how do I do a completely new install of windows xp on an hp mini 110-1006tu pc netbook?

[alanofoz]

I have recently acquired this netbook, and the operating system is in total disarray. As one who is very experienced at installing windows from scratch, I would like to do this on this machine. According to the Maintenance and Service Guide which I downloaded, I should be able to download a "recovery image". However, the links provided do not lead to this image.

Thanks,

Alan

[erico]

There should actually already be a recovery manager partition installed in the hard drive and accessible from keystrokes after startup.

Go to Control Panel-->Administrative tools-->Computer Management-->Disk Management to see if the recovery partition exists. Hopefully the original owner did not delete it in order to gain hard more free disk space.  He or she may have created a recovery disk set or a usb recovery thumbdrive.

Here is an HP document which shows how to do a recovery.

[alanofoz]

erico, thanks for a prompt & helpful reply. Unfortunately there is no recovery partition at all. The link you provided is certainly helpful though.

This is starting to look rather expensive. It appears I'll have to buy a USB optical drive and a replacement recovery disc. This leads to my next question: If I copy the recovery disc to a USB thumb drive, is there a way to re-install from there?

[erico]

The replacement recovery disk set is inexpensive. It is in the neighborhood of $20.00.

 Making a USB thumbdrive recovery media would have been simple f you hadn't deleted the partition. It is definitely not simple without it.

You will find it is far less trouble to buy a portable USB DVD drive and use it. Once you have done it you may be able to create USB recovery media if the recovery process recreates the recovery partition. 

[alanofoz]

Thanks erico, it looks like new discs & drive are what I'll need to go for.

FWIW the netbook was a gift from a friend who'd made a mess of it. I accepted it as is hoping to restore it to its factory defaults. I didn't personally delete any partition or lose any discs! I was actually hoping the recovery partition would be intact.

[erico]

That was a nice gift!  I stand corrected. You received it as is and didn't delete or lose anything. I have also received laptops in the same condition as yours was. .