ever reformatted a hard drive?

[WildBlueSooner]

The hardest part is always backing up anything important before you format...I have formatted my old computer several times and each time several days later I though of something I wished I would have kept..so think hard first!

[JJG]

My other laptop is actually getting rather slow as well but my concern is that I don't the original windows XP disk that came with it. I do have some sort of dell recovery disk saved to the desktop but what about the operating system? Is my only option to go purchase a new copy of XP if I want to reformat?

[poker]

Originally Posted by JJG

Is my only option to go purchase a new copy of XP if I want to reformat?

Yes & no. Yes, you must have a Windows CD to reformat. No you do not have to go purchase a new copy if you can just borrow one.

[poker]

I have all the original disks that came with the computer, including the (legit) windows XP disk. My problem is that I've never reformatted a drive/reinstalled windows. just wondering if anybody here can give me simple walk-through of the process or direct me to page that explains things in relatively simple terms. there's nothing to back up either since I don't have any important files on this computer.

If you have to original XP disk that came with it, that will work.

In a nutshell....

1) Format C drive data by inserting the Windows disk and restarting

2) The computer should automatically boot from the CD

3) Simply follow the prompts to format the C drive and reinstall Windows

For a detailed guide:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html

[acarr]

Get a few cigars it could take a while for it all to load. Then when you update the software at Microsoft, it may take 5 or 6 downloads and reboots.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by poker

Yes & no. Yes, you must have a Windows CD to reformat. No you do not have to go purchase a new copy if you can just borrow one.

well, I've done this in the past but as I understand it the Windows "genuine advantage" updates now make it difficult to "borrow" a copy

[poker]

Originally Posted by JJG

well, I've done this in the past but as I understand it the Windows "genuine advantage" updates now make it difficult to "borrow" a copy

Not true. The "genuine advantage" comes into play to get updates.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by poker

Not true. The "genuine advantage" comes into play to get updates.

well, I would definitely want to be able to get all the windows updates so where does that leave me? I'd love to do this for free but if I have to pay the $85 for a new copy of Xp, that's still cheaper than a new computer.

[poker]

Well if you have the original XP disc that came with your PC as you say, you're golden. The Genuine Advantage Tool from MS looks at your hardware configuration to distinguish it from other PC's (which is why it will only load on your PC). If you made no major hardware changes, you should be able to use your disk to not only reformat, but to also reload a fresh OS.

Originally Posted by poker

Not true. The "genuine advantage" comes into play to get updates.

And if you get "turned down" for updates manually, just turn them on to "Automatic" and it will still download the updates after it refuses you manually.

Bug or feature, not sure but it works.

Chas

[themoneycollector]

Originally Posted by WildBlueSooner

The hardest part is always backing up anything important before you format...I have formatted my old computer several times and each time several days later I though of something I wished I would have kept..so think hard first!

Backing up all the files is my biggest dread to formatting.

What I do is get all my personal docs, pics, etc. and create a couple of folders (ie. DVD 1, DVD 2,....). Move all my data into those folders, burn onto DVD's, then delete the original folders. As I find new files, create more folders. Then I start deleting system & program folders (warning here, only do this when you are 100% sure you will backup). I know I'm done when my disk space is pretty small. This helps me find all those files that are stored in folders other than my documents, but are important. Sometimes programs are pretty annoying about using their own save file dirs.

Because I do it yearly I learned a long time ago to format a separate partition for just the files I want to keep. On that drive I have folders for my working files, Documents, spreadsheets and so forth. Another folder is for my photos, movies and music. Then there is the catch all folders for stuff I just don’t know about. When each folder gets bigger than a DVD I start looking at moving things off the hard drive and onto a DVD. That keeps the size of the folders to a manageable level. When it’s time to reformat, I move what’s left onto a DVD and give it all the three finger salute and start over. Occasionally I miss something but fortunately so far it’s never been of major importance.

Chas