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01-02-2006, 4:23 alan Joined on 08-10-2005 Hong Kong Posts 120 Cleaning out your PC 3: Format and Reinstall Backup before formatting/reinstalling, do it with caution! - Alan, Author For a complete clean-up, you can delete the whole lot and start again The ultimate way to revitalise and cleanse your PC is to start from scratch. Wipe the hard drive and then reinstall the Windows XP operating system. Although at first it might appear a little drastic, if your PC began its life as a Windows 98 or Windows Me machine then it’s going to be a good few years old and during that time dozens of different applications have been added and removed. The chances are that the hard drive has become cluttered with all manner of files, folders and registry entries that just aren’t needed anymore. To be sure your PC is only using what it requires, there’s nothing better than a reinstallation to give you back a smooth running, clutter-free system. However, before you start wiping hard drives make sure you back up what you need. It’s not easy retrieving data from a wiped hard disk! Contents Format and Reinstall STEP BY STEP: Using repair in Windows XP BackUp your Files and Settings Before you Repair or Reinstall... STEP BY STEP: Using the Transfer Wizard 　 Format and Reinstall 　 Repair or Reinstall 　 Reinstallation of your operating system comes in three different flavours. The first is more of a ‘tweak’ and is called ‘Repair’. This identifies any damaged or missing Windows files in the current installation and replaces them. All of your other programs and files should remain untouched, however you need to perform a backup just in case. This option doesn’t really clean anything out although it does ensure that your Windows files are working correctly. Your next choice is an ‘over the top’ installation. This dispenses with the need for formatting your hard drive. Just pop your Windows XP CD into the drive, click on Install Windows XP and a new installation will be copied over your existing one. This process won’t format your hard drive but your existing Windows settings, preferences and user configurations may be lost. Finally, the definitive clean up and clear out option is to format your drive first and then reinstall Windows XP on a clean hard drive. If you intend to reinstall Windows XP from the upgrade disc you’ll need the CD of your previous operating system to hand as well because it will be requested as you proceed. To begin the reinstallation process, you’ll need to format your hard drive first. You can do this by booting your PC from the Windows XP CD. It may be necessary to adjust the boot sequence settings in your BIOS so that it looks at your CD drive first of all. When the blue screen appears choose R for Recovery which will eventually take you to the command prompt. At the prompt type format c: and press Enter. This then formats you current Windows drive, erasing all the data. When the format has finished, restart your PC again leaving the disc in the drive so you can boot from it and then start to reinstall Windows XP. 　 　 STEP BY STEP: Using repair in Windows XP 　 1 BOOT FROM CD To access Repair you’ll need to boot from the Windows XP installation CD. Your PC may not be set up to do this, so enter the BIOS or ‘Setup’ when your PC boots. Try pressing the Delete Key or F2. Change the boot sequence so your CD drive is the first device. 　 2 REPAIR NOT RECOVERY When the PC boots up you’ll see a blue screen. Don’t press R for Recovery, instead hit the Enter key to go into Setup. The licence agreement will appear and after agreeing to this press R for Repair. Don’t press Esc as this will perform an ‘over the top installation’. 　 3 REPAIR PROCESS Windows XP will start to Repair the installation. Make sure that you’ve got your documentation to hand as you’ll be asked to enter the serial number again. The whole repair process takes about 30 to 45 minutes. Your input is only needed if there’s a problem. 　 　 　 BackUp your Files and Settings 　 Whichever method of reinstallation you decide to use, always take the precaution of making a back-up first. Existing program files should be preserved if you go for a Recovery or ‘over the top’ installation but having a spare copy of important files in case things do go awry won’t do any harm. If, however, you decide to opt for the full format and reinstall option, then you are definitely going to lose everything so you’ll need to back up your important data along with any settings that you may want to preserve. Fortunately, Windows XP comes with its own tool for doing this, the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. You’ll find it under System Tools on the Accessories menu and you can use it to back up your data to a hard drive or some type of removable media, so even if things go wrong, you’ve still got all your data. 　 　 Before you Repair or Reinstall... 　 If you’re considering repairing or reinstalling, and your PC came with Windows XP pre-installed, then you need to be aware of some of the problems that can occur. After reinstalling or repairing Windows XP, data stored in the All users folder can sometimes disappear. For those wishing to reinstall, the problem can be solved when you run Setup from the Windows XP CD. Rather than going straight ahead with the installation click ‘Yes, download the updated Setup files (Recommended)’. Those wishing to Repair will need to download the update fix manually from support.microsoft.com. For more information take a look at the Knowledge Base article Q312369 ‘You May Lose Data or Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP’. 　 　 STEP BY STEP: Using the Transfer Wizard 　 1 GETTING STARTED Launch the Files and Settings Wizard, select Old computer and then click on Next. Here you’ll need to decide the method for transferring your data. Because we’re going to be using the same PC, your best bet is to use something like a CD-R or a safe partition on your hard drive. 　 2 FILES AND SETTINGS Having selected where you would like the settings to go, you need to choose what has to be transferred over. You’ll see that ‘Both files and settings’ is the default – there’s no need to change this. Check the box at the bottom and click on Next to add your own files and settings. 　 3 ADDING FILES AND FOLDERS The list of file types that are already included in the wizard is pretty comprehensive but it’s not difficult to add some of your own if you need to. Adding more directories and their contents is straightforward enough too just click on Add Folder and Add File. 　 NoClone Author Reasonable Software House    Report

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