******* thing is so slow I cant stand it anymore.



I see no other choice but to wipe this bitch out.



any tips for a novice? do I do a start up disk or is there some other way of doing things?

 

You can try running anti-spyware programs like "Spybot search and destroy" or "Adaware". Just be sure to download them from reputable sites, or you could be doing more harm than good.



Also, there's a program called "hijack this" that can find a lot of junkware, but its not targeted to the novice user.



A clean windows install will probably solve most of your problems, but it's a pain in the **** if you have to back up a lot of stuff.

 

I got a portable hard drive I use for my computers back ups, there is 4 computers on that thing.



now its speedy again, like it knows time is up

 

give it to me rob.... i'll fix it up for you

 

like jersey is around the corner, I think I would rather buy a new one then drive there

 

Does defragging actually do anything? People would always throw that term around (and by "people" I mean people who strike as knowing as much about computers as they do about quantum physics) like it'll "cure what ails ya".

 

defrag works pretty good when the data on your harddrive is fragmented.



but some people swear defrag is a cure, even when the message pops up "your drive is 5% fragmented. you do not need to defragment at this time. do you wish to defrag anyways?"



DUHHH YEA!







Heres what works for me:



1. locate all software you actually use on cd, which should be somewhere, including product keys.

2. burn cd with files - pictures, letters, copies of emails, worksheets. usually fits on one cd, don't let it scare you. unless youve built up tons of data over the last x years, then it might be on 3 or 4 cds.

3. locate your operating system cd, pop it in drive, reboot machine

4. yes, you want to boot from the cd. yes you want to install a copy of this operating system.

5. unpartition your hard drive, [u]repartition[/i] it doing a full format for a specific file system, wait for it to finish.

6. install os, install your software you actually use, copy your backup files cd into a new directory

7. check for any hardware conflicts, and download drivers + install from internet

8. defrag



every time i had to do this, after i was done the machine was twice as fast if not faster.



i dont have cool toys like rob's external harddrive though, that would make things easier.



that would have been handy for me when i was trying to clone a dead harddrive

 

 

quicker solution, buy a mac.



kevin.

 

and some cheese....