Help reformating computer

[zadam123]

ok I have a whole lot of junk in my computer and want to just start over and reformat the whole thing. I have done this in the past and have had some problems and was wondering if any of you know the eaisest way to do this?

I have windows XP home edition.

[johnnyapollo]

You have to be careful depending on the brand - some companies "hide" ISO files on the disk so everything isn't on the install disc. Dell is one of those (I think HP too), and if you reformat you'll end up losing more than your drivers, plus the machine will become problematic (been there, done that).

-- John

[AREA 51]

Buy a new hard drive and do a clean install. Keep old hard drive as backup.
When your happy with new install and have backed up all needed info off of old drive, wipe and reformat the old drive and the use it for a backup image of your current system.

[rowhard]

Area 51, good trick to know and remember, thanks. John, I have done my HP a couple of times over the years using HP and never had a problem except for some data that I thought I had backed up and didn't.

[nfpgasmask]

Its really easy actually. The key part would be making sure all your data is backed up. Adding a new drive is not a bad idea. My PC has 5 drives in it, and one of those drives is only used for the operating system and applications. So, if I ever need to reload, I just load Windows to that drive, reload drivers and apps and I am done. If you have a Windows XP CD, put it in the drive, and you should be able to boot off it. You may have to set you BIOS to boot from CD. Then the Windows install will begin, follow the prompts and format the drive when you get to that point.

Bart

[zadam123]

thanks for the info the information on that site was dead on, no problems.
also if i have this problem again someone said there is a way to back up your system so if you have any problems in the future it will erase everything from the last point of back up, ever hear of this, anyone know how to do it?

thanks

[nfpgasmask]

thanks for the info the information on that site was dead on, no problems.
also if i have this problem again someone said there is a way to back up your system so if you have any problems in the future it will erase everything from the last point of back up, ever hear of this, anyone know how to do it?

thanks

The best way to accomplish this, imo, is to build an "image" of your PC.

Basically, you use a program called Ghost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Ghost), to take a "snap shot" of your PC. You save that "snap shot" as a ghost image file, and you can use that file to restore your PC. What I do, is install my OS, install ALL of my regularly used applications, run a Windows update, tweek out my user interface as much as possible, then I create an image of my C: drive. This way, if my OS ever gets hosed, or infected or just plain clogged up, all I have to do is reload from that image and I am done. No reinstalling software, no reinstalling drivers, no reconfiguring, etc. Just done.

The only drawback to this, is it is a little complex for the average comptuer user, and you need the Ghost software to do it, and you need an additional drive or network connection to another PC to "dump" your initial image too.

That probably didn't make much sense, but....

Bart

[Mark B]

I have a program from Office Depot called wipe drive. It is used by the military to do a clean wipe of your hard drive. It erases everything and cleans the drive.
You will then re install your os and install all your programs. It takes a while but you know your drive will be clean.

[zadam123]

The best way to accomplish this, imo, is to build an "image" of your PC.

Basically, you use a program called Ghost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Ghost), to take a "snap shot" of your PC. You save that "snap shot" as a ghost image file, and you can use that file to restore your PC. What I do, is install my OS, install ALL of my regularly used applications, run a Windows update, tweek out my user interface as much as possible, then I create an image of my C: drive. This way, if my OS ever gets hosed, or infected or just plain clogged up, all I have to do is reload from that image and I am done. No reinstalling software, no reinstalling drivers, no reconfiguring, etc. Just done.

The only drawback to this, is it is a little complex for the average comptuer user, and you need the Ghost software to do it, and you need an additional drive or network connection to another PC to "dump" your initial image too.

That probably didn't make much sense, but....

Bart

I hear exactaly what your saying and was told that xp has a way to do this thats easy but i dont know how and thats what i am asking

[Ldub]

I'm no computer guru...far from it, but this has worked for me in the past...

Click on "Start"

Click on "Control Panel" in the start menu

Click on "Performance & Maintenance" in the control panel

Click on "System Restore"...the rest should be self explanitory.

Good Luck