Format a hard drive to wipe it clean

[Mike]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop that probably has too much garbage on the
hard drive. It's getting really slow and have 100% CPU usage quite a bit of
the time. How can I re-format the hard drive to wipe it clean and then
reinstall XP?

 

[Malke]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop that probably has too much garbage on the
hard drive. It's getting really slow and have 100% CPU usage quite a bit of
the time. How can I re-format the hard drive to wipe it clean and then
reinstall XP?

Refer to your computer manual or Dell's website for specific
instructions to return your computer to factory condition. The way you
do this depends on how you ordered the computer configured.

In general:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows -
What you will need on-hand


Malke

 

[JS]

Before you start that clean install you may what to do the following:
Use Windows Disk Cleanup to free up drive space.
For a more thorough clean up take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove
Internet history info, cookies, temp files, auto complete and other junk. In
the 'Windows' tab listing check the item types you want deleted.
Also available is customization, see Options/Custom to add any
other/additional folders you want files deleted from.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

To free up your CPU you might what to disable unneeded services:
See: http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
or http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

Also there may be some sub-process or application that's taking all
the CPU resources and slowing down your PC.
To locate/identify these processes try Process Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and 'Show Lower
Pane' options.
Then expand the process named 'Explorer' (click on the + sign)
In the column on the left named 'CPU', look for any high CPU usage.
Next click on the CPU column to sort the processes by %CPU usage (Highest to
Lowest).
Then click on the process that's using most or all the CPU % to highlight
it,
Now that it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
Search Online
This should display what out there on the web about that process.
You can also double click on any process to open up a more detailed
'Properties' window.
Note: some entries like Explorer and System/Services may need to be expanded
to show the detail,
(sub processes), in this case click on the + located to the left of the
entry.

JS

 

[Mike]

Refer to your computer manual or Dell's website for specific
instructions to return your computer to factory condition. The way you
do this depends on how you ordered the computer configured.

In general:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows -
What you will need on-hand


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Thank you, I finally started the re-format and will reinstall XP when format
is complete.

 

[Plato]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop that probably has too much garbage on the
hard drive. It's getting really slow and have 100% CPU usage quite a bit of
the time. How can I re-format the hard drive to wipe it clean and then
reinstall XP?

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316941
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 Laptop that probably has too much garbage on the
hard drive. It's getting really slow

How much you have on the hard drive has no effect on the computer's
speed. It's what you have running that affects its speed.

and have 100% CPU usage quite a bit of
the time. How can I re-format the hard drive to wipe it clean and then
reinstall XP?

My advice is not to do this. You should troubleshoot the problem, and
make sure the system is free of malware. Besides all the difficulty of
doing what you suggest, you will never find out what the problem was,
and therefore probably quickly repeat the behavior that caused it,
leaving you back where you started.

But if you want to, just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS
boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for
a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D"
when prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

 

[Unknown]

Not entirely true. Many users experience faster performance after running
Disk Cleanup and or Defrag.