formatting my computer

[Ross]

i need to format my computer badly but i dont have any
discs with drivers for my hardware. i want to know wether
i can copy them to a cd then just paste them in the right
folder once it has formatted. if you can think of any
other way to wipe my pc without losing my drivers plz tell
me.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Ross.

We can't intelligently help you without more information from you about your
computer. You're sitting there looking at it, but all we know is what you
put in your post - NOTHING! We don't even know the brand name. We also
don't have any idea what kind of hardware you need drivers for.

Many computers come with an OEM version of WinXP pre-installed. If yours is
one of those, start by asking the manufacturer or vendor what you need to do
with THAT brand and model of computer.

Or, post back here with enough relevant information that we might have a
chance to help you.

RC

 

[D.Currie]

i need to format my computer badly but i dont have any
discs with drivers for my hardware. i want to know wether
i can copy them to a cd then just paste them in the right
folder once it has formatted. if you can think of any
other way to wipe my pc without losing my drivers plz tell
me.

If you don't have discs for your drivers, where did you plan on copying them
from? How are you going to figure out which files you need and where they're
located? If you mean that you have driver installation files on your hard
drive somewhere, you can copy those. But if your drivers are already
installed, it's not really feasible to pick through your hard drive trying
to find the multiple files that make up the drivers.

The next problem is that you're not going to be able to recreate things like
the registry entries, etc. at least not without a lot of pain and suffering.
And copying and pasting is not the same as installing, so just dropping
files into folders isn't going to work.

So, no you can't just browse your hard drive and copy your installed drivers
to a CD.

The best thing to do might be to look up all the drivers you need on the
internet, burn them to a CD and then go ahead with the format.