" Clearing /wiping" an old computer.

Noggle

I have decided to by a new pc and to transfer over my files to it from an existing pc.

I feel the existing pc still has a little to give-- especially as it has quite a bit of memory for a 6 year old.
Is there a way to clear/wipe it and reset it with say office apps, IE explorer and iTunes and make it as near to good as new as possible. My daughter will be grateful:)

chin_grin

Noggle wrote: »

I have decided to by a new pc and to transfer over my files to it from an existing pc.

I feel the existing pc still has a little to give-- especially as it has quite a bit of memory for a 6 year old.
Is there a way to clear/wipe it and reset it with say office apps, IE explorer and iTunes and make it as near to good as new as possible. My daughter will be grateful:)

You could install CCleaner and MyDefrag . Get rid of any programs/files you don't need with ccleaner (has a nice uninstaller and it also cleans up the registry!), and then run mydefrag to optimise start up times and general performance.

sflemings

Noggle wrote: »

I have decided to by a new pc and to transfer over my files to it from an existing pc.

I feel the existing pc still has a little to give-- especially as it has quite a bit of memory for a 6 year old.
Is there a way to clear/wipe it and reset it with say office apps, IE explorer and iTunes and make it as near to good as new as possible. My daughter will be grateful:)

NB: Before doing anything, make sure you have everything you want copied over to your new pc. Also make sure you have all the drivers cds too. This should have come with the old pc. This will set up things like the graphics card, sound card, network card, etc when you re install windows.

Get the Windows cd (or dvd), put it in and restart the machine. If it doesn't automatically boot from the cd or if you don't get an option to "boot from cd" before the windows logo comes on you need to restart it again. This time keep pressing either the F8 or F12 key from the manufacturers logo. I think until you get a 3 item menu. Go with boot from cd and just follow the instructions. You can tell it to format the c drive where the current windows is stored.
Just sit back and relax then, kinda. And if things go pear shaped, you can try it all again since you're ok with wiping the machine anyway!

Once it does finish installing, I would load all the drivers. Then try connecting to the internet. Perform all the windows updates too. Very important. This will take ages though to install all of them.

Then once that's done you can reinstall Office and Itunes. You can get itunes from the web. Office you'll have to install from a disk.

BTW, i'm not taking any responsibility for this.

chin_grin

sflemings wrote: »

NB: Before doing anything, make sure you have everything you want copied over to your new pc. Also make sure you have all the drivers cds too. This should have come with the old pc. This will set up things like the graphics card, sound card, network card, etc when you re install windows.

Get the Windows cd (or dvd), put it in and restart the machine. If it doesn't automatically boot from the cd or if you don't get an option to "boot from cd" before the windows logo comes on you need to restart it again. This time keep pressing either the F8 or F12 key from the manufacturers logo. I think until you get a 3 item menu. Go with boot from cd and just follow the instructions. You can tell it to format the c drive where the current windows is stored.
Just sit back and relax then, kinda. And if things go pear shaped, you can try it all again since you're ok with wiping the machine anyway!

Once it does finish installing, I would load all the drivers. Then try connecting to the internet. Perform all the windows updates too. Very important. This will take ages though to install all of them.

Then once that's done you can reinstall Office and Itunes. You can get itunes from the web. Office you'll have to install from a disk.

BTW, i'm not taking any responsibility for this.

Just wondering why the OP would be better off doing a format than just a little tidying? It's far less hassle to uninstall programs than to overwrite the operating system!

But if you felt better with a format than it is sound advice.

sflemings

chin_grin wrote: »

Just wondering why the OP would be better off doing a format than just a little tidying? It's far less hassle to uninstall programs than to overwrite the operating system!

But if you felt better with a format than it is sound advice.

6 of 1 really I suppose. I'd generally do a reformat. You're guaranteed that any sensitive documents will be wiped and you've a nice clean machine.
But if it's going to remain in the same house, then just uninstall any programs and delete any files you don't need.

Noggle

chin_grin wrote: »

Just wondering why the OP would be better off doing a format than just a little tidying? It's far less hassle to uninstall programs than to overwrite the operating system!

But if you felt better with a format than it is sound advice.

The pc is six years old and is incredibly and frustratingly slow. It snails thru startup and takes at least 3 goes each to connect to internet and outlook express (which I use for email). I’m guessing it is riddled with spyware, adware etc. etc. and no doubt has created myriad electronic cul de sacs. I have tried tiding and defragging no use!
The main reason I'm buying the new pc is the lack of speed and the incredible frustration of waiting and hoping for a connection to the application chosen. Sometimes it can take five or six goes to find iTunes.

I'm not sure I have the original drivers from '04 but I'm sure I can find them on the Internet.
BTW the computer was defragged by a so called "expert" about two years ago which created two partitions giving one choice for win2k and two for win XP I’d love to eliminate that also.

chin_grin

Reformat it is then! Best of luck.

sflemings

Noggle wrote: »

The pc is six years old and is incredibly and frustratingly slow. It snails thru startup and takes at least 3 goes each to connect to internet and outlook express (which I use for email). I’m guessing it is riddled with spyware, adware etc. etc. and no doubt has created myriad electronic cul de sacs. I have tried tiding and defragging no use!
The main reason I'm buying the new pc is the lack of speed and the incredible frustration of waiting and hoping for a connection to the application chosen. Sometimes it can take five or six goes to find iTunes.

I'm not sure I have the original drivers from '04 but I'm sure I can find them on the Internet.
BTW the computer was defragged by a so called "expert" about two years ago which created two partitions giving one choice for win2k and two for win XP I’d love to eliminate that also.

Well if that's the case then a reinstall of the whole system might be the way to go. However though I'd have reservations about you not having the drivers disk. Main reason is that if you can't install the drivers for the network card you might not be able to get on the web easily. You could download them from another pc of course!
As for the partitions, that's really depends on the user. I have 2 partitions on my pc. All non installed items (documents, music, movies, etc) are on one partition and windows and all installed applications is on the main partition, the C drive.

Capt'n Midnight

If it's 6 years old you don't know what is on it

it is well nigh impossible to clean up a windows install , lots of apps leave details in the registry or temporary files or their own config files.

format won't do much unless it's a long format,


safest way is to use dban to wipe the drive, all data gone forever, if you are selling to a third party then this is a must


do a clean install - and if you have all the drivers it might be faster to do this than try to clean up the crud left behind