Will re-installing my XP operating system cleanup registry problems and speed up the system? Must I reformat?

Answer 1

you have two options on a reinstall normally one that wipes out the current information and completely formats and reinstalls and one that only reinstalles the windows portion. leaves the "My Documents" and other data files alone. You will have to reinstall any software that didn't come with the computer.

a reinstall will clear the registry and make the computer just like new.

Answer 2

No. You don't have to reformat.

To make your computer work faster you should do all of these steps:

Install these free scanners or use an equivalent program if you have one.

*Avast (Virus Scanner)
Spybot S&D (spyware remover)
Adaware (spyware remover)
CCleaner (cleans registry and internet files)

Go into safe mode by pressing F8 during the boot process. select safe mode without networking.

Run spyware scanners.
Run the virus scanner.
Run CCleaner to clean internet files and registry

Reboot your computer into normal mode.

Note: only have 1 virus scanner installed on your machine at one time otherwise this hurts your system performance.
* Avast will want a boot time scan of your computer so you probably won't need to run this in Safe Mode but in future reference this is a step you will want to follow.

This always works for me for making my computer work better I've never needed to do a fresh install of XP.

Answer 3

reinstalling XP over an existing install will repair any corrupt files. This will not speed things up. I would recommend backing up your files and reformatting and do a clean install of XP.

This is the best method.

Cheers!

Answer 4

Reformat as a last resort only.

Here are a couple of good things to do.

Go to http://www.download.com and search on "registry cleaners". You will find several free ones there. It's a good idea to run them weekly at least.

Here are some other things to do for a slow pc.

A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.
You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.

One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.

A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool. Go to Start > Run > type in msconfig in the box and click OK.
This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Startup” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK. Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.
WARNING: Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting things. You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that. Stay focused on the Startup List only.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.

What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com or http://www.4allmemory.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.

Hope this helps

Answer 5

why do you think there is anything wrong with your registry to begin with? Try a program like regseeker and ccleaner which is free to address your issues.

Will knocking down your house and rebuilding it fix a broken tub tile ? Yes but is it really worth it?

Don't wipe your PC out without a good reason.

Answer 6

Yes and Yes, that's the only sure way to do it. A freshly install windows will run faster because it doesn't have all the craps that window collected over times like softwares that you'll never use or leftover from an uninstallation,........