[NYY]

Im thinking of reformatting my computer.

Im just having some random problems that i cant seem to fix, and i want to get rid of all of the junk on my comp. So should i reformat? Is it easy?

I already backed up all my music and schools stuff onto another hard drive so thats not a problem.

 

[paintballa22]

Yes, just make sure you back-up everything you might want.

Oh, and run ad-aware/norton first.

 

[MedicDVG]

Reformatting is relatively easy. you just need to go into the bios and make the CD drive the bootable drive.

Then using your windows XP install disk, boot off that and follow the instructions.

You will want to delete all partitions and format, then you install XP and all is good.

A word to the wise, as soon as you have installed the XP, install a decent virus protection software prior to hooking up to the internet. This will protect you from all the nasties out there that take advantage of the XP vulnerabilites. Then of course make sure you update windows...

After that, re-install all your 3rd party stuff, and you are groovy.

Mind you thta if you are haing problems because of a boot sector virus, that reformatting may not help you out.

Hope that helps

 

[NYY]

yea ive done that already i just want to start over with my computer

oh and i have one question

to reformat, can i just run the xp cd and do it from there?

edit- medic how would i set my cdrom as my primary boot thing

 

[MedicDVG]

Depends on what you mean by reformat - are you just wanting to re-install windows? if so, then yes you can just run the windows installer and it will repair your installation. But if you are trying to wipe teh drive and start over, then you need to actually go into the bios and boot from the xp cd and completely re-format the drive.

 

[NYY]

so a reinstallation of windows wont delete all of my files?

 

[MedicDVG]

No - to do a truly clean install you need to reformat.

 

[NYY]

yea i guess thats what i want to do, i want just a clean start off of my hard drive. I just dont want to wipe everything and then realize i have no idea what im doing. So how would i go about making my cdrom my bootable drive

 

[NYY]

well im gonna reformat now, so if im not on the forum later today you know that something had gone wrong

 

[GBRudy16]

lol usually its f-1 or something whenthe bio's screen pops up then in the menu's it has bootable drives. though I have seen it be any of the f keys.

 

[1337]

When you say "junk" you mean...

 

[Cerebeus]

Be sure you have software for your ethernet, video card, sound card, etc.. Or you won't be able to get online or use any of the devices. I had to use my laptop to get my drivers and stick them ona cd and then install them to my desktop.

 

[NYY]

yea i just finished reformatting and i installed all my drivers

im really glad that i did it because the network problem i had is fixed, and my computer is a lot faster. Now i just have to reinstall 50 programs...


thanks to everyone that helped

 

[ComradeMolyneux]

If you have a lot of harddrive space you should install debian or some other distro on linux on your pc too.

 

[Zeruel]

Advice NYY: DO NOT download SErvice pack 2 for XP. IT screwed my computer over bad. I couldnt get on the internet, and it deleted a science paper i had almsot done. It also deleted some other stuff. I had to manually find the file and unistall it. SP2=gay. it doesnt help anyway as long as you have a firewall and an antivirus.

 

[MedicDVG]

Advice NYY: DO NOT download SErvice pack 2 for XP.

Too bad the SASSER, SPYBOT, and most W32 worms are blocked by the fixes in the SP. Your anti-virus is a reactive device, and a firewall is a joke to most viruses/trojans/worms (unless you are using a hardware firewall). You are much better off installing the update, especially when you are doing a clean install.

 

[Zeruel]

Actually, i would have kept it on, as long as i oculd get online, but Xp decided that it didnt want me to get online will i had sp2 installed. And besides, i have norton and avg antivirus, plus a firewall. SO i have zero viruses. I also checked my files while i was looking for sp2, and i didnt find anything suspicioyus. Besides, my computer runs fine without it. Many people have had problems with it to. It was obsessed wiht the fact the my dsl connection was a lan network, and that i had a dialup connection.

 

[PaintBallBob]

agreed, SP2 was a huge pain in the ass for me as well. as long as you have a decent 3rd party anti-virus program and a software or hardware based firewall(i have all three) you can get along fine without it.

 

[NYY]

well doesnt my router already have a firewall? and i have norton anyway so i think my comp is pretty safe

 

[Zeruel]

Exactly, therefore there is no reason to dl sp2. THat is the only reason to dl it. Other than that is is a pain.