do I need to "rebuild" Windows?

[Guest]

I have XP Home on a 2 year old Dell laptop ( 512mb ram, 2.2 gb processor,
60gb drive). Drive is

What was once a lightening fast system is now a slow start up PC with
intermittent problems. i.e. (1) when clicking on My Documents from Windows
Explorer, the system hangs. I can only get to my files through the
applications (Word, etc.). (2) The "My Computer" icon is a shortcut, not the
original icon.

I run all the diags (Norton, defrag, Spy Sweeper) frequently. I've run
Microsoft Office Scan and Repair.

I have a lot of programs, etc., and use this laptop 8-10 hours a day for
business.

Is it worth the 1-2 days it would take to start the system over with the
original CD, and reload all my progams and data? I am backed up on an
external disk drive.

thanks a lot, Joe

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Only you can decide if it's worth your time to perform a clean install. If you are totally unable to make your system work properly and have no more ideas of where to turn to fix your problems, there is no other way out.

Before you perform a clean install, consider two things:
1) Are you sure you know how to do this? It takes a lot of preparation to do it the right way.
2) Do you have any idea of what caused your problem(s) in the first place? If you don't, it may just be a matter of time before you're in this situation again.

Ted Zieglar

 

[Guest]

I have Norton Ghost but have never used it. Is that an option? Would the the
"ghosted" copy contain any system problems that a reinstall of Windows is
supposed to fix?

I'm concerned that I can't get into My Documents from Windows Explorer. The
system just hangs for 20 + minutes, with the hard drive banging full time,
then I C-A-D. Makes it harder to navigate. Is it a complicated process?

I've done one rebuild brfore and it was a pain and took twice as long as I
planned.

Is there a step by step process anywhere?

Thanks.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

There is no generic step-by-step since every configuration is different and there are too many variables. Your first stop should be the company that manufactured your computer. They should be able to return your computer to the state it was in when it left the factory, provided you still have all the original CDs that shipped with your computer (or, alternatively, if your computer has a restore partition). Once that's dome you'll need to reinstall all the other software you have installed. Once everything is reinstalled you'll have to update all your software, then you'll need to set it up like it was before.

Ted Zieglar