XP repair over preinstalled XP?

[travistee]

I have sony vaio with XP home preinstalled.

I'm having some problems with outlook 2000 and outlook express (both not responding when started up), so I'm thinking about a possible OS problem.

With the preinstalled XP home, I can only restore the the original factory setup and erase everything on my drive.

I want to know if I can get a new XP Home and run the repair function over the existing preinstalled version.

[Platypus]

Also, have you looked in Control Panel\Add or Remove Programs for a repair option in the MS Office and IE installer/uninstallers? (OE is part of IE)

[travistee]

I did the repair from within outlook 2000.
It didn't help.
Since the problem is in outlook express and 2000, I don't think its in the application.

What will "sfc /scannow" do?

[Ferrit]

On that you can just use a standard xp cd and go ahead and do a repair install and you shouldn't loose any data at all.
That being said nothing is 100% guaranteed.
I have done a number of repair installs over dells and hp's and such
and used the Product key that's legal without issue.

[Guts3d]

Ferrit is right as usual, I have done repair loads on dozens of Sonys, Toshibas, I.B.M.s, etc. and had very few problems. Mainly it only borks when there is a hidden partition with a recovery image file.

[travistee]

Just to verify what you mean.

I can use a new xp cd and use the product keys from the original preinstalled XP?

[Platypus]

Since the problem is in outlook express and 2000, I don't think its in the application.

What will "sfc /scannow" do?

It may not be the applications, but since nothing else seems to be affected, it may be something they both use. Since both deal with SMTP and POP email, that may be the common factor, and trying a repair on both could achieve something.

SFC is the System File Checker, it will assess system files and replace any that may be corrupted, or have any other identifiable problem.

[Guts3d]

Just to verify what you mean.

I can use a new xp cd and use the product keys from the original preinstalled XP?

I have in the past, but only if they have the same exact wording and sevice pack number. If you try to use the COA number that is SP2 and a cd rom that is SP1 it will kick it back as an invalid number.

[travistee]

I have xp home with SP2 pre installed.
version 2002 service pack 2.
Do I have to have CD with this exact version?

I'm looking at various XP home SP2 that are available.

I see some of them are sp2b.
Will that work?

How do I tell what the different versions are:

N0900984 - Full Product sp2

N0901528 - OEM License sp2

Will which one I use make a difference ?

[Guts3d]

I would try to keep the service pack versions as close as possible. All I can say is try it. Back up your data first, it is always prudent.