Installing Windows

Hello all… My friend did a bad thing, and put an illegal version of Win XP on her computer. This means that XP cannot download any Windows Updates, including most importantly Critical Updates, leaving her computer very unsecure. I have a Windows 98 CD, and a Windows 2000 CD. I would like to install one of those operating systems on her computer, doing a clean install that will reformat her hard drive. The OS that originally was installed on her computer was Windows ME. The computer is refurbished and when she bought it, they didn't give her any CD in case she needed to reinstall it. That doesn't matter much to me because I know Windows ME is a problematic OS, and I'd rather put something on it that is more stable (Windows 2000) or that I know a LOT about and can fix if problems arise (Windows 98). My question is, I have no idea what to do about all the drivers on the computer, for all the hardware installed (i.e., the CD burner). How do I do this, and get those drivers on the computer, so that it can use the hardware? Someone said to make a list of all the drivers (names and versions) for the hardware listed in the Device Manager, and go to their websites and download those drivers. Will this work? Once the OS is installed, will it give me that message "Windows has detected new hardware" and go through the Hardware Installation Wizard? If this happens, can I then put my CD in with the original drivers burned to it, and tell it which driver to use for the hardware it detects? One last question - the computer has Microsoft Word on it. I know I'll lose that for sure if I install another OS on the computer. Should I contact the company that sold her the computer and ask them for an installation CD with a Product Code? Think they would do it? Please, any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. I haven't found much information on the Internet about this type of situation. Thanks.

Ok, Yes, win 2000 is a good operating system. We need to find out what drivers you need. First of all, exactly what model is the computer? Who made it? 2nd: most of your drivers can be generic or will automatically be installed. what we need to find out is the info for these items: 1. video card 2. network adapter 3.sound card 4. cd rom drive 5. printer So, do you have any cd's that came with this stuff? You probably should have a printer cd lying around somewhere…. TO do so, right click on my computer, then click properties Click on the hardware tab then click device manager Click on the + next to display adapters there is your video card driver. Write down the name listed there. Then double click on the driver. A window will pop up. Look for the driver provider. Write the name down. Close that window and return to the device manager. do the same thing for the following items: 1. network adapter 2. dvd/cdrom drives 3. sound, video, game controllers ***for the sound one, when you open it, you will see a lot of drivers… YOU are NOT looking for one of these ones: audio codecs legacy audio drivers legacy video capture devices media control devices video codecs The one you are looking for should have the words audio, and a company… (common companies are: soundmax, audiotrack, creative, M-audio, etc) Then right click on my computer and hit properties. Under the general tab, you should see some info on your computer. Write down the company, the model, and anything else relating to your computer Post back and we will go from there… Good luck, wng