Reformatting The Computer Hard Drive...

[William33 110]

I have a high end Dell desktop machine that is now over two years old. I know, obsolete...

Anyway, I was thinking that a hard drive reformat may help to reduce the number of running processes, currently at 80. I have had a number of programs installed and uninstalled, to include Mcafee for 2 years and I understand that some of these programs do not completely uninstall. Hence, the notion to start from scratch. I also realize that this will take a few days, given the OS updates over two years.

Thoughts/Comments?

[luckytxn 2,265]

Just make sure that you move any and all programs that you want. Have fun.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Is the computer slower than it was when new? Does it take longer to boot? Do it freeze or crash much?

[William33 110]

Is the computer slower than it was when new? Does it take longer to boot? Do it freeze or crash much?

Yes, yes and no.

It is clearly bogged down with extraneous programs that f'd up my registry though.

[DEDixon 39]

for the first few days after replacing the spark plugs in my car, it seems to run faster too.

yah, go ahead, it will make you feel better about the computer.. do it!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Yes, yes and no.

It is clearly bogged down with extraneous programs that f'd up my registry though.

Then I'd reformat. Do you have a recovery portion or the recovery disks? If you do, then it's just a case of spending many hours of time updating and reinstalling programs etc after the recovery. I have actually done a Windows reinstall on a five year old pc. The updating took a long time.

I'd suggest using Revo Uninstaller to remove any of the bloatware that will be reinstalled. It does a thorough job of removing the bits and pieces from the registry.

[Atencio 43]

Yes definietly reformat it.

Make sure to save everything worth saving.

First thing you do afterward is install all the Microsoft critical updates and continue to update until there is nothing new to add.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

William step 1 get rid of McAffee and download the uninstaller for it as well and run it. McAffee is a resource hog no matter how much processing power you throw at it.

Install Avira free and watch your system performance improve noticeably. You may not even need to reformat.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Also free download and install, then run Advanced System Care to fix up your registry and get rid of stray junk.

[Ban Hammer 13,619]

on the bad side, that means you'll be off of vj for 2 days.

aj, start your engines.

[William33 110]

for the first few days after replacing the spark plugs in my car, it seems to run faster too.

yah, go ahead, it will make you feel better about the computer.. do it!

Right. You obviously have limited computer knowledge.... Thanks though.

William step 1 get rid of McAffee and download the uninstaller for it as well and run it. McAffee is a resource hog no matter how much processing power you throw at it.

Install Avira free and watch your system performance improve noticeably. You may not even need to reformat.

Dude, I recall that we have the same model computer! Are you siding against the reformat?

Yes definietly reformat it.

Make sure to save everything worth saving.

First thing you do afterward is install all the Microsoft critical updates and continue to update until there is nothing new to add.

Copy that and thank you for the advice.

on the bad side, that means you'll be off of vj for 2 days.

aj, start your engines.

My work computer, Netbook and My wife's computer will figure prominently here!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Reformat, get rid of the junk you don't want, install your programs and get it set the way want and use disk cloning software to make a mirror image of your hard drive to an external drive, programs and all. You can then recover your system again in the future in a very short period of time.

[William33 110]

Reformat, get rid of the junk you don't want, install your programs and get it set the way want and use disk cloning software to make a mirror image of your hard drive to an external drive, programs and all. You can then recover your system again in the future in a very short period of time.

Would it really make sense to copy the existing drive?

I have an Iomega external drive (500GB), loaded with the photos, Office documents, website favorites, music and so forth. The other garbage is, well garbage.....

I use AVG for security... Seems to work quite well.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Look at your processes, and see what is using up your CPU time. For instance, I had SetPoint by Logitech loaded, thinking I needed that to use my Laser Mouse. That on occasion, started slowing down the system, using up to 97% of the CPU time. I uninstalled that and guess what? The OS drivers handle the mouse better than the OEM ones. I also use PC Tools Registry Mechanic, and that also helps to keep the system tuned up. I thought about wiping and reloading the OS a few times, but it such a pain to tweak the computer back to a usable state.

[William33 110]

Look at your processes, and see what is using up your CPU time. For instance, I had SetPoint by Logitech loaded, thinking I needed that to use my Laser Mouse. That on occasion, started slowing down the system, using up to 97% of the CPU time. I uninstalled that and guess what? The OS drivers handle the mouse better than the OEM ones. I also use PC Tools Registry Mechanic, and that also helps to keep the system tuned up. I thought about wiping and reloading the OS a few times, but it such a pain to tweak the computer back to a usable state.

Thank you for that. How much does the registry mechanic cost and does it really correct all issues?