Can someone give me advice on how to reload windows?

Question

I have a 3 year old Dell Inspiron 5100, and now runs very slow. I was advised to reload windows, as this will eliminate spyware and cookies from using it for 3 years. I have the reloading disks from dell. How do I reload it? Do I just insert the disks, or do I need to do something else first to ensure a smooth reload?
Thanks.

Answer 1

if you want to install windows XP you need to a Bootable XP CD. The procedure are article

http://www.petri.co.il/install_windows_xp_pro.htm

http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/08/04/xp

http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm

Answer 2

I have basically the same laptop you have. I reloaded windows on my laptop about a month ago and I think it really caused more problems then it solved. The Boot disks do reload the Windows operating system, although it did not reload critical drivers that were installed by Dell at manufacturing. My wireless card driver, ethernet driver, and monitor driver were all missing after I reloaded, and they were not on any disks provided by Dell, after a sleepless night I finally did get the drivers reloaded from the Dell website. Although, it did involve some creativity to even get the laptop connected to the Internet without a wireless card or Ethernet.
Good Luck

Answer 3

I don't think it's necessary to reload Windows - but that's just me. May I suggest you try the following first:

1. Set wallpaper and screensavers to blank or none — they run continuously in the background and use memory.
2. Review your start menu – remove anything you don’t need on a daily basis — load games, etc. on an as-needed basis.
3. From Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options: delete cookies, delete files (offline), and clear history. (You can also set days to store history to 0.)
----- These actions will clear your computer’s cache. (For a description of cache, go to http://help.yahoo.com/l/ph/yahoo/mail/access/access-27210.html )
4. Run Disk Cleanup, Scandisk, Defrag at least every two weeks (the more frequently they are run, the less time they take).
5. Periodically, click Start, Programs, Run — they type ipconfig renew
(that’s ipconfig space renew).

These things should increase speed and free up memory as much as possible.

Answer 4

You don't want to just reload xp, that will not get rid of spyware. You would want to reformat the hard drive. It's too hard to list all the steps here, but here's a guide to do it two different ways, both requiring the xp cd. Make sure to backup your data!

Answer 5

if want to only reload window simply insert the disk in your cd rom. however i don't think it will solve your problem if you have spywares in it. if you format the hard drive you will need a booting disk as well.

Answer 6

You should probably back up all valuable files onto CD's DVD's or another hard drive. You will most likely lose them in the "reload". I assume by this you mean your are reinstalling Windows from scratch?

Answer 7

Just insert the disks on your PC startup.

Answer 8

You dont need to reload your xp
Try this computer speedup tool:
http://boost-computer-performance.info
It works very well.

Answer 9

This site may give you the answer.