Reformating

[St. Ajora]

I need to do it ASAP. I've never done it before...so can anyone give me a list of preparations and things I need to do before I reformat? And also I need information for the process itself, what it is (I know it deletes everything) and how long it takes and how big of a hassel is it...

I can back up files and save them on a CD, right? What sort of CD do I need, a data one? Or just a regular music CD? A DVD? I have no idea...

I have windows ME (pity me) and I want to upgrade to XP, btw.

[Daniel Blackhand]

It depends on what you want done. if you are just doing a recovery you don't need to do anything. If you are doing a full recovery of your system than you want to save all the data that you don't want lost.

You can use the CD's that store music or data. Once you have all of your data saved to CD's than you can begin your recovery process. That in itself is pretty easy, in that you just put in the recovery CD or run the internal program follow the instructions.
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[St. Ajora]

Im being bombarded by viruses and other crap that will not go away- including one lovely little program that will only allow me to stay online for 10 minutes- then i cannot connect to the internet. So I have to restart every few minutes...

[Synchysi]

http://www.webtechgeek.com/How-to-Format-a-Hard-Drive.htm

That pretty much tells you what you need to know. It's not a very painful process, but depending on the size of your hard drive, it can take a while.
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[Deleted User 1]

I don't know your PC's aspects so i'll just assume things ok...
First of all if you have a lot of files that you want to back up say around 4gigs then use a DVD-R/DVD+R I always use DVD-RW because my DVD drive only reads minus compact discs.

If you are deciding which windows you want to upgrade to, I would definately suggest Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) to you, simply because you said you got viruses, and SP2 enhances your security, and firewall. When re-installing windows (just inserting the disk upon starting up your computer) be sure to delete the partitions, cause they may still contain the virus you caught.

I am only assuming that you are getting a new Windows... but reformatting... I'm not entirely sure what you mean so i put all this up incase it's what you want.

[Horned Loa]

Well you asked the formatting expert lol. I've done it so many times now I've lost count.

Like a few members said already save any and every thing you'll need on preferably DVDs because they can simply store more data. Besides saving your files and documents make sure you save some of the minor programs you'll need such as winzip and ALL your drivers that you have unless you're sure you have drivers on a cd already. Your sound and graphics drivers can be a pain to find on the internet and you're really going to need those. It would also be a good idea to back up little programs such as winamp and the like so that you don't have to download them again. Once you've backed up all the data you need and you have all the DVDs/CDs sitting next to your computer run dos and simply type "cd.." a few times to get to "C:", then just "format C:". It'll ask you if you're sure and all but you should be able to work that stuff out easily. Once it cleans your C: drive (if you have more drives and want to clean them all then do so BEFORE you format C: using the same technique) set your primary boot device to CD (the drive you are going to put your WinXP CD in). This is done by pressing one of "del" or "f8" button (forgot which one at the moment :oops: ) when you see the "press 'X' button" on the second screen me thinks. Anyways, this should take you into a system menu. One of them should have the options which will read something like "Primary Boot Device", "Secondary Boot Device"....turn the Primary to your CD drive and all the others to None.

Then reset the computer with the winXP CD in it. This should automatically load the WinXP install wizard and you go from there. Once you have WinXP installed, reset again and go back into the same menu and change the primary boot device to what it was originally (which should be your hard drive) and secondary to CD. You can leave all the other ones on none. From there just re-install all the programs and drivers you have.

Word of caution, the internet will most likely be your biggest problem to reinstall (as it always is) so make SURE you have all the necessary drivers and programs because you won't be able to go online to get them. Best of luck and see you when you reformat!!! :mrgreen:

[Deleted User 1]

Lord Bishop Fang... you have confused me...LOL. okay i'll make a step by step one to make things easier (I should've done it in the first place).

- Back up all files that you added, don't back up the ones that came with windows as it will only eat your cd/dvd space up. I would use a DVD-RW, not only can it have 9 gigabytes of space for back up, but once you've done with it you can overwrite the files in the DVD...infinate use!

- After backing files up, you might want to get the windows XP cd in handy (again try to get Windows XP SP2) put the CD before you turn your computer off. and then restart your computer.

- A screen should show up saying to boot from cd press any key, so just drop your hand on the keyboard. then follow the brief instructions near the bottom, delete the partitioned space which may still contain several viruses that you may have gotten. then choose a new partitioned space to create a new Windows XP.

- after some time has passed and everythings finished installing, just log on and re insert your back up dvd. go to the control panel, set everything to your likings and to your comfortbility. reinstall what you've backed up. Oh, if you dont install Windows XP SP2 but have automatic updates on, then your going to have to go through the process one more time as eventually you will come accross a download that will tell you to get windows XP SP2... there's no going further until you've got it so keep that DVD handy until that time comes.

Hope this helps :wink:

[Elc]

I am reminded of the great hard drive crash I suffered about four and a half years ago. I don't know how it happened, but it completely screwed up Windows and I couldn't run scandisk (with any success) to fix any problems. So, without the luxury of Windows (and thus the zip drive I was using at the time) I had to go through the hell of preserving any file I wanted to keep on floppies. (and you know how useless that can be considering the extremely limited size of floppies) Definitely not an easy task when all you can go by is the DOS file name.

I think my computer was less than a year old at that point, but the company I got it from had absolutely terrible customer service and even tried to charge me for a reinstallation of Windows which they never even did. It turns out I didn't actually lose any information in the crash, but after the temporary fix they did I just decided to get a new hard drive from a more reliable company. It turns out for $2,000 the company I initially bought the computer from just stuck in a bunch of generic crap.
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[Hrestelan]

I reformat on a regular basis. My hard drive is split in two units, C and D. So I put all the good stuff (mp3, movies, whatever) in D. And I keep destroying and re-creating C every time I reinstall windows. It's a vicious cicle of death and rebirth.

Since Windows XP is so easy to install and I've done it 8659596 times, it takes me only half an hour. A bit more to re-install all the programs and little crap I use regularly. It's kind of fun. Seeing this thread has given me the urge to do it again.

[Horned Loa]

Dayamn Hrestelan. I'm exatly the same. Movies, Games, Music, Videos and major documents I keep in D Drive (well I've actually changed the D drive into"My Documents" folder). Makes reformating a breeze.

[St. Ajora]

THanks guys, i read up on all of this and when I went to find my system recovery, it turns out all of the instructions were on the back of the cd case! The first thing that sucked was that I did not manage to install XP...I was hoping to get a hold of the installation this week, but my computer was deteriorating by the minute. I had to shut down the bad way, about 15 times the last two days and I was getting really scared that if I left things the way they were, that I'd lose the computer.

So I did it last night. I thankfully had a blank CD...ONE, but it was enough for all of my essentials, so I did that quickly and then rebooted with the discs in. It was hard knowing that everything was getting deleted; even frightening because I was just sitting there with a huge sense of loss. My poor baby ;_; Anyway, once that was done, I spent about an hour and a half trying to register my product..which i did when I bought the comp 4 years ago, but I couldn't remember the User ID and p/w for the life of me. Then I realized that I could get into big trouble registering the product again (I am paranoid) so I phoned tech support and had to listen to that infernal elevator music for 15 minutes while on hold. When I finally got through to someone, I had called the wrong number, but they forwarded me to another help line...I couldn't understand what the guy was saying, since he talked in that usual fast shaped into a question mechanical voice but my "Okays" and "Yes"'s apparently were the right things to say. Anyway, more waiting, and then i was told to press the Skip button instead of trying to register. Cuz when i tried to register again it would just not get me to the next step which was FINISH cuz I was eager to see if I had my connection able and ready.

So it was a pretty hellish night full of bickering with my mother, cursing tech support and trying to download a bunch of stuff. Not to mention a good firewall, which started my problem in the first place. Thanks for your help though, everyone, I envy your ability to make a smooth reformat, whereas I was nearly in tears and ready to smash this thing :( But it was a good (HORRIBLE) leanring experience. I'm computer dumb, y'see.

[Horned Loa]

Well you've just managed to go through your very first reformation so you can consider yourself an upper novice now. :P

It gets easier every time you do it and the best way to learn about computers is through trial and error. You can always reset the whole thing if you stuff up heh.