tell me how to reformat my computer, i have a windows xp professional?

Answer 1

You will need either the Windows XP Professional Disc, or the set of "Recovery discs" that came with your PC. You can put the Windows CD, or the recovery disc in your CD Drive, reboot your computer, and it should walk you through reinstalling Windows. Note that if you see a message when rebooting that says "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD", then do it! Lastly, beware that when you do this, unless you have your files backed up elsewhere, everything will be erased on your hard drive!

Answer 2

Boot using your Windows install CD. Choose the complete format option using NTFS.

BEFORE you do this, obviously backup your data files. You should also run the free Belarc advisor from http://www.belarc.com to get a list of all application keys and hardware/software versions. Download the latest hardware drivers and burn to CD so you can use during the reinstall.

AFTER you do it, IMMEDIATELY go to Windows Update and install ALL critical updates. If your windows install CD has SP2 you will only have about 80 updates. If you have the original CD, your first and only update should be SP2 as it rolls up all prior. Then do your 80+ updates. Once you have no more critical, switch to Microsoft update and click custom. Keep doing this until there are no more updates left.

Install security software, applications, and finally your data backup.

Run Windows update (custom) a final time and default your Internet Options control panel on the advanced tab.

I also recommend getting a system utility like Ccleaner and Winpatrol. Here you can control various auto-startups that aren't really needed.

You should be good to go!