My Computer Is Really Slow Now

My computer just all of the sudden turned really slow. I can't do anything without it freezing. Not even click on the start menu. My friend told me it is a virus and I have to reinstall Windows XP. I would like to start my computer fresh by wiping out the whole hard drive along with reinstalling Windows. My friend said that after wipping out the whole hard drive I will need to reinstall every driver I had. Is there a way to burn the drivers onto a disk to make it less work? Is there any other things I have to do if I clear my whole hard drive. The things I know so far are reinstalling all the drivers, reinstalling all the softwares, and start windows update.


Thanks for whoever tries to help me.

 

alright if you have a windows xp disc from your OEM or a store bought you can use that to do a fresh install, which will wipe (reformat) your HDD and then reinstall windows for you, its quite simple and if you have a virus i suggest heavily in not using the windows file transfer wizard as it will bring the virus onto your new windows XP,

as for drivers upon your first login on your new XP windows will reinstall all your drivers for you so that all the devices can be used, however you still need to get drivers from the companies that made these devices to use them to there full potential and to allow them to work correctly with software and such,

hunting down drivers isn't something easily done
http://www.download.com/Driver-Backup/3000-2242_4-10694017.html
this application is free and will back up all your non windows drivers
which is what your looking for

i suggest using that because epically for printers finding the manufactures drives can be a lost case at times

alternatively you can right click on my computer go properties, then go to the hardware tab and select the device manager to view all your devices that require drivers...

questions? issues?
post back
-tripplite

 

Thanks a lot. After I reinstall windows fully, is there anything else I need to do besides installing all the softwares and drivers to get my computer back to its normal position? How do I restore those drivers that I backed up? Thanks for helping me by the way.

 

that software explains how to restore the drives on your new XP,
after using the software to backup if your still having issues ask again and i'll walk you through it!

also you obviously dont want to get a virus again, so install virus protection on your new XP
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/292257
all the software is free and if you ask nicely we can help you debug in the future

-tripplite

 

Thanks for that anti-virus program link.

When I opened that software to backup my drivers, I only had the option to Select All and Backup. I didn't see how to restore the drivers anywhere.

 

My computer is a Dell Dimension 2400. There is more information about it in the link directly from dell.com below.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/product_support/en/product_support_central?c=us&l=en&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_CEL_2400&cs=19&s=dhs

 

ddp is right, if you google the specs you can find the support page for them and download the drivers and their whole software pack,then burn them to a disk or back em up on an external HDD and load them on your new XP and you can install them like any other piece of software (.exe)

-tripplite

 

The weirdest thing happened. I turned on my computer and everything is at normal speed. Maybe it was just a temporary problem or something. I would still like to know how to backup and restore my drivers in case this problem happens again. Using that program tripplite showed me. I got 12 different drivers.

Intel(R) 82845G
Intel(R) 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB
SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
SyncMaster 753DF(X)
Broadcom 440x 10
Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
Canon i470D
Intel(R) 82801DB
Intel(R) 82801DB LPC Interface Controller - 24C0
Intel(R) 82801DB PCI Bridge - 244E
Intel(R) 82845G
OpenManage Client Instrumentation device driver

When I saved all these drivers, I got 12 folders labaled with the drivers names above. All the folders had either one or a bunch of different files in them. How do I restore these drivers? To update the drivers, do I just go to the website and download the latest one?

 

I see that you only gave me 5 of the 12 I listed above. Will the other 8 be installed by windows automatically?
Thanks

 

Please be patient with me, I am not so good with computers. Here is a guess, are the leftover drivers Windows drivers that will be installed automatically after reinstalling Windows?

Once again, thanks.

 

Thanks for all the links. For the broadcom 4401 driver link , It just gave me a folder (with no applications in the folder, just system files and other non-executable files) like when I backed up my driver with the software tripplite showed me. How do I install drivers like this?

 

In the folder will be a .inf file.. that is the actual driver. You can tell any OS to use a specific driver.. In windows it's "update driver" then point it at that specific file or folder

?? why is this page over-width ??

 

Thanks. I have everything I need to know on how to backup my drivers now. Thank you to everyone that helped me.

By the way, I don't know why this page is over-width.

 

i think it was the vertical advertisement?? lol