I've been planninng on reformatting this computer for awhile now. It's got a bunch of problems as well as 2 windows installations, one of which is broken. I've never done it before but I really don't think I'll have any problems with doing it.
Here are some of the things I've done to prepare, all saved to an external hard drive:
-copied my documents to external
-copied installers for most downloaded programs
-made a list of programs i have and use
-copied the savegames files for my games
-made a list of my firefox bookmarks
Stuff to make sure I do when I get Windows XP Home installed:
-install drivers
-set up all virus software before connecting to the internet
-install programs
-"disable IE"
-install Firefox
-update all software
Am I missing anything? Any tips? And how long can I expect this to take?
Make sure you have a full XP install instead of the upgrade only. If you have the upgrade you will have to put windows 98/ME on your computer first. The XP upgrade will not work with 2000.
BigMusky wrote:Make sure you have a full XP install instead of the upgrade only. If you have the upgrade you will have to put windows 98/ME on your computer first. The XP upgrade will not work with 2000.
Yeah, I do. It's a pretty new computer and came with XP Home. I've reinstalled Windows before on here. Thanks
Your last step is crucial. Make sure to install Windows Updates ASAP, basically right when you plug in the network cable after reinstalling (unplug it during installation until you're ready to update). I have heard some crazy stories about how quickly an unpatched computer can get viruses simply through the Net.
Also, make sure the XP Firewall is turned on unless you have a 3rd party Firewall.
slomo007 wrote:Your last step is crucial. Make sure to install Windows Updates ASAP, basically right when you plug in the network cable after reinstalling (unplug it during installation until you're ready to update). I have heard some crazy stories about how quickly an unpatched computer can get viruses simply through the Net.
Also, make sure the XP Firewall is turned on unless you have a 3rd party Firewall.
Firewall's are for scardy cats who don't know how to not accept anything...
They slow down your computer..I refuse to install a firewall
slomo007 wrote:Your last step is crucial. Make sure to install Windows Updates ASAP, basically right when you plug in the network cable after reinstalling (unplug it during installation until you're ready to update). I have heard some crazy stories about how quickly an unpatched computer can get viruses simply through the Net.
Also, make sure the XP Firewall is turned on unless you have a 3rd party Firewall.
Firewall's are for scardy cats who don't know how to not accept anything...
They slow down your computer..I refuse to install a firewall
I don't use a 3rd party one either...but I do use the built in Windows one. It's really dumb not to...I can't even tell it's running. I think anything by McAfee/Norton slows down my computer too much to use it.
1) Make a list of the porgrams you've downloaded then just download them again if you've got a decent connection. That way you've got the latest updates and it's a clean install. 2) You can just save your Firefox profile if you've got tons of bookmarks and settings saved (like I do ). Clear your cache and history then find the following folder: C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles where XXX is your user name in Windows and copy the profile folder that you use.
As for a firewall I just use ZoneAlarm (free version) and it seems to work alright. And as for antivirus I use Norton and have had pretty good luck with it.
here is a very nice guide for setting up xp after reinstalling with a large number of prgrams that help to tweak and optimize xp. it also has a lot of utilities in it as well.
you will need adobe acrobat reader to view the file though. as for a firewall i use a router. hardware firewalls are about the most dependable ive ever used. and i use avg antivirus (which is free as well.)
slomo007 wrote:Your last step is crucial. Make sure to install Windows Updates ASAP, basically right when you plug in the network cable after reinstalling (unplug it during installation until you're ready to update). I have heard some crazy stories about how quickly an unpatched computer can get viruses simply through the Net.
Also, make sure the XP Firewall is turned on unless you have a 3rd party Firewall.
Firewall's are for scardy cats who don't know how to not accept anything...
They slow down your computer..I refuse to install a firewall
I disagree. I installed ZA's free version and I still have a great speed.
slomo007 wrote:Your last step is crucial. Make sure to install Windows Updates ASAP, basically right when you plug in the network cable after reinstalling (unplug it during installation until you're ready to update). I have heard some crazy stories about how quickly an unpatched computer can get viruses simply through the Net.
Also, make sure the XP Firewall is turned on unless you have a 3rd party Firewall.
Firewall's are for scardy cats who don't know how to not accept anything...
They slow down your computer..I refuse to install a firewall
I disagree. I installed ZA's free version and I still have a great speed.
I agree with Lo. I've got a different firewall, but it doesn't slow down the computer at all. Definitely beats the heck out of getting slammed by a virus or having something auto install on my machine.
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by blankman » Fri May 20, 2005 12:42 pm 
). Clear your cache and history then find the following folder: 
