My virus checker runs out this week, so I thought it would be a good time to do a reinstall on my PC. All mt music and photos are stored on a nas. I have the Vista install discs which came with the computer. Th only additional software on the pc is things like i-tune and Photoshop Elements. I also have a back up partition. Can I just format the disc and start from scratch or is there some form of procedure I should follow.
Windows reinstall-how do I do it?
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kena
Well-known member
Not sure why you'd want to reinstall because your AV is due to expire but If you have a copy of full install disk and license key, then yes, bear in mind additional drivers if you have added any new hardware to the system and if your partitioned disk is only one physical disk make sure you don't format the whole disk.
Do you think your PC is running really slow? , would a cleanup/defrag not suffice or just renew your AV or replace it , Microsft secirty essestials is free and pretty good and you could run Comodo (Free Firewall) for additional protection.
Do you think your PC is running really slow? , would a cleanup/defrag not suffice or just renew your AV or replace it , Microsft secirty essestials is free and pretty good and you could run Comodo (Free Firewall) for additional protection.
Making backups is not enough. You need to check that you can read those backups from your NAS / second partition using another machine incase your main machine should ever fail. I would check this before you wipe and reinstall your main machine.
I do not know what you are using to backup, but if it is encrypted and uses a generated key from your original windows install, if you do a completely new install, that key my be lost, as the reinstall may make a new key in its place.
Still I think doing a complete reinstall every so often is not a bad thing to do, so long as you've made sure you can get to your backed upped data.
-N-
I do not know what you are using to backup, but if it is encrypted and uses a generated key from your original windows install, if you do a completely new install, that key my be lost, as the reinstall may make a new key in its place.
Still I think doing a complete reinstall every so often is not a bad thing to do, so long as you've made sure you can get to your backed upped data.
-N-
The pc does appear to be running a lot slower and takes longer to start up. I have not added much in the way of software. Only have i-Tunes, Photoshop elements, cc cleaner, Media Monkey, Videora and handbrake. I also have the driver for my wireless mouse and the software for my ReadyNAS Duo. The av I'm using is Kaspersky. One of my other reasons for wanting to do a reinstall is that I got a spam e-mail sent to my yahoo spam box with my e-mail address as the sender. Kaspersky has found nothing even on a deep scan. Another thing all my data is also stored on a external hdd which I had before the nas.
I always rip/copy photos to the external hdd then copy to the nas.
I always rip/copy photos to the external hdd then copy to the nas.
nads
Well-known member
NSYGrinner:One of my other reasons for wanting to do a reinstall is that I got a spam e-mail sent to my yahoo spam box with my e-mail address as the sender.
That is nothing to do with your set up.
and nothing to do with you. Other than you may have left your Mail addy open to view on any forum or web site and it has been "harvested" prepare for more spam.
That is nothing to do with your set up.
and nothing to do with you. Other than you may have left your Mail addy open to view on any forum or web site and it has been "harvested" prepare for more spam.
firstly right click on taskbar at bottom and start task manager and click on processor's tab and see how many you have running, any more than 50 and it may end up slowing down.
to sort this click on start menu and in the "run command box" type msconfig check the selective startup box then goto to services/startup and uncheck the services you do not require at start up, before you do this click the "hide all microsoft" as these are required for running yourpc. If you are unsure of what each process is just google it. After you have done restart PC, when it reboots check the "do not show this notification again"
How much ram do you have???? 2GB bare min for vista
Failing all this if you have to reinstall operating system, get Windows 7, vista is very poor in my opinion.
to sort this click on start menu and in the "run command box" type msconfig check the selective startup box then goto to services/startup and uncheck the services you do not require at start up, before you do this click the "hide all microsoft" as these are required for running yourpc. If you are unsure of what each process is just google it. After you have done restart PC, when it reboots check the "do not show this notification again"
How much ram do you have???? 2GB bare min for vista
Failing all this if you have to reinstall operating system, get Windows 7, vista is very poor in my opinion.
Overdose
Well-known member
[*]Ensure that your data is securely backed up[*]Ensure that you have the 'bare' Vista installation disc and key.[*]Download 'DBAN' (a hard drive file deletion tool)[*]Run DBAN[*]Clean install Vista onto your wiped hard drive[*]Update Vista and install anti-virus/malware software (preferably free lightweight programs)[*]One clean install complete.You could also at this point, try a Linux OS. It can be intalled side by side with Vista and is free, safer regarding viruses and malware, easier to install than Windows and less resource heavy. I use Ubuntu and rarely use my XP system. I completely junked Vista.
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