Help! Heavy Computer Question!

[Dougie Johnson]

Ok, here's the problem...
My wife bought a used computer tower from her place of employment.
She had to remove the existing Network Card. She was able to get the info on how to do this from her job, that's done.
Now the question is this:
How do we take all the existing network files, etc..
out of this PC so we can use it for home use?
In other words, trying to change the innerds of this thing from a network PC to a regular home-use PC.
Thanks for any brainiacs that respond to this!
DJ

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Um...this is typically not a problem. There is really no difference between a "network PC" and a "home PC". When you remove the network card, windows will also uninstall or at least disable the network protocols and services it was using.

BTW, it's a good idea to remove devices from the windows control panel before physically removing them. But it's not really necessary.

After that, just uninstall all of the network software that might have been installed.

This might actually be a good time to reinstall windows and start with a fresh machine.

Slackmaster 2000

 

[Jon X]

I second that reinstall windows from scratch idea. Who knows what junk is on there that you don't really need and could be slowing it down. Just make sure you have all the necessary drivers already or at least can download them.

 

[dachay2tnr]

I'll third those suggestions - reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows and any application programs you use. This will give you a clean registry and hard drive to start with, and the computer will operate better.

If it's an old computer with some hardware that isn't "plug and play", you will need to have the drivers available as previously mentioned.

 

[RWhite]

No question about it - get yourself a Windows CD (whatever flavor you want) and a boot floppy, then erase the thing and start over. And yes you may find the NIC (network card) handy.

Where I work, when we throw out a PC it is generally because it is so old/slow/buggy that it is useless. So don't get your hopes up too much.

 

[SLP]

Start disk

If you dont have a boot disc, go to the control panel then to add/remove programs icon located inside the "control panel" icon. Here you will find the start disk tab. Insert a floppy and the OS will create a boot disc for you. I do stress that you are well aware which drivers you will need to get up and running again. I was given a HP 133 from a friend that was full of unwanted crap on the HD. I wiped the system and the system runs at least 50% faster. Finding the soundcard drivers was the hardest part, I ended up downloading a set off the net for free, after days of seaching and installing/uninstalling. To be extra careful, do a search on the net for "how to reformat a hardrive", you will find a ton of sites that will walk you through the entire process. I was successful my first try...

Good Luck...