Ugh. Whenever I think about formatting my harddisk, I feel happy. What a clean start! Refreshing, clean, new... without any spywares or pesky stuff trying to bog me down. But, I need some clarification and answers to my questions.

-What good do I get out of this format? I have lots of things to reinstall once I format - like Star Wars Galaxies, Battlefield 2, Warcraft III, etc. Will it be worth all the time?

-How do I perform this format?

-Do I have to reinstall Windows XP Professional?

-How can I provide backups of games and files?

-Will I have to update everything again? Such as my GeForce card...

-What files WON'T be affected in the format process?

-What else should or am I supposed to know about this formatting?

Thanks in advance I am a noob

Erm, if you format, you'll lose everything on that partition. If you have one hdd, one partition, you'll lose everything, windows, data, games, etc...

Yes, you'll have to reinstall windowsxp and even better, it has a built-in option to format a hdd

And what's good about it, a lot. First of all, after a while of installing and uninstalling, there are lot of files on your hdd that aren't used anymore, they use space and can slow down you computer (during boot up, hdd access, ...). You can also start whith the newest driver w/o some left overs from the previous ones.

Sorry that I don't answer all your question, but I've gotta go eat now

About the game back-up, look in the folders of the game for folders or files called savegame. They can also be stored in my documents.

[qutoe]Ugh. Whenever I think about formatting my harddisk, I feel happy. What a clean start! Refreshing, clean, new... without any spywares or pesky stuff trying to bog me down.[/quote]

That sort of stuff won't happen if you kept a regularly updated Antivirus, a properly configured firewall and a regularly updated anti-spyware. You wouldn't even have to format the HD also .

Wutske has already answered all your questions excellently. IMO, use only the windows XP CD for formatting the HD. Don't use Partition magic or any such third party software for formatting or anything at all for that matter. You are liable to screw up your Hard disk completely.

okeyz cybo .. m back

lol .. well what all have said is right and answers all ur questions .. but i would like u to give a tip .. wich i think most of the guys here will agree . depends tho ..

Do a clean format using the Xp CD .. and reinstall everything .. and i mean everything necessary .. ur drivers and stuff ur games .. everything u need .. and when ur done and satisfied .. use norton Ghost simple .. so the next time u have a problem .. with a virus or sum malfunction .. u can be up on a running clean installation with all ur progs in less than an hour ..

Now the only thing that depends on ppl is that if they really like to do this sorta image back up .. cause once u do this .. u would be stuck with ur drivers that u installed at that time while making a Ghost image .. well i can over write the drivers no doubt .. but like u everyone else need a clean installation too .. so depends as i said ..

But personally i love the job of installing apps manually .. lol .. call it dum .. but i like the act of manual install satisfaction

Hope it helps ..

Cheers ..

Alright. I found the Windows XP + Service Pack 2 disk.

Hmm... alright. But I'm sure I don't have any... well maybe one... spyware or adware on my computer. But that's not the point - my computer or hard disk is really old and it needs some fixing.

That's why I want to format it. By the way, how do I backup gigabytes of data?

aight .. first off .. u dont fix a old hard disk .. u can either defragment it or u can clean format it ... i have no other way to fix a HDD other than takin it out and givin it a clean from the out side .. lol .. well if u format it once in 6 mths .. m shure u r OS will work fine n fast enuf ..

Aslong as the backup gigs is concerned .. well i suggest u get a external USB HDD .. or burn into a dvd ..

And for ur spyware .. use Microsoft Anti-Spyware .. its from M$ .. but its quiet effective ...

Cheerz

Ahem... I said I have no problems with spyware issues. They're not going to touch my computer in a while

Anyway, it looks like I'll have to format my computer soon.

And no, I can't afford those external USB HDD - nor do I have a DVD burner. Man, those are costly!! But I'm pretty fond of those disk storage things Right now, I only have a 256mb flash disk. Hahaha...

Sigh... so many questions!

I think the best solution is to either have two drives, one for the operating system and the other for files and programs, or to partition one drive so that the C drive has the operating system and the other partition has everything else. Whenever you install software, just make sure that it is installed on the second partition instead of C, which is the default. You will need to back up some things from the C drive as there are registry values and other files in the windows folder that you will need for the programs and games you have installed, but it is fairly quick the format the C drive and re-install the operating system and any support files there to get a clean start. I have been using this method for some time now and I will never change as long as I am running a PC. Another benefit is that most of the spyware and other things that corrupt a drive are installed on the main partition, or C drive, and if that drive is kept small by not installing the programs there or saving other types of files, then scanning with a tool to clean that drive is much faster. Your virus and spyware scans are a breeze. Scanning 20,000 files goes quite a bit faster than half a million. Enjoy!

Rodney Lay

Make sure you have the product IDs and other codes, back up all your games to DVD or CDs, and or find all the original products with such codes and such.

You must have a valid code for most modern software so BEFORE formatting PLEASE locate all IDs and codes and have them at the ready or you will spend hours loking for them...this I know from a very bad experience.

Your machine will not have any viruses or such unless some of your software was already infected with malware or spyware or adware.

Also try a free online can with Panda or any of the other conline virus and adware or spyware scans before you try a reformat or reinstall... it might just fix your problems without going through all the mess to begin with and run a good firewall like Zone Alarm free or otherwise.