Restarting from scratch - format hard disk and re-install XP

[Guest]

My daughter's system (XP Home) has become so clogged with stuff that somehow
got into her system that, even with anti-virus, spyware, and ad-aware scans,
it still is sluggish.

We're tempted to reformat the hard disk and re-install from scratch. I've
done this for Windows 95 on one of my systems without a hitch. Does anybody
have any warnings about doing it for XP?

 

[A Traveler]

Ive done this so many times over the years ive lost count. Ive never found
any caveats.
In fact, if anything its far simpler that it was to do the same with Win95.
WinXP will automatically identify and install almost any normal hardware you
throw at it. I dont think ive ever once had to install drivers for ANYthing
under XP.

The only cautions are the usual cautions when doing something like this...
make sure to back up all your data, and the like.

Cheers.

 

[Guest]

Bud,
Did her system come with restore cds? This will take care of installing at
least some of the software. Anythig that was installed after the system was
initially brought up, will need to be installed.

 

[Guest]

My computer suffered from paralysis, especially after updating Norton. I
increased the memory, and the difference was astounding. if you don't have
at least 512 mg memory, the money you spend on increasing it will be worth
the hassle you won't have if you don't reformat and reinstall.

 

[SlowJet]

Unplug any removable device that is assigned a drive letter other than
CD-ROM.

Boot from the XP CD, and use the install screen to delete the exiting
partitions.
Then create a primary partition of for the XP system / boot and a second
partition for dtata. If you have a small disk (20 GB) make the first
partition 16 GB. If you have a 40 GB disk, then make the first 24 GB, if you
have a larger disk, make the first 24 but not greater than 32 GB.


After partitons are created, select the fisrt and install XP checking to
make sure you format with NTFS with 4K cluster and that the driver letter is
C:.

You do not need to create or format the other partitons at install time as
you can use disk manager later. But when you do create the last partiton
leave 8 MB of unused space. (That's MB not GB, very small)

After OS is up and running, install any motherboard drivers, other device
drivers, AV and a Firewall before connecting to intenet.
After connecting to internet go to mfg sites and download current drivers,
update AV patterns.
SJ

Ignore the following noise.

 

[Guest]

"Especially after updating Norton" I did install Symantec's Internet
Security for 2004 and felt that it slowed her down. Was this the update that
you made?

 

[Lester Stiefel]

My daughter's system (XP Home) has become so clogged with stuff that somehow
got into her system that, even with anti-virus, spyware, and ad-aware scans,
it still is sluggish.

We're tempted to reformat the hard disk and re-install from scratch. I've
done this for Windows 95 on one of my systems without a hitch. Does anybody
have any warnings about doing it for XP?

I advocate the use of a separate partition for data (docs,
pics, music). That way all the bloat that gets accumulated
in the system over time will stay separate, and the system
will be more stable. Also manually clean all cookies,and
temp files out of explorer (IE).

 

[Al Smith]

My daughter's system (XP Home) has become so clogged with stuff that somehow

got into her system that, even with anti-virus, spyware, and ad-aware scans,
it still is sluggish.

We're tempted to reformat the hard disk and re-install from scratch. I've
done this for Windows 95 on one of my systems without a hitch. Does anybody
have any warnings about doing it for XP?

Reinstalling won't cure your problem, which is your daughter not
knowing how to operate her computer securely. It will only get
filled up with more junk within the first month after the
reinstall. A better plan might be to clean the present system, and
teach her how to keep it clean.

 

[Michael Stevens]

My daughter's system (XP Home) has become so clogged with stuff that
somehow got into her system that, even with anti-virus, spyware, and
ad-aware scans, it still is sluggish.

We're tempted to reformat the hard disk and re-install from scratch.
I've done this for Windows 95 on one of my systems without a hitch.
Does anybody have any warnings about doing it for XP?

Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address bar.
Restore XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/restore.htm
You boot from the CD and do a clean install.
How to clean install XP.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Alex Nichol]

My daughter's system (XP Home) has become so clogged with stuff that somehow
got into her system that, even with anti-virus, spyware, and ad-aware scans,
it still is sluggish.

We're tempted to reformat the hard disk and re-install from scratch. I've
done this for Windows 95 on one of my systems without a hitch. Does anybody
have any warnings about doing it for XP?

Easy enough if you decide it is worth the hassle of reinstalling all
third party software. Make sure you have the install files needed for
what you would put back (but it may be a good opportunity to drop some)
and that all data files are backed up off the machine. Then if it is a
machine that came with XP installed, use whatever means came with it for
restoring to ex-factory state; otherwise

Boot the XP CD direct. Enter Setup, and after the license agreement
take New Install. When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC; select
and delete the current partition and make a new RAW one to be formatted
at the next stage

The important point is the delete. Without that it will just go ahead
and make a new install over the top of the old one

 

[Guest]

We never did re-install XP. Somebody told us that you need 512M of RAM if
you Symantec's Internet Security for 2004. We haven't got to 512 yet, but we
did make it to 320, and it made a significant difference in performance. We
were working with "only" 128M. I put "only" inquotes, because I remember
programming an IBM 1401 with 8K bytes of RAM!

Thanks for all the good advice!

 

[Alex Nichol]

We never did re-install XP. Somebody told us that you need 512M of RAM if
you Symantec's Internet Security for 2004. We haven't got to 512 yet, but we
did make it to 320, and it made a significant difference in performance.

Someone was exaggerating (though I would myself steer clear of Symantec
software). XP runs quite decently on 256 MB for most purposes; I had it
on only 196 in the Beta and happily on 384 thereafter. The crux is
getting above the 128 level

 

[Fleabus]

Someone was exaggerating (though I would myself steer clear of Symantec
software). XP runs quite decently on 256 MB for most purposes; I had it
on only 196 in the Beta and happily on 384 thereafter. The crux is
getting above the 128 level

BudV:

Instead of Symantec's offering, get and install the following free
malware utils.

If you don't use a router (hardware firewall),
ZoneAlarm (free software firewall)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?lid=staticcomp_za
or use the software firewall that installs with WindowsXP if it suits
you.

AntiVir (free) http://www.free-av.com/

Ad-Aware SE (free) http://www.lavasoft.de/

SpyBot S&D (free) http://spybot.safer-networking.org

I also use these free programs;
Google Toolbar (free) http://toolbar.google.com/ to prevent popups
SpamBayes (free) http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/windows.html Spam
filtering for my MS Oulook 2003
Spyware Blaster (free)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
a spyware shield

Happy trails,


Fleabus ..............

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