Hi my friends PC was really slow, so i scanned it for viruses and
spyware and nothing was wrong.
I also swapped the memory with my memory and doubled it, still slow.
So i backed up the data and decided to do a format and install.
What normally takes several minutes to simply copy the files to begin
the install took an entire day.
Then when it was installing it took another day.
Why so long?
I'm not an expert,
but I've worked with PCs and Macintoshes and related equipment for
over 20 years, and I've learned a thing or two. I can repair em, I can
troubleshoot em, and I can build em from parts.
And I've been through exactly what you're describing a number of
times.
I can't give you the technical reasons this happens; I'm not a
technical person.
But it happens.
As my engineer friend said, "you don't always get a good format. You
also don't always get a good partition."
If you find the install taking more than a couple of hours MAX, I'd
bring it all to a SCREECHING halt, go back and check your BIOS
settings, (be sure it's booting to the CD drive 1st, then stick the XP
install CD Rom back in your CD Drive, boot,
and start with Fdisking (removing and reinstalling the partition) and
formatting AGAIN.
I have quite literally had to de-partition and repartition and
reformat half-a-dozen times before it all went well.
Again, I can't give you the technical reasons, but I CAN tell you that
I talked with my engineer about it (the guy I call when I get stuck),
and he says he's had to do half-a-dozen
de-partitioning/repartitioning/formats to get a good one.
I have quite literally gotten into the screens where I'm signing in,
and then the computer hung, and next thing, I had a blue screen, and I
was starting from scratch.
If you have decided to "go all the way back to square one, and do a
de-partition/repartition/reformat", you may as well start with a GOOD
install when you're done!
"It can get very tricky" because so much is going on.
Last time I was working with my son on doing the first
de-partition/repartition/reformat on HIS new computer (his
grandfather's OLD computer), we slapped a brand new hard drive into
his computer, and we had to de-partition/repartition/reformat TWICE
before it worked.
He was fussing over it having to be done twice when I told him I've
had to do it like 6 times to get a good one!
A bit of advice from an old-timer:
Control Your computer!
Do not allow your computer to control you or to take over your life!
But 2 or 3 de-partition/repartition/reformat operations are not at all
unusual.
Good luck!
Tallahassee
