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My system configuration is 2.4 GHz Pentium IV, 256 MB memory, 80GB Hard disk, CD-ROM Drive, web cam and Dax Modem.

I have installed windows XP Professional with service pack 2 and lot of shareware and demo software.

My system works very slowly and is prone to errors. I would like to format it and install Windows XP as the operating system.

These are the doubts I have in this regard: 1. I have my bundled original windows XP CD and Office XP CD.

The problem is unfortunately I misplaced my Product key (serial number) page of both Windows XP and Office XP.

Is there any way to recover the installed Product keys in my machine? Is it possible to reinstall only then?

2. I'm not familiar with driver installation. Is it possible to backup my installed drivers in my Windows XP operating system?

If it is possible, is it also easy to recover my drivers after reinstalling?

3. How do I back up my existing settings, especially my mail settings?

John Paul

Usually in Windows 2000/XP Operating system, you get the registered information by right-clicking "My computer" and clicking Properties.

That will display only Product ID and not the Product Key (CD-Key). The product key is required when you install the Windows operating system.

Normally this is affixed in the Product CD case itself.

If you have lost the Product key information, the next option to find the installed product key is to just use some third-party tools to get this information. One of the freeware utilities available to do this is "ProduKey" (37 KB Size) available at this URL: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html/

Please Unzip the ProduKey.zip file and double-click the file produkey.exe.

It displays the Product ID and the CD-Key of Windows (2000/XP/2003), MS-Office XP, Exchange Server, and SQL Server installed on your computer or for another operating system/computer - by using command-line options.

Next, it is a good idea to back up your installed drivers before you re-install your operating system.

After you re-install the windows operating system, you can just simply restore the system drivers from the previous backup. You can use third-party tools to backup and restore your system drivers. One of the freewares available to do this is "Double Driver".

Using Double Driver, you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the driver's list, and more.

Double Driver may be downloaded from the following URL:http://www.majorgeeks.com/Double_Driver_d4802.html - dd100.exe (Size 1.37 MB).

To backup your existing settings, you can use The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard of Windows XP.

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard helps you transfer files and settings from your old computer to your new one.

You can bring up this wizard in two ways. One is to click Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Files and Settings Transfer wizard.

The other way is to use your Windows XP installation CD. To do this, please insert the Windows XP setup CD and browse to the path Support\Tools folder. Double-click the file fastwiz.exe.

This will bring up the wizard. Be sure to quit any other open programs before you use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

For more information about how to use Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, please look up http://www.winsupersite.com/showcasewindowsxp_sg_fstw.asp/

Please note that after you use the wizard to migrate program settings, programs that require passwords may no longer work properly, or may prompt you for a password that you previously saved.

This behaviour is by design. This is a security feature that protects your passwords.

To work around this behaviour, please save your passwords in your programs after you migrate your programs.

This wizard can also transfer settings for third-party programs.

Note that the wizard does not transfer or install the actual programs, it only transfers the settings for the programs.

In order for these settings to take effect on the Windows XP-based computer, the programs must be installed on the target computer before you migrate the settings.

Solution by M. Sampath

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