Reformatting my computer tonight

[bigred]

The thing is slow and needs some cleansing, help me remember what I should do for a checklist to make sure I don't fuck anything up:

List:

-Windows XP cd with serial #
-Backup documents, music, movies
-No need to backup games, don't even play them anymore
-Going to buy HEM so no need for PT and PAHUD backup
-Updated drivers on external HD for easy updates

Anything else I'm missing?

[Jack Sawyer]

winrar or Jzip
firefox + extensions (like keyscrambler FF plugin)
firewall + antivirus (comodo makes good ones)
antimalware stuff

codecs (cccp is a good one)
vlc video player or equivalent

other apps you will install such as office, chandler etc, on your external drive
update everything that needs updating

after reinstalling, make a backup image with like norton ghost or something for easy future reinstalls

[XTR1000]

write down all the pw´s saved in your browser

[Jack Sawyer]

yup, roboform or keepas is essential

[bigred]

Next question:

Should I install vista or go with XP again? I can get a copy of either with a legit key.

All those vista haters, I'm not afraid of a little change if it's worth it. My laptop is a dell XPS 1.9 ghz mobile intel, 1gb memory, etc so I should be ok with performance.

[sarbox68]

Next question:

Should I install vista or go with XP again? I can get a copy of either with a legit key.

All those vista haters, I'm not afraid of a little change if it's worth it. My laptop is a dell XPS 1.9 ghz mobile intel, 1gb memory, etc so I should be ok with performance.

Not a Vista hater, but see no compelling reason to use it. XP is stable as hell (well, relatively so for an MS product...) and down right resource efficient compared to Vista. Unless you really are looking for the extensions to the media platform, my vote is stick w/ XP.

BTW... just finished building my latest PC this weekend so kinda in the same boat with reinstalling sh!t from scratch. Dropped XP Pro back on the b!tch and running goot. GL!

[Jack Sawyer]

I recommend getting at least 2Gb for Vista to work optimally.

Obv I recommend Vista duuh

[FriskyPirate]

vista would be fine but I agree...you are light in the ram department.

[jyms]

If you have wireless router, make sure you have your wireless adapter installer files on disk. Nothing works if you can't hook up to the net. I had this problem because my XP copy was from gateway and the drivers were minimal on the CD and the wireless was not part of the gateway computer when I bought it. Had to download onto a laptop and burn to disk. Couldn't even update my anti virus without it.

[WildBobAA]

Backup all your horse porn.

[bigred]

Backup all your horse porn.

Thanks Bob. How's your sister doing? I'm glad she added me on facebook.

[alex18]

Backup all your horse porn.

hahaha

[bigred]

Backup all your horse porn.

hahaha

alex17 was much cooler

[animal_chin]

Save your drivers to a cd or flash drive if your computer did not come with a disk full of drivers.

[triumphant cracker]

Next question:

Should I install vista or go with XP again? I can get a copy of either with a legit key.

All those vista haters, I'm not afraid of a little change if it's worth it. My laptop is a dell XPS 1.9 ghz mobile intel, 1gb memory, etc so I should be ok with performance.

i have no problems with vista...just dont get basic...

[swiggidy]

split your harddrive

about 1/3 for the main partition, 2/3 for the secondary. Then you can put all your music/porn/poker data/copies of install CDs/copies of drivers/etc there and you don't have to back them up if you re-install in the future.

[Warpe]

What's your security software? If you reinstall XP make sure you download and install Windows Defender from the MS site (it's included with Vista but has to be added to XP). Dunno what you've got for firewall and anti-virus but I just happily dumped Zone Alarm Security Suite and replaced it with COMODO (firewall and anti-virus) plus Spybot Search and Destroy, on top of Defender. All are free.

[bigred]

I have a TB external HD boys, no need for cd backups or partitions.

[swiggidy]

If you are storing data on your PC I disagree.

[bigred]

If you are storing data on your PC I disagree.

wai?

[oskar]

Install anti-virus and anti-bot software.
Avast is good. I recently removed spybot because it kept running at startup and couldn't be disabled, but I don't know a good alternative yet.

+1 on making a complete drive image after reinstall.

[Jack Sawyer]

if you install Comodo, be sure to put the Defense+ to "training mode" settings, and run it like that for at least a week of normal usage. If you install vista, you can make multiple (incremental) backups of your install at various stages using the built in backup utility in the control panel. After you spend time on "training" defense+ by using your PC normally, you can enable "Clean PC" mode and you will be like Fort fucking Knox.

[swiggidy]

If you are storing data on your PC I disagree.

wai?

because you still have to back it up by copying it to your drive. A partition just removes one potential mishap (I still miss stuff when I reformat). If you do a system backup onto your removable drive every couple days or something then I guess this wouldn't be an issue.