How hard is it to reformat a PC?

[WoodysGirl]

Not sure that's the correct terminology, but basically I have an old Dell laptop that has a virus. I'm not interested in saving the HD. I want to totally wipe it clean re-install Windows with the CD I got with the laptop.

My IT manager will do it for me, but time is kind of an issue since I forgot to bring the Windows CD to work.

I want to try to do it myself when I get off, so any help will be appreciated.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Insert the Windows CD and boot from it.

From there it should guide you through installing it. When it gets the point of choose the type, make sure you choose fresh install.

Hopefully, it already has at least the network driver on the CD. That way, you can download any other drivers and software from the Internet.

Otherwise, it's good to have a USB thumb drive to download any drivers too and copy them over to the formatted (reinstalled) machine.

Either way, it should be a simple process.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Okey doke. Sounds simple enough. Now I just need to find the CD.

Thx, NYC.

 

[Concord]

My wife just did this to our computer...as she has many times over the years...and installed Windows 7 from Vista and had no problems...all the drivers were there for her unlike Vista.

She said it was very easy with Windows 7.

 

[Reality]

Okey doke. Sounds simple enough. Now I just need to find the CD.

Thx, NYC.

You most likely have "Recovery" CD's since its a laptop. Many of the newer laptops no longer come with recovery CDs and require you to make your own but since you said this was an older laptop, it should have them.

The recovery CDs will revert the laptop to the same exact state it was in when you bought it. This means all drivers, bloatware, etc. will be there once it completes the recovery installation.

-Reality

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

Yeah, if you get a Dell, HP, etc, they almost always come with a recovery CD that you just boot off of and follow the prompts. If you're wanting to stay away from all the crap they load on those recovery CDs, you can just boot up on a Windows CD.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Yeah, if you get a Dell, HP, etc, they almost always come with a recovery CD that you just boot off of and follow the prompts. If you're wanting to stay away from all the crap they load on those recovery CDs, you can just boot up on a Windows CD.

The Dells I buy don't come with a recovery cd but they come with a disc to reinstall all the drivers.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Thanks guys for the assist.

I now have a different problem. My stupid cousin somehow took the CD player out of the laptop and I'm not sure the battery is working.

Ugh, I hate computer-illiterate people who try to "fix" their messups. I told her to just leave it alone until I could pick it up and now she's probably messed it up worse than it was.

 

[dback]

We recently ordered a Sony Vaio directly from Sony and the recovery disk was an extra fee. The fee was small, but we decided to create our own recovery disk once the laptop came. We were able to uninstall all bloatware and installed everything we needed, and then created the disk, so it turned out quite nice.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Thanks guys for the assist.

I now have a different problem. My stupid cousin somehow took the CD player out of the laptop and I'm not sure the battery is working.

Ugh, I hate computer-illiterate people who try to "fix" their messups. I told her to just leave it alone until I could pick it up and now she's probably messed it up worse than it was.

Your cuz doesn't have the drive any more? Usually a battery has a health gauge on it. It's a button you push and it tells you how much juice it has or if it has a problem.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Not sure that's the correct terminology, but basically I have an old Dell laptop that has a virus. I'm not interested in saving the HD. I want to totally wipe it clean re-install Windows with the CD I got with the laptop.

My IT manager will do it for me, but time is kind of an issue since I forgot to bring the Windows CD to work.

I want to try to do it myself when I get off, so any help will be appreciated.

Easier than posting (literally)

I do it every 6 months to keep my desktop speedy