Best way to reformat?

danceMB · 16 Jan 2006 at 10:48

Im going to be jumping into reformatting my drive after about 2 years as no matter how many optimisation programs I have it doesnt cut it. I wonder how the best way is to reformat with Windows XP Home?

As I understand you cant completly uninstall everything anymore? If I do manage to uninstall, will I have any problems with using the CD, as in will the system detect I have a CD drive? And also will I need a different keyboard to install Windows, seeing as its a Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard & Mouse. :confused:

danceMB · 16 Jan 2006 at 15:47

Yes, it is from a USB device, but I suspect that I will need to get the other keyboard out of the garage otherwise I wont be able to enter the CD-Key in Windows installer during the re-install.

So your saying that if I change the 1st boot device to CD, and have the Windows CD in the drive, it will then say from there that I can reformat the HDD? If so then it is easier than I suspected it would be

danceMB · 17 Jan 2006 at 01:05

What would nlite do for me? Having a look it seems that it lets you remove certain components of windows xp, unless I am wrong?

danceMB · 17 Jan 2006 at 09:20

I dont really like reformatting the hard drive, but its been such a long time since I did it last, and think that since then there is a lot of crap that has built up on the drive. The next time I get a new fresh Windows install after this will be when I get a new hard drive IMO.

How often do you recommend I do a fresh installation of Windows to keep it all in good condition?

danceMB · 17 Jan 2006 at 10:26

I remember the last time I re-installed it was a bit of a nightmare because the CD drive was not detected and had to get cd drivers on a floppy disk, but I think that was with a version before Windows XP, so it looks like with XP they have made reinstalling everything much more easier?

danceMB · 17 Jan 2006 at 11:19

I think the last time I reformatted the hard drive was with either Windows 2000 or Windows ME. When I got to DOS mode after wiping the drive of everything it didnt detect a CD drive, but hopefully with Windows XP after uninstalling everything reinstalling it direct from CD shouldnt be a problem.