Windows has been slow? Windows loading time takes three (or more) minutes, Opening three or more programs makes your
PC to behave like turtle, or worse, stretching the leg?
I think it is time to remove and reinstall Windows from scratch.
In this guide, then we’ll see all the steps that have to do before you reinstall your operating system. It is not simply a “crushing”, but will remove, actually, everything that is on our PC, to return as a Clean slate.
The big advantage? That our PC will be as new. Goodbye to loading delays.
I do not think that this process take long, but it also depends on how much information we have stored, and how much of this information we want to rescue.
Contents
Step 1: Assess What we’re going to keep and what we are removing
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Over time, it’s likely that we have accumulated programs that we will no longer use, but surely there will be essential ones, with which we can not live. The best thing is to make a list of programs that we have to install after reinstalling Windows.
So open Start / Control Panel / Add and Remove programs, and give it a look at the list of applications.
Once we had listed our applications, make sure that we have (to think) two things: software’s CD (if it is not possible to download from the Web) and serial number.
*Software”s CD is not as important today, because most applications have more updated versions on the Web. However ,it is not the case with things like Microsoft Office or Adobe programs,which we would have got from buying pc
*As for the serial numbers, check whether you have keys(serial numbers)for your software’s in your mail or on the product boxes. If you do not find them, download this program Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder, a program that is in charge of looking at registry files to find the serial numbers (essential if we lost, for example serial number of Windows)
Step 2: Make a backup for your documents
Nothing worse, like losing our information in the midst of a relocation. I have lost my music library (10 GB) ,which i had kept in My Music .
That is why since then, I make regular backups of info every week or month , both online and on a hard drive (and DVDs).So re-check all your essential data where ever it is.
If you do not normally do regular backups, then it is better time to do! . So if you have a DVD burner, give a look at your documents folder (My Documents) or wherever your keep files. Surely you will have other folders with vital information, or music or videos which are to be stored( saved).
If you have larger files (heavy data), it is best to pass it on to a separate hard drive (external hard disk) or to number of DVDs ( of course, make sure that each DVD can be read,). However, I recommend the option of an external hard drive, because it is much simpler and quicker.
The thing is to check and re-verify that we are not missing anything. I come back to this issue, because there is nothing worse than losing information that we knew we had to copy, but by an oversight, we forgot.
On the other hand I prefer to use an online backup the more simple to use, I like Mozy. However, the free version only store 2 GB’s (although it will be enough for most document’s)
Step 2B: Make a backup of the data within applications
This is a step which, I admit, I have forgotten to do several times and it is terrible. Who would like, for example losing all Firefox bookmarks? Or that years and years of mail in Outlook?
With documents such as Word, or even as the graphics in Photoshop, this is not a very serious problem, but one often forgets that the data are within some programs.
For this, we will have to see what applications they need it.
* Firefox? Give a look at these addons
* Outlook?. Then we have to go to the Account Options within the program, and seek “Data Files.” Here, you will see the directory where it is housed in the PST file in Outlook, which basically contains all data. I recommend you get a look at this tutorial
And well depending on the programs, we will have to verify what data we need. .
Each time when I reinstall Windows or another operating system, I know that my favorites have been left intact because they usually stand in the delicious, and my mail? also online (IMAP), via Gmail. And I learned my lesson, after losing many e-mails with Outlook, after a reinstall
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Step 3: Verify that we have all the necessary drivers
The drivers are not as problematic as the software, as most drivers are already available on the web (in addition to being more current than those of CDs). Still, it’s annoying when Windows can not find the driver of something we have in our PC, and we have neither the slightest idea of what can be.
Therefore worth taking a look at our list of devices, and make sure we have the drivers (or we can get them, at least) of each of them.
The alternative? Use this software DriverMax. This small software scans your computer for drivers, and then makes a backup of the same.Just end up reinstalling Windows, install DriverMax again, we tell you restore the drivers and go! Frankly, I have been saved from number of headaches.
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Conclusion
Follow Above steps,then we will have our PC almost ready to begin with the re-installation of Windows,but always make sure to check two or three times that we are missing anything, because once you lose a file, it will be impossible to recover.This whole process would be much simpler if we had a regular backup of our information.
If you believe I have missed a step, or have a better method, please do not hesitate to leave a comment, to modify the entry as soon as possible.