Install XP on top of itself??

[QwertyJuan]

What if I go through a full install on top of a current install? Will it delete any of the old files, or keep them?? I have a machine that has a few corrupted files on it.

Thanks, QJ

[digital_exhaust]

I don't know.

Why not just back up the data you need and do a clean install?

[QwertyJuan]

I don't know.

Why not just back up the data you need and do a clean install?

I really don't wanna take the drive outta this machine to do it....

[ilkka]

If the corrupted files are due to some hardware problem, reinstalling can go to shit and effectively destroy your files. This happened to me when I had some memory problems.

It's recoverable, of course, but a real pain in the ass.

But assuming you don't have hardware problems, Windows XP can be "repair" installed over itself, which works great, solves a lot of problems and doesn't screw your files or settings.

[msny]

Depends what version XP CD you are using over what you have
Base, SP1, or SP2...

If you installed SP1 from CD for example, and got SP2 later through windows update
that scenerio could be trouble. Putting the CD with SP1 back in to reinstall
may cause more issues then you have now with a mixture of files.
Clean install I'm afraid.

A better alternative is to go back and see if you have a good restore point to work with.