that, then it will install itself on that drive. Once installed there, it will subsequently recognize that the USB drive has been connected to a device in which there is one or more internal HDDs, and it will either infect all of them or infect only the drive(s) that are bootable.

Ordinarily, an undetectable rootkit infects only drives that are bootable, because it must install a kernel-mode driver when the system boots in order to conceal its processes and its files.

Note that a kernel-mode driver cannot be installed on a system that has a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU and runs Windows Vista or 7. (I am not sure whether Patchguard is installed on 64-bit Windows XP.) So, a rootkit cannot be undetectable on such a system, but it might run without the kernel-mode driver, with unpredictable consequences. Since it has been able to hide from anti-malware utilities, it is not likely to be identified by a "signature" during scans. It might be stopped if the anti-malware utility is behavior-based or specification-based.

Some firewalls might halt the malware execution and query the user whether to allow the program to run. Beware of allowing anything to run when you do not definitely know the software to which the executable belongs!
7 Apr 2010 ~ 4:53am Stardance NOTE: After Windows XP is re-installed on a HDD, all other software should be re-installed from a fresh download or from an original CD-ROM.

It is not entirely safe to re-install executable files of any type from backup copies or disk images. You must be absolutely certain that they were not altered by malware before the backup copies or disk image was made. The risk is that, when you run an altered executable, it might launch the malware installer, which can run in the background while the executable continues to run in the foreground.

After you re-install Windows XP, the autoplay/autorun feature is enabled by default. Before you re-install any software or restore any files, you should disenable autoplay/autorun for external USB devices. Doing so apparently entails disabling it for DVD and CD discs, too. If you do not do that, then malware which installs itself on an external USB drive and creates an autorun.inf file will be automatically executed when that drive is made available to Windows XP.

If Windows XP autorun/autoplay is disenabled for external USB devices, then malware which is installed on such a device will not be able to run, unless (1) the user specifically runs the malware executable (OOPS!!), (2) some other program, that the user runs, launches the malware executable, which is probably an installer, or (3) the operating system is booted from the external drive.

AFAIK, Windows XP will not make a USB disk drive "bootable", although the computer's BIOS might look for a bootable device on a USB port. So the advice in "Reinstalling Windows XP the RIGHT way" to store copies of files that you want to save on an external HDD should be safe to follow -- with autoplay disenabled.

After saving files on an external USB or serial HDD, it would be a good idea to take a look at its contents while using an administrator account, so that hidden and system files are visible, to see whether a malware executable might be present. Again, executable files should not be saved on the external HDD, since there is a risk that they have been modified by the malware.

Note that Windows XP can create a "bootable" DVD-R/W or CD-R/W disc. Malware could attempt to have itself installed when the DVD or CD disc is created, if the malware is sophisticated enough to do that. Windows XP will boot from an optical disc drive if a bootable disc is present regardless of whether autoplay/autorun is disenabled.

However, you don't need to make a "bootable" DVD or CD disc to re-install Windows XP. The original Windows XP installation CD-ROM disc will suffice. :-)
11 Apr 2010 ~ 4:34am Stardance As per your procedure, I used the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to store the settings, but not any files, on the external 320 GB HDD (a Maxtor One Touch 4). On my computer the location is identified as F:\FILES AND SETTINGS TRANSFER WIZ\ to which the wizard added the folder USMT2.UNC and stored two files in it, IMG00001.DAT and status. Initially, I included files as well as settings, but the Wizard insisted on including files that were already stored on the external HDD where it was supposed to store them pending transfer to the "new computer". That did not make any sense, and was not a good sign.

Note: I used the "Folder or drive" option to transfer the settings to the external HDD. After all of the backups, I removed the internal primary HDD and replaced it with a new, unused HDD.

Since "page 2" was not available when I read your article, I did not attempt to "slipstream" Service Pack 3 and subsequent into the Windows XP Home Edition installation disc. Not that I would try that with the original CD-ROM, regardless. But I have had plenty of experience with installing Windows XP H.E. After it was installed, I went online with I.E. 6 to download and install the 56 "required" updates (another 14 are optional) to bring the installation fully current.

Then, when I ran the File and Settings Transfer Wizard to access the data which was stored on the external HDD, it displayed the message:

"The location that you specified does not contain stored information. Please type a valid folder path into the edit box.

If you entered a path to a removable disk, the disk must be in the drive."

As far as I can determine, the path is valid and the disk is certainly attached to the computer and functioning. I've copied other files from it to the new HDD which I installed in the computer to replace the former internal primary HDD.

Evidently, this feature of the Windows XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard contains one or more flaws. The Microsoft "tutorial" only describes using the wizard to transfer files from one computer to another by way of a "null modem cable".

Did you test the method which you described before you posted the article? Do you have any idea why it did not work?
11 Apr 2010 ~ 12:01pm troll To quote some Google Results...

Remember:
1. If you've moved USMT2.UNC copy it back to the location you ORIGINALLY copied it from on your "old" computer.

2. Point the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to the ROOT directory/drive letter and NOT the USMT2.UNC folder itself.
3 Aug 2010 ~ 9:41am Arthur-HC-Williams I can't read the text, due to the NAB ads blocking it.