Re-installed xp and now computer runs fine however when I looked at the HD i only have about 6gb of space! Most of the rest ,about 80gbs contains my old programmes and settings.
Looking at "add/remove programmes" only about 20 programmes there which I have just installed.
How can I remove the old programmes and settings please?

Some I can delete. I chose these because the date of installation was in 2006/7. Some though I cannot delete as it states that some of the contents is being used by another programme or person and stops the rest of the deletion.

Some restore disks or partitions from a manufacturer are designed by default to leave the files from the old system behind which it sounds like what happened in your case. You need to look for some option to reformat the hard drive to get around this before the install. The one time I came across a computer that I was asked to reinstall that had such programming I had to use what was called a destructive reinstall. In your particular situation it might help to know the make/model of your computer for us to help you more. However unless it is clear what was from the old system and what is on the new perhaps it is better to do such a reinstall otherwise you could end up deleting the wrong stuff. Note that you shouldn't base your decisions on what to remove on the date as some of the files are copied from the restoration medium and not necessarily re-dated to a current date. Does that make sense? Also you should back up your personal files if you haven't done so because a reformat and reinstall will wipe out your files.

Well, I have backed up my personal files on an external drive.I also have a recovery disc/programme on the E part of the drive. I had to reinstall because I had no space on my HD for XP to work!
Is it better to use the recovery disc or the one supplied on the HD on computer when I bought it please?

another note: When I re-installed from the recovery disc it gave me several options, but did not understand so just punched one of the choices.


The computer is a Medion MD8083 200gb HD split into 3 parts C= XP D= back-up and E= recovery programme


I also have a recovery disc supplied with the computer.

a disk and a recovery partition? All that matters is that you reinstall and that it is from the manufacturer. When you put in the disk (or use the partition on the hard drive) what are the different options?

Everything now seems to have been sorted. I replaced the recoverty disc and read all the options a few times and realised that I had "repaired windows".

So I chose to erase and install a new windows xp. This worked and I now have 85gb of HD space!

Again, thanks for taking the time and effort to respond to a pensioners dilemma!!

Originally Posted by alggomas

Again, thanks for taking the time and effort to respond to a pensioners dilemma!!

Thats what we volunteer for. I'm glad that you where able to figure it out.