I will be doing a full system recovery this week end on My Hewitt Packard XP. Any suggestions...do's or don't before hand? I AM NOT a computer person and would rather take a shot than do this...but....

I have CD's from HP. New modem installed....so I'll have to deal with that situation...how about my internet provider? All tips apprecaited.

when you say a "full system recovery" do you mean:
1, System restore?- if so back up any important data that you want/need
2, Doing a fresh install of xp? (wiping computer and starting from scratch)- if so, back up any data, change your BIOS boot sequence so CD rom drive is 1st in the list, restart with xp disk in drive, press enter and follow on-screen instructions.

Sorry if this is not what you mean or it doesnt help

Make sure that you have copies of the drivers for all your devices (printers, optical drives, external disks), as you may have to reinstall some of them. XP is better at plug 'n play than was 98, so this is less of a problem than it once was.

Back up personal data, like word processor documents and picture files.

Export your address book and "favoritres" from your browser program. See if you can back up Inbox, Sent and any other important folders.

Make notes of any personalized settings in the desktop and other applications.

If you have an external disk with sufficient capacity, I'd recommend backing up the entire "C:\" drive (perhaps overnight) just so that you don't miss anything. Or at least "C:\Data" if you've kept the important stuff there.

Also I would look up your HP model online or look in your manual for recovery options.

You have HP disks not XP disks. Depending on the model of HP the recovery process may vary.

If you go for a full factory reset you will lose all data so follow the backup tips above if you have any valued data.

first what model of HP is it?
ist it a desktop or notebook?
if this machine has a hdd based recovery why are you using the disks?
and most important of all why the recovery???