Last Updated: January 30, Tested. This article was written by Jack Lloyd. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles.

He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher. The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 1, times. To do so, you will need your Windows XP product key. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers.

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By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article parts. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Part 1. Back up your files. Since you'll be reinstalling the operating system, tree a good chance that you'll lose your saved files in the process. Creating a backup file will ensure that you can restore the files at any time. After backing up your files, you'll need to move the backup file to an external location e.

Find your product key. The product key is a character code. It's usually located on a sticker that's on the bottom of the computer laptopsthe back of the CPU tower desktopsor inside of the Windows XP box. If you can't find your product key sticker, you can try using ProduKey to retrieve your computer's product key. Click Start.

It's a green button in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Click My Computer. This monitor-shaped option is in the upper-right side of the Start window. Doing so will open the My Computer folder.

Enable viewing for hidden files and folders. To do so: [1] X Research source Click the Tools tab in the top-left side of the window. Click Folder Options Click the View tab. Check the "Show hidden files and factort circle. Click Applythen click OK. Double-click Local Disk. If there windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free multiple Local Disk options, make sure that you double-click the C: drive.

Double-click the Windows folder. This will open the Windows folder. Double-click the i folder. You may have to scroll down to find this option. Find the "winnt Doing so will launch the Windows XP setup process. Wait for the setup window to appear. Depending on how fast proefssional computer is and which programs were open when you double-clicked winnt Once the setup window appears, you may proceed with reinstalling Windows XP.

Part 2. This will initiate the setup. Press the "I agree" key. At the bottom of provessional screen, you'll see a key e. Press the "Don't Repair" key. You'll see this listed at the bottom of the screen. Windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free "Don't Repair" key is usually Esc. Delete your current XP installation. Select the NTFS hard drive option using the arrow keys, windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free press the "Delete" key usually D that's listed at the bottom of the screen.

This will indicate to Windows that you want to delete the selected installation. Press L when prompted. Doing so erases the hard drive restode returns you to the installation menu. This will select your computer's hard drive as the installation point. Format your computer's hard drive. Doing so will set up the hard drive for a Windows installation. This process will take several minutes to an hour depending on your hard drive's size.

You can select the Quick option here as well, though your hard drive might be improperly formatted if you do so. Wait for your computer withouh windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free.

After the computer finishes formatting, it will restart into the user options setup window. Make sure that you don't press any keys until you arrive at the user options setup window. Part 3. Click Next. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. You can also click Customize Enter your name, then click Next.

Your name goes in eestore "Name" text field. You can also add a business name in the "Organization" section. Enter your product key, then click Next. Type the character key that you retrieved earlier into the "Product Key" boxes. Add a password, then click Next. Type your preferred password into the "Administrator password" and "Confirm password" text fields at the bottom of the window.

You can also change your computer's name in the text field at the top of the window. Set windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free date and time zone, then click Next. Click the "Date" drop-down box, select the current date, and then repeat with the "Time" and "Time Zone" boxes.

Check the "Typical Settings" box, then click Next. Reatore will cause Windows XP to install using default settings. Check the "No" box. It's at the top windows xp professional restore factory settings without cd free the window. If your computer is part of a workgroup, you'll instead check the "Yes" box and enter your workgroup's address in the text box. This will complete the installation setup process, at which point Windows XP will resume installing.

You may have to wait for 30 minutes or so before the installation finishes. It might be on a sticker on the bottom of your laptop if that's what you're using. Yes No. Professinal Helpful 13 Helpful Unless you keep a backup copy of your i folder, you can't. Ubuntu allows you to dual-boot your computer, which keeps both XP and Ubuntu.

Not Helpful 4 Helpful 9.