Reformatting
First of all, reformatting and "resetting" the computer are the same thing (in the sense that you're thinking of). You shouldn't refer to it as "resetting", though, because that's not really what's happening. To reset the computer would be to press the power reset button on the case, resulting in a forced restart.
You want to reformat your computer. Essentially, you want to delete absolutely everything on your computer, rebuild the file system, then install an operating system. Keep in mind that
EVERYTHING will be deleted. All of your files, all of your programs, all of your settings, etc. Anything you wish to keep should be backed up (on a flash drive, DVD, CD, etc) before you reformat, however, you don't want to try and back up your whole computer. Your goal is to remove as much unnecessary junk as possible and keep only the essentials, improving your computers performance and efficiency. The more crap you back up and put right back on your computer, the higher the chances that you'll backup any problems you were having before the reformat.
Reformatting is a fairly easy process and can be done a number of ways. One of the easiest ways (and probably the only way I'd suggest someone with little computer experience attempt) is to start the computer with a Windows98 or WindowsXP CD in the CD rom. Upon startup, you will most likely see a message like "Press Any Key to Boot From CD", or it may automatically boot from the CD. From that point, you can follow the on-screen instructions to reformat and reinstall Windows.
If your computer starts normally and does not offer an option to boot from the CD, your boot process needs to be changed in the system BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM before the hard disk. If you don't know how to change that, I suggest you stop trying to reformat and get someone to help you (in person, not over the internet). In fact, I suggest you do that anyway.
Like I said before, reformatting isn't very difficult to do, but you can very easily mess up your computer if you screw around with the wrong things. Depending on a number of variables, the process can be extremely short and simple or fairly involved, so step-by-step advice over the internet isn't always effective. It would be best for you to get someone that's done it before to sit with you and help out. If all else fails, you may want to contact (VIA this thread or PM) Ibrevesii. He's a member here. He knows the ins and outs of reformatting and seems to have a ton of free time, so he might be willing to talk you through it over AIM or something. I can't speak for him, but he's almost always willing to help out.
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Originally Posted by pimpballer756
so if i reformatted the computer but put aol onto a floppy disk then put the disk back in after i reformat will it work?
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No. The AOL program folder is much larger than a floppy disk, unless you have a disgustingly old version. Even if the folder would fit on a disk, backing up programs by saving the folder on a floppy or CD is a terrible idea and rarely works without consequences. There are registry entries that need to be made when the program is installed. If you MUST have AOL, install it from one of the billions of CD's that are in circulation. Go check your mail. You probably got 4 or 5 of them today alone.
Hopefully you were able to find at least a small shred of helpful advice in this rambling.
i need computer help
