Format Hard Drive & Clean Install of XP Pro

[Lou Messina]

My laptop's performance has been rapidly deteriorating. I would like to
remove whatever is causing the problem & reinstall from the original XP Pro
disk.

I've been told the disk will do a clean install, but will it remove all
files without saving or backing them up? Would there be any benefit by using
the right-click "Format" option on the C drive in Windows Explorer first, or
any other procedure first?

I have reinstalled the manufacturer's original image disk several times, but
there's no improvement.

Am I correct in assuming the XP Pro installation disk is all I would need?

Thank you.

 

[Daave]

I have reinstalled the manufacturer's original image disk several
times, but
there's no improvement.

If that's the case, it sounds like you have a hardware problem.

Still, it would be helpful if you described the performance problems in
as much detail as possible. What is the make and model of the laptop?
What are its specs?

 

[Lou Messina]

Alienware Area 51-m7700 laptop
Pentium 4 CPU 3.8GHz
2 GB RAM
60 GB Storage
nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

I believe they installed software & programs poorly. I don't deal with
their tech support any longer because they have done more damage than help.

I'm confident the problems are software-related. In addition to the
glitches that came with the laptop (programs close on their own; error
messages suddenly appearing indicating the program has to close; programs
freezing ...), it's now taking longer to boot up (5 mins). Norton
deactivated System Restore and the Windows Defrag program because it has its
own programs. However, those aren't working now.

There has been a problem with the 10-in-1 card reader since the laptop
arrived, but that is the only hardware problem I know of.

At this point, I've purchased a new desktop (non-Alienware) and want to keep
the laptop as a second device.

I feel confident that it just needs a clean install. I don't want to start
off looking for hardware issues when I'm not certain how much I'll be using
it. If that proves to be the case, I can address that later. But there
obviously are software/registry/programming problems that have to be
addressed first.

Thanks for your interest, Daave.
_________________________

 

[peter]

I would do a "factory Restore" which should wipe everything that’s on the
drive and replace as if you just bought it.
I would then go to Control Panel/Add&remove and uninstall every program I
don’t aim to use as well as all free trial programs
that usually come with systems nowadays...and that includes that Norton
stuff.
Find a free replacement for antivirus..AVG free come to mind.
and then see how it runs...

peter

 

[Big_Al]

Lou Messina said this on 3/5/2009 5:16 PM:

My laptop's performance has been rapidly deteriorating. I would like to
remove whatever is causing the problem & reinstall from the original XP Pro
disk.

I've been told the disk will do a clean install, but will it remove all
files without saving or backing them up? Would there be any benefit by using
the right-click "Format" option on the C drive in Windows Explorer first, or
any other procedure first?

I have reinstalled the manufacturer's original image disk several times, but
there's no improvement.

Am I correct in assuming the XP Pro installation disk is all I would need?

Thank you.

It sounds questionable (see 3rd paragraph) that another reload will help
but its your option.

Booting from an original XP Disc will give you the option to pick a
partition on a drive (probably the only one you have) and reformat it,
or delete it and remake it and then format the partition. You can't
format C: since Xp is running. After you format the drive, it will
start loading.

The next thing I would do once loaded, I would go into add/remove and
get rid of that 3rd party junk loaded by the maker. Specifically
Norton. Not many people have good things to say about Norton. You can
download a few good free virus programs later like AVG or Avast.

Remember though that reloading XP will remove everything on the drive so
you have to backup first.

 

[Daave]

Alienware Area 51-m7700 laptop

Hmmm. I don't have personal experience with this brand, but a brief
Google search seems to imply they have more than their fair share of
unhappy campers.

Pentium 4 CPU 3.8GHz
2 GB RAM
60 GB Storage
nVidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra

I believe they installed software & programs poorly.

Since I don't have access to your PC, I can't really confirm this. But
if there is absolutely nothing wrong with your hardware and a fresh
reinstall (through their Restore) gives you problems right off the bat,
your belief could very well be justified. Perhaps you can do what Peter
said: uninstall any and all bloatware. Very often, that does the trick,
and maybe that's all you need to do. A more radical approach would be to
obtain or create an XP installation disk (There should be a Certificate
of Authenticity sticker on the bottom of your laptop. You would use the
Product Key from there.) If you cannot obtain a generic OEM XP Pro
installation CD (there is no need to purchase one; you already have a
license to run XP Pro on your laptop!), you should be able to make your
own, as long as you have the i386 folder. Here are the instructions:

http://www.howtohaven.com/system/createwindowssetupdisk.shtml

I don't deal
with their tech support any longer because they have done more damage
than help.

I'm confident the problems are software-related. In addition to the
glitches that came with the laptop (programs close on their own; error
messages suddenly appearing indicating the program has to close;
programs freezing ...), it's now taking longer to boot up (5 mins).
Norton deactivated System Restore and the Windows Defrag program
because it has its own programs. However, those aren't working now.

Norton is a train wreck. I always uninstall it and use their special
Removal Tool:

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

There has been a problem with the 10-in-1 card reader since the laptop
arrived, but that is the only hardware problem I know of.

At this point, I've purchased a new desktop (non-Alienware) and want
to keep the laptop as a second device.

I feel confident that it just needs a clean install. I don't want to
start off looking for hardware issues when I'm not certain how much
I'll be using it. If that proves to be the case, I can address that
later. But there obviously are software/registry/programming
problems that have to be addressed first.

Thanks for your interest, Daave.

YW and good luck.

One final idea. Boot off a live CD like Knoppix or UBCD4Win. If all is
fine, then you can safely rule out hardware issues.

 

[Lou Messina]

I've decided not to use the disk that returns the laptop to how it arrived
from the factory (Alienware ReSpawn), which is what I've done before, but
clean install off of the XP Pro disk. Hopefully, they haven't contaminated
that disk too much.

No more Norton for me. I'm going with Windows OneCare in the hope there
will be no conflicts.

Thanks all.
_________________________

 

[MikeR]

I've decided not to use the disk that returns the laptop to how it arrived
from the factory (Alienware ReSpawn), which is what I've done before, but
clean install off of the XP Pro disk. Hopefully, they haven't contaminated
that disk too much.

No more Norton for me. I'm going with Windows OneCare in the hope there
will be no conflicts.

I dumped OneCare in favor of AVG.
Mike

 

[Lou Messina]

Wow! Thanks for this information.

Has there been a MS announcement about it being discontinued?

Where can I find the reviews you're referring to?

Which program do you use/recommend?
_________________________

 

[Lou Messina]

Thanks for the heads up!

What's AVG? What was wrong with OneCare?
__________________________

 

[MikeR]

Thanks for the heads up!

What's AVG? What was wrong with OneCare?
__________________________

AVG is the name of a free anti-virus package. Google it.
OneCare was too intrusive for my taste. I'm a programmer, and when I'm
testing an app that accesses the web, after every compile, I had to
give OneCare permission to let the app go to the web. No way to turn
that 'feature' off.

It was a bit of a resource hog too. Not as bad as Ma0ckafee (sp?) or
Norton though.