I have a Dell Dimension Desktop PC. It was purchased about 2 years ago, more or less, and I never use it because it takes forever to load up, and I think it's because I've installed hundreds of programs that launch at StartUp. So, my question is, in this case, should I just totally restart the computer from like square 1 (e.g., as if I just pulled it out of the box?) and how would I do this? (I'd like to take it back to the original Windows Xp setup screen, and set it all up over again.) How would I do this? Thank you
2006-12-29 00:14:29 · 9 answers · asked by ? 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
the best way is to format the drive and reinstall windows
2006-12-29 00:16:40 · answer #1 · answered by Aggy 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Okay, let's get back to basics. Uninstall any double or triple programs that do the same work. i.e. two issues of a word processor, decide on one and go with it, delete the others. Once you have freed up at least 20% of your hard drive space, do a defragmentation, this re-arranges the files in some type of order on the hard drive so that the computer can find them faster. If you have never done this in the 2 years that you've owned the computer, it's going to take a LONG time! Make sure you have enough memory, at minimum 512Mb! Windows operating system requires 256Mb of RAM, that just for WinXP ALONE!! The more stuff that you add slows the computer even more. The more RAM the better. So, do some housekeeping, defrag, add memory, and your computer will speed up.
2006-12-29 03:29:24 · answer #2 · answered by mittalman53 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should reinstall Windows XP service pack 2 by inserting the WinXP install disc and rebooting your PC from the WinXP cdrom drive. It will take you many hours to get everything you want reinstalled from scratch, but then you'll have a new machine again. However, this time be smart and make an "image" of your C drive using Norton Ghost or similar software after you have everything working right but before you go on the internet and corrupt your install again. An image is just a bit for bit backup clone of the entire C drive so that it can be perfectly restored whenever you need a fresh computer. One place you can save the image is to a 10 Gbyte partition on your C drive that you make this time as your re-installing WinXP.
2006-12-29 00:24:13 · answer #3 · answered by bobweb 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To stop certain programs form starting up at startup go to the start menu ... click on Run .... type in msconfig - click ok. When the window pops up, click on the Startup tab. Uncheck everything that you want to disable at startup. Then click Apply, Close. You can restart the computer then or wait.
To completely start from scratch, reformat your computer! You need your windows disk though along with other disks for drivers, etc.
2006-12-29 00:21:56 · answer #4 · answered by wtfustaringat 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Put in your resource CD for reinstallation of Windows in the cd rom drive, reboot, change BIOS boot sequence so cdrom reads first if needed, hit any key to enter setup when prompted, windows setup will launch, do a clean install, delete old partition, re partition your HDD, format using NTFS, and let setup do the rest..
2006-12-29 00:17:36 · answer #5 · answered by keith s 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Reformat the computer.
2006-12-29 00:16:13 · answer #6 · answered by disturbed 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I wish I knew mine is too slow to.
2006-12-29 00:16:40 · answer #7 · answered by Melissa C 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It starts when you buy it and get it home.
2006-12-29 00:16:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes
2006-12-29 00:16:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋