Filed under: Registry Cleaners
I'm wiping my hard drive clean & starting over; plz, step-by-step instructions?
April 5, 2010
4 thoughts on “I'm wiping my hard drive clean & starting over; plz, step-by-step instructions?”
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Clean Registry and Optimize PC
You also said that you made sure nothing was conflicting
Make sure you have only one antivirus and one firewall
Also it sounds like you are still getting some sort of conflict with security software
I personally never really reformatted because I never had to.
Refer to this link if you want to
http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/windows/instructions/reformat.htm
You also said you don’t have the "backup discs" does this refer to the windows CD?(Restore CD) If you don’t have it you could try contacting Microsoft but I’m not positive about what the results would be.
The restore CD should have came with the box and have some sort of Windows Logo.
If you are talking about a "backup" then you could get a pen drive(USB drive) and move your important files there
Like I said I’m not so good at reformatting
Ok first thing you said was
"I recently downloaded several security software to clean up all the infections I had, and they did just that (a few viruses, but mostly adware & cookies)"
I’m not sure what you used but did you try scanning with
They won’t conflict with anything since the free versions only detect and remove.
Malwarebytes AntiMalware
http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html
and
SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/
They are also pretty low on the hard drive(like only 4MB)
Scan in Safe Mode(press f8 rapidly while booting and select safe mode)
If you have stubborn malware try using a PE(Preinstalled Environment) if you have the Windows XP CD and a blank CD-ROM(also to boot from a CD you go to the boot menu that is shown from the boot screen for Ex. f12 and select the CD by using enter)
How to make a "bootable antivirus" Text Instructions
http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm
Video instructions
http://remove-malware.com/anti-malware-howto/new-page-how-to-build-a-bootable-anti-malware-disc-videos/
If you don’t have the windows xp cd
Try using the Gdata boot CD(uses linux has the PE so no windows xp cd needed) It uses the Avast and BitDefender Engines
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/G-DATA-AntiVirus.shtml
The uninstalling programs and registry keys doesn’t hold much merit right now. You can always uninstall programs using Revo Uninstaller or use Ccleaner after.
Also 1GB RAM is fine if you are doing normal tasks like internet browsing you may want to do some tweaks though.(Ex. Disable some startup programs in Start>run>msconfig, disable or switch to manual services you don’t need, Disk Defragmenter, etc.)
Adding RAM is always a great way to speed up your computer though
Here is a good link for tweaking your system
http://hubpages.com/hub/why-does-my-computer-run-slow
http://www.dban.org/download
Darik’s Boot and Nuke…
Download the CD version.
Burn it on a CD-R.
Save your files on a floppy (pfft)/CD/flash drive.
Put DBAN in the CD drive.
Reboot your computer, making sure you are COMPLETELY done with everything on your drive!
It will boot from the CD.
It will destroy EVERYTHING on the boot drive.
You can reinstall your OS from there.
Defragment your hard drive.
This is the defragment tool I use, put out by the same people who put out CCleaner.
http://www.defraggler.com/
You don’t have to format(wipe clean) your hard drive and reinstall everything. It is NOT true that as you add more stuff to your PC everything will become slower. It is only true if you just install programs without watching your startup list, optimizing your PC and running general maintenance every now and then. If you do not have the necessary knowledge to keep your PC in check, formatting your hard drive will only be a temporary solution. Your PC will speed up for a bit, then return to it’s miserable state.
I can help you optimize your PC for higher speed, but this might take a little while so you might want to contact me through private message or e-mail.
You don’t need more RAM unless you are playing modern games, multitasking, using Windows Vista or doing some sort of serious work like video encoding, etc. Your system might indeed become somewhat faster with more RAM, but before you waste your money, you may want to try other options, and there are plenty.
If you don’t want to listen to me and still want to format, here are the steps:
1)You may have gotten a disk with your computer which will be called something like "System Restore Disk". If that is the case, simply put that baby in, restart your PC and just follow direction onscreen. It will practically do everything for you.
2)If you only have a Windows disk, restart your PC with the disk in the DVD drive, during startup your PC will say something like "press any key to setup windows." Do that, and you will be taken into windows startup screen at which point you just have to follow directions. (part of windows setup will be wiping your hard drive clean, so it will happen as part of the process)
3)You can format your HD from MSDOS prompt, but after everythign is wiped clean, you still need your Windows disk, so there is no reason to format unless you got Windows or recovery disk.
Here is another, more thorough way to to format from windows:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html
Feel free to contact me, if you want help with speeding up your PC WITHOUT formatting or getting more RAM. 😉
PS: You dont need norton ghost for backups. It’s a nice program but not necessary. Just copy your essential files to DVDs or external hard drive. If you dont have a DVD writer or external HD, GET ONE. They are relatively cheap nowdays, and they help alot when you need to do backups.