Reformatting ye olde PC?

Hey all,


Not the most knowledgeable with PCs, so i have a quick question before i go ahead and ruin everything.


I bought MY PC last year. It's a HP and its got Vista. To the best of my knowledge, i never needed to install vista or anything like that. it was all just up and running and ready to go. I want to reformat the whole PC so it'll be back to the way it was the day i got it, however, i've heard that reformatting it will remove/delete Vista, and i'll have to re-install it (or something to that effect?).


As i say, not the best with computers, so i don't know how this kinda stuff works. However, when i bought my PC, to the best of my recollection, i didn't get a disc (or anything at all) for vista. As i say, it was already on it.


Would it be safe to reformat it? (I've moved all my Videos/Pictures/Music/Documents to an external hard drive for the time being, as i know they will be deleted with a reformat)



There's some generic info on my PC below, but its not really relevant i don't think. Just something i thought i'd add incase anyone is bored, and may have a better idea than reformatting.


Thanks to anyone able to help me out here. I'm gonna go and dig up my PC's box and see if there is anything in it worthwhile.

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Lately my PC has been running quite slow. It's just about a year old now, has always been running fine, and i've never had a problem. Over the last few weeks though, programs have been "Not Responding" and when i click to play a song on Media Player it takes about 10 seconds just to start (when i first got it it would be practically instantly).

I assumed some of this may be because my hard drive was pretty much full. So i bought an external drive and removed 100GB of stuff from my PC (PCs hard drive is 500GB). Not much change. I turned the computer on yesterday and the "Microsoft Corporation" loading screen was there for a shocking amount of time (90 seconds at least. Its usually there for less than 10 seconds).


I have AVG and it doesn't find anything that could be killing my PC from the inside. I have another virus scanner thing (cant remember the name off hand) that i run every couple of weeks to see if it finds anything AVG missed, and my PC seems pretty clean.

ethernet

Things do slow down over time and reinstalling really does give a machine new life.

Indeed, reformatting will erase your drive. Back up all files to an external drive first. You'll need CDs for Microsoft Office and other programs if needed.

Some manufacturers don't provide a CD or DVD for reinstalling anymore. Instead, you either:

• have to use a program (pre-installed) to burn the CD/DVD you would need to reinstall
• or you might be able to reinstall by choosing the option for system recovery when you boot the machine: look for a prompt to press F1, Delete and so on when you turn it on

With everything backed up, boot off the CD/DVD or as above and let Windows erase your disk, copy the files it needs and you put in any other information needed. You'll often have to install drivers after this to get your graphics card, network card, sound card and other devices working. These should be on the manufacturer's website.

charlesD

I would definitely check and see if you have a recovery partition on the computer. Most newer ones do, so if you bought it with vista, there is a better than average chance that you have a recovery partition.

Basically, and this is part of ethernet's second bullet point, you would simply have to restart the computer and press a key before windows boots. I think for HP's it is F10. This will reinstall windows, so you end up with a factory fresh computer.

Using the recovery partition reinstalls windows quickly and easily, but if you reformat windows using a disc, you risk deleting or damaging the disk. I would check the HP page or google your model and see if it has a recovery partition.

Amalgam

To follow on with what CharlesD has said. There should be a second partition on your Hard Drive, usually visible, that will have a recovery image.

I have a HP laptop with Vista and everything recovery wise is done by pressing F11, as stated by the bios when switching it on. F10 is to enter SETUP.

There should be a HP utility within Vista that offers to burn the recovery image out to DVD, usually it takes 3 DVD's.

As i say, I'm not the best with computers. I don't really know what a "recovery partition" is. Every few days/weeks (not fully sure) i'll get a message pop-up on my screen asking me to make a recovery disk or something along those lines. I never bothered to do it though.


I don't know if this is relevant or not, but when i go into My Computer, this is there:





and within that:





And inside RECOVERY:







But once I'm in there, i've no idea what to do (or if i should even be in there).


I checked my PC's original box and there's nothing in it. Does anyone know of a website that'll talk me through this in steps. Something like "how to reformat for idiots" (Unless someone fancies doing it themselves, of course).


I didn't know i'd need to re-install all my drivers for the graphics card, etc. That's gonna be a pain in the ass (or at least it was the first time around).


Sorry if i'm being a bit of an ass here. I just don't want to think i understand something, only to realise i did something wrong, and my PC is ****ed, or i've to pay for vista or something. (I don't have microsoft office by the way. I use that free similar version. Open Office i think its called. Every program on my PC is essentially downloaded from the net, and i'll make a list of all the ones i really need for after the reformat, and download them again).

Amalgam

Let me state the obvious first.. (apologies for the CAPS)

PLEASE BACK UP YOUR PERSONAL DATA TO AN EXTERNAL SOURCE (HARD DRIVE - USB THUMB DRIVE ETC) BEFORE YOU RESTORE YOUR LAPTOP

You're not being an ass at all. As your laptop is starting up, black screen, the text will be at the bottom, listing your Function (F8 F9 F10 F11 keys etc) options. One of those options should be a 'Recovery' option, which is automatic, you just have to press one key, usually F11, to start the process. This will overwrite your C: partition with a 'Factory' image from the partition. You press the relevant Key at the same time as it prompts you on screen, as the laptop is starting up, before Windows starts.

The above will restore your laptop as purchased, taken from the packaging on the 1st. day of use. The process prompts you at the start and towards the end. You have no other involvement apart from watching a progress bar make its way across the screen.

Everything is on the external hard drive.

Thanks for putting it in simple wording. Well... eyes down for a full house.

Here goes...

Amalgam

I forgot to mention, there is no need to validate Vista after restoring the laptop using the recovery image, it has been 'pre validated' by HP when the restore image was put together. The only time you'll need to use the OEM Serial on the sticker under your laptop is if you restore using an OEM install disk. The situation should not pop up otherwise.

Amalgam

Good luck.

ethernet

And I avoided jargon in my explanation

Be sure to run Windows update (go to http://update.microsoft.com in Internet Explorer) straight afterwards. Don't want any vulnerabilities that could mess up your machine again.

Well I reformatted today. Wa gonna do it last night, but was too tired.

Doesn't seem like i need to do anything driver related. Audio/Video seems fine. A Norton Internet Security 30 day trial thing comes up, but i deleted it and got AVG again. Currently in the process of re-downloading all the programs i used, and bookmarking all my sites again. Shouldn't take much longer. Have yet to play a proper video/song though. Only used youtube so far. Also have to set up the TV as the second monitor again, but so far so good. Haven't encountered any real problems.

AVG is giving me a "Database is out of date" message for the virus scanner, but i think it did that the last time i got it, too, and it began working properly the following day when it automatically updates.


Ethernet, i'll definitely check out the updater. Thanks again to everyone for their help with this. I really do appreciate it. Thanks so much

ethernet

Good work! It's a great way to test one's patience :pac:

AVG's free update servers are often tied up. Keep trying and it will eventually update.

Forgot to mention it but you only need to hunt down drivers if you installed Windows from scratch from the CD/DVD -- you didn't need to as the restore image from the manufacturer has all the drivers it needs, just like the way it came from the factory.

I just have a quick question if anyone can help...


I use a 42" LCD as my second monitor. Everything was all fine and well.

However, when i set the monitor as the 2nd monitor now (after the reformat) despite what resolution i set it to, it refuses to go full screen, and instead, leaves about three inches of border on every side..

Anyone know what could be causing that?



EDIT:


Cheers Ethernet. I tried a few times and AVG is up and running fine now.

OK, I figured out the monitor problem. Had to mess about with the NVIDIA settings. It's all up and running great. Songs are back to playing instantly, the MICROSOFT CORPORATION loading screen is there for a few seconds and generally everything seems to be cleaner and easier to find (i can't believe hoe many unnecessary programs i had before).



Huge thanks again to everyone who helped me out with this.