I need some help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carter
  • Start date Start date
Carter

Carter

Total gear slut
my computer took a crap on me and I need to reformat and reload windows, im good with computers but I want to make sure I do it right the first time. what do I have to do? im worried about getting all of the drivers loaded so it will boot,

Thanks for any input.
 
Carter said:
my computer took a crap on me and I need to reformat and reload windows, im good with computers but I want to make sure I do it right the first time. what do I have to do? im worried about getting all of the drivers loaded so it will boot,

Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...
Windows will reload the drivers automatically - assuming there are versions available in Windows. For some hardware, you might have to supply the drivers (they would have come on a disc with the hardware).

However, there should be sufficient drivers available in Windows to at least boot - although they might not be the best ones available. After you've got it up and running you can supply the missing drivers, or update to more current ones.

For example, if you have a Delta soundcard, Windows will probably not have drivers for it. This, however, will not prevent it from booting. So after you first reinstall Windows, you won't have any sound. However, once up and running, go into Windows Control Panel and launch System > Hardware > Device Manager. There should be exclamation points next to anything that is not working (i.e., missing a driver). You can then click on that item(s) and install the drivers.

Resintalling Windows is a fairly simple task. The biggest pain is that it reverts back to the original Windows drivers, so you lose any updates you may have installed. Also, all your browser settings (bookmarks) and windows tweaks will be gone as well.

The good news, however, is that your computer will probably run better once you get everything back to normal. The freakin' registry always manages to get pretty bloated after using it awhile.
 
Thanks,

But how do I go about refomatting the drive, I would like to clean everything up!
 
Carter said:
Thanks,

But how do I go about refomatting the drive, I would like to clean everything up!
Click to expand...

Re-install windows. Configure your compuiter to boot from CDROM first (configurable through your bios). Put the Windows CD in the CDROM drive, and do a fresh install. One of the options that will be presented to you when selcting the partition to install to will be whether to reformaty the drive. Say yes.

That's all there is.
 
that's it, but choose to format the partition as ntfs, not ntfs quick. make sure you have your windows product key on hand too.
 
You may also want to consider repartioning the drive (it is an option). Dont do this if its already partitioned
 
One quick word of advice before you reformat. Physically unplug ALL other hard drives before you reformat your current drive. This way there is no chance that you somehow accidentally reformat your audio drive by mistake.

Also, reformatting will force you to repartition anyhow:)
 
xstatic said:
One quick word of advice before you reformat. Physically unplug ALL other hard drives before you reformat your current drive. This way there is no chance that you somehow accidentally reformat your audio drive by mistake.

Also, reformatting will force you to repartition anyhow:)
Click to expand...


Oh yeah I took everything out of the puter (to get it nice and clean) then I just put my app drive, video card, and one optical drive back in to do the reformat and the reload of windows and it worked out ok! will be reinstalling other drives, controller card, soundcards and software and drivers today!

Thanks for the help! I repped every single person that replied to this thread ;)
 
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