hi my daughters pc is running really slow probably due to all the rubbish on it,can someone please tell my how to uninstall windows xp so the pc goes back to factory settings i have a windows xp cd to re install windows but did'nt want to use it in case i ended up with two windows xp on the pc. thank you
Rather than try to explain it myself, just go here for step by step guide. To avoid having two XP installations, when you get to the partition\formatting steps, make sure you delete any existing partition\s (unless you are using another partition for something), you then create a brand new partition (accept default size which will be the whole availabe space) and format it in NTFS when prompted. Some things to note are, You will loose any installed programs and personal files and folders (so back up importand docs to disc or usb stick etc). If you do not have a legitimate copy of XP, you will not be able to activate it. Once installed XP may or may not have all the drivers for your hardware, so you may need your motherboard\hardware disc to install any drivers XP does not have (or download from manufacturers website). If you are a bit nervous about this process, try to get hold of an old hard drive to practice on.
Invest in Acronis 12 or above or Ghost 12 or above & create one time images as you go this will make it faster next time you want to reinstall. Starting with the newly installed OS with maybe a few apps & any drivers create the first one time image then burn it to DVD this becomes your base if you want to reinstall as a clean slate. Next one time image taken can be Pre SP3 along with even more software or both. Final one time image taken once everything's installed including updates Now from this point schedule weekly or 2weekly or monthly one time images,in case the crap hits the fan,why not do incremental or differential images you ask,well two resaons 1-less files 2-too easily corrupted 3-they're a pain in the ass to manage,one times however can be deleted at any point along the way,however it would pay to have an external hdd to house copies of all images along with any extended partition on the comps hdd. BEFORE ANY IMAGE IS TAKEN 1-Disable pagefile & hybernation 2-boot to safe & defrag 3-when defrag finished do a dskchk then when windows boots create the images after which pagefile can be put back,this saves on space & makes a better job of the defrag so image size will be as small as poss on normal compression If you need help with imaging go here advice is free & they specialize in it http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl EDIT:Forgot to mention when using imaging software you no longer need that crap "system no restore" so turn that off permanently
The problems, with your daughter's computer, probably did not require a format c:/ and reinstalling XP. Your daughter's problem is poor computer management and the virus sites she visits. The computer, running well now, will be short lived, unless she changes her computer habits. :wink: And to avoid getting two Windows folders, on the C drive, once the Windows CD boots up to install, you delete the partition that Windows is on one, the have the CD create and format the same partition that you deleted. Partitioning the hard drive is a good thing. Have XP, and maybe a few other programs on the main partition, and all other programs, and saved data, on another partition. That way, you only wipe out the OS partition. You will have to reinstall all of your programs again, but your saved data won't be touched. Also, to avoid the possibility of getting two
