Do I need to reformat?

[B.W.]

My computer has been running for three and a half years with it's original
XP Win Home installation. I find it is now very slow in all it's
operations. I feel it may this may be due to the registry becoming too
clogged up, is this possible? I make sure spam is not causing the slowdown
by cleaning it out every so often.

My question is what would be the best way to deal with this problem?

Is there some way I can clean up the registry, I understand this is rather
dangerous if you don't know what you're doing?

If I reinstall XP again I gather my files will remain as is and not make
much difference to the registry, so I don't think there would be any speed
up in operation. Do I need to reformat the hard drive and start over again?
I have also kept the computer patched up and I guess I will lose all those
fixes if I reformat.

If this is the answer, could someone please point me to online tutorials on
how I go about this, not being too technical I'm a bit worried.

TIA

B.W.

 

[Guest]

Try running file transfer wizard,set as old computer,select the files,folders,
settings you want it to save,save the data in a new folder that you create,
once the wizard is thru,move the data to a cd.Install xp cd,exit the info
page,
restart computer,boot to xp cd,at info page,select,install xp,new copy,delete
the partition,create one,then xp formats and installs a clean copy.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My computer has been running for three and a half years with it's original
XP Win Home installation. I find it is now very slow in all it's
operations. I feel it may this may be due to the registry becoming too
clogged up, is this possible?

Not very likely. To date, no one has been able to demonstrate that the
use of a registry cleaner, particularly by an untrained, inexperienced
computer user, does any real good. There's certainly been no empirical
evidence offered to demonstrate that the use of such products to "clean"
WinXP's registry improves a computer's performance or stability.

I make sure spam is not causing the slowdown
by cleaning it out every so often.

As spam is nothing but unsolicited email, it won't have any affect
whatsoever upon the performance of the computer, unless you're in the
habit of opening/executing unknown and unsolicited attachments.

My question is what would be the best way to deal with this problem?

How often do you perform a Disk Clean-up to remove temporary files and
compress unused files? How often do you defragment the hard drive? How
often do you scan for ad-ware and spyware? How frequently do you update
your anti-virus definition files and perform a full system scan? If you
didn't answer "at least once a month, every month" (or even weekly, if
you do a lot of downloading, installing, and removing of programs and
data files) to all of these questions, you've likely found your answer.

Is there some way I can clean up the registry, I understand this is rather
dangerous if you don't know what you're doing?

What specific problem are you experiencing that you *know* beyond
all reasonable doubt will be fixed by cleaning the registry? If you do
have a problem that is rooted in the registry, it would be far better to
simply edit (after backing up, of course) only the specific key(s)
and/or value(s) that are causing the problem. I always use Regedit.exe.
I trust my own experience and judgment far more than I would any
automated registry cleaner. I strongly encourage others to acquire the
knowledge, as well.

If I reinstall XP again I gather my files will remain as is and not make
much difference to the registry, so I don't think there would be any speed
up in operation.

That would depend upon whether you perform a repair installation, or a
clean installation. A repair installation would leave your data intact,
preserve your registry settings, and replace any damaged or corrupted
system files. A clean installation would, by definition, replace
everything. But you still haven't explained why you think that you may
have a registry problem. What *specific* problem are you experiencing?
The only thing you've mentioned is a general slow down of the
computer, and this isn't at all likely to have anything to do with the
registry.

Do I need to reformat the hard drive and start over again?

You can if you like, but that's always a last resort. Why not first
post a precise description of your problem(s), and see if any specific
solutions can be offered?



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Try running file transfer wizard,set as old computer,select the files,folders,
settings you want it to save,save the data in a new folder that you create,
once the wizard is thru,move the data to a cd.Install xp cd,exit the info
page,
restart computer,boot to xp cd,at info page,select,install xp,new copy,delete
the partition,create one,then xp formats and installs a clean copy.

Still posting the same tired old deliberately destructive advice, I
see? Can't think of anything new to offer?


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Nog]

My computer has been running for three and a half years with it's original
XP Win Home installation. I find it is now very slow in all it's
operations. I feel it may this may be due to the registry becoming too
clogged up, is this possible? I make sure spam is not causing the
slowdown by cleaning it out every so often.

My question is what would be the best way to deal with this problem?

Is there some way I can clean up the registry, I understand this is rather
dangerous if you don't know what you're doing?

If I reinstall XP again I gather my files will remain as is and not make
much difference to the registry, so I don't think there would be any speed
up in operation. Do I need to reformat the hard drive and start over
again? I have also kept the computer patched up and I guess I will lose
all those fixes if I reformat.

If this is the answer, could someone please point me to online tutorials
on how I go about this, not being too technical I'm a bit worried.

TIA

B.W.

It's always good to wipe it clean and start over every few years. A great
deal of trash is collected over the years. Remove and recreate the
partitions, reformat and reload. The 3 r's. (4 r's for the wise guys)

 

[Ron Martell]

My computer has been running for three and a half years with it's original
XP Win Home installation. I find it is now very slow in all it's
operations. I feel it may this may be due to the registry becoming too
clogged up, is this possible? I make sure spam is not causing the slowdown
by cleaning it out every so often.

My question is what would be the best way to deal with this problem?

Is there some way I can clean up the registry, I understand this is rather
dangerous if you don't know what you're doing?

If I reinstall XP again I gather my files will remain as is and not make
much difference to the registry, so I don't think there would be any speed
up in operation. Do I need to reformat the hard drive and start over again?
I have also kept the computer patched up and I guess I will lose all those
fixes if I reformat.

If this is the answer, could someone please point me to online tutorials on
how I go about this, not being too technical I'm a bit worried.

I agree with Bruce Chambers. It is extremely unlikely that a registry
cleaner will provide any detectable improvement in the overall
performance of the computer.

How much RAM does your computer require? New programs, including
update versions of older programs, are more demanding than their
counterparts were even 3 years ago, and it does take more RAM to
achieve the same relative performance with current apps than it did 3
years with the versions that were current then.

How much stuff (I like to refer to it as crap and corruption) is being
loaded at startup? Use Start - Run - MSCONFIG and go to the startup
tab. Compare your list with the checklist at
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php to see what can
safely be reconfigured or removed.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Ron Martell]

It's always good to wipe it clean and start over every few years. A great
deal of trash is collected over the years. Remove and recreate the
partitions, reformat and reload. The 3 r's. (4 r's for the wise guys)

Thanks for telling me.

The last time I did a clean install on my own computer was when
Windows 3.1 was first released.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm