Ok, i am sick of having so much junk in my computer, thus slowing it down and chances are, there's so much viruses/malware/spyware hidden in it that any normal anti spyware or anti virus program wouldn't detect it. So my solution was... start from scratch. I'm sure there would be some guide here about reformatting a hard drive or something, but i could not find anything relevant to my situation. Well, here's my situation: - i can't use the internet at home cos i can't connect for some odd reason, and it is really annoying the hell out of me. i've been trying for two days now, and it still won't connect. i've run every pc cleaning software, anti spyware, anti virus program, everything, it wouldn't even connect! (it's amazing how our lives are affected when the internet is down even for just a few hours. imagine without internet for two days! lol) -i have two hard drives, A = 60gb, B = 200gb -Hard drive B is only used for storage so i don't really want to reformat it, but unless i have to, i'll buy a 300gb external HD to store all my files and important docs for back up and reformat EVERTHING. -if i do reformat hard drive B and not have to buy an external HD, is it possible to keep all the files in hard drive B? -are there any implications if i do buy a 300gb hard drive and store all the files there and reformat the whole pc? (will the computer be able to read the files in the external HD or do i need to reinstall the external HD?) - i am a total newbie when it comes to pc, so plz just ignore my ignorance and correct me where i am wrong - cos my internet is not working, i may not respond quickly (assuming someone with a heart responds to this thread =) - my other alternative was just to buy a new pc, but i'd still like to keep this old one, just to play around with so... if someone can help me out, it would be appreciated by a LOT! thanks in advance!
hey i re-format my HD on a regular basis to keep my computer runnin quickly and to keep it free of viruses and stuff that like you said cant or may not have been detected. I take it you know how to format a Hard Drive? if not just insert your Windows XP disc if its a full install version and not an upgrade and you can format from there, if not use something a boot version of Partition Magic which is easy to use. before you do reformat your hard drive unlug the IDE cable of the hard dirve you dont want to format, as sometimes it asks to format both. External hard drives are a good idea and no they dont need installing they are plug and play devices, but i tend to use internal ones on a PC as to you buying a new PC ... if the one you are using at the mo (the one in question) is an old machine then buying a new one wouldnt be a bad idea, as Pc prices have dropped and you can pick a good one up relatively cheap. That way you can use the old one to learn how to upgrade and stuff. hope and of this helps, and other things that i have missed out or you want to know then let me know
Yeah, an external hard drive would be a good idea, unless of course you have space on your secondhard drive. In that case you could just move your important files there until after you get everything formatted and set back up. Reformating is an easy thing, but also a long process. It will still see the external after you format the other drive because it will have to reinstall. You pretty much have to reinstall everything. Windows, drivers or software for all you devices and so on. So reformating should be your last resort. If everything but your internet is working then i would say that you are doing something a bit too drastic. I would try and find a few routes to fixing the internet connection first. To do that people will need a lot more information. Or even calling your service providers help line, they may be able to get you fixerd up and on the internet again. Once they do a few program i suggest you get. 1. spybot seek & destroy (free) 2. Adaware SE (free) 3. counterspy (real time protection) for more help here just answer the following: 1. what type of connection (DSL, Cable) 2. What service 3. are you getting any error message when you try to connect, what exactly does it do? It will not be easy for someone to fix it on a forum really, because most people would need to look into you connection settings and stuff.
thanks guys! i will probably end up buying the external HD in a few weeks (once pay day arrives lol) but my internet is back and running now which is good (all i had to do was unplug the phone line and BAM! it's back online, weird eh?) but anyways, back to the main topic, i would still like to reformat everything cos the computer is so filled with junk (i've installed so much things i can't even keep track off, which i should've from the start). Like i said, i'm a total newbie, so i didn't even know what Oakley was going on about with unplugging the IDE cable of the hard drive... and i haven't actually tried reformatting a hard drive, just read about it. i will most likely end up hiring some IT specialist dude to reformat the pc, but i wouldn't mind learning to do it myself. I wouldn't reformat anything yet til i have the external HD cos i have some pretty important docs in my current pc. @steimy, i did call/contact the service providers but they were just plain useless. it took them two weeks to respond and i had to wait for like an hour or so to get through them via telephone. by the way, i think my internet connection is ADSL, not really sure, (told u i'm a newb) but the advertised speed was 500/256 download/upload, i'm not sure if it's KB/s or kb/s... here is the anti spyware/virus list that i used b4: spybot ad-aware avg antispyware spy sweeper avg antispyware cwshredder and the pc "optimizing" softwares ccleaner registry cleaner xp smoker pro pc on-point are these programs too much? i ran each program at least like 5 times the past 2 days just to get the internet going, but no luck lol i don't know why i had to unplug the phone line just to get the internet working. but i do get errors saying something about DNS stuff... thanks again guys!
sorry dude forgot to explain the jargon ... the IDE cable is the cable that connects your hard drive to your motherboard ( the big board inside the comp that everythings connected to). Theres only 2 cables in the back of the hard drive : A power cable (small) an the IDE cable (big) if the important docs are on the hard drive you want to format then move them over to the other hard drive and then format any other problems give us a shout and i will do my best to help
ok guys, i'm back to this thread again as i will reformat everything. As i've said before, i will buy an external hard drive, and finally i do! (yay!) i will reformat both drives so that means i don't have to unplug any IDE cables right? anyways, i need a step by step guide on how to do this. i have found one that was posted here in afterdawn: here so if any of you helpful guys agree with this, i'll go on right ahead with formating. sorry i'm such a newbie regarding this stuff lol. also, i want a codec pack that will play .ogm, .mkv and other different video formats once i've reinstalled everything. i want a codec pack that is easy to uninstall in case it crashes a bunch of programs lol. thanks in advance!!!
