First time Formatting...

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Soldato
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26 Jan 2005
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Hey there!

Ok guys, as my title announces, this will be my first time formatting my computers hard drives, what i was wondering was...

1) If im doing both drives, (200gb maxtor and 80Gb unknown) then this means windows is wiped too i take it? So what happens when your done formatting? it needs to restart? Then you put the windows XP cd in?

2) What's the best order in which i should re-install all the drivers etc? i have to be careful of the internet i take it? as it may be pretty vulnerable?

3) The reason im doing this is because my PC seems very sluggish, i take it this will solve problem to some extent, seeing as it hasnt been formatted in about 2 years +

I know i sound a bit dumb, but please bear with me, thanks! :)

Cheers in advance. :)

P.S im backuping all necessary stuff onto my External hard drive and to probably make it easier for you guys, is there just a website with a good guide? Thanks!
 
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If you put your Windows XP Disc in then reboot the Windows Intallation should begin. After the first couple of pages you should be able to format and partition your HDDs. No need to format then put Windows CD in when Windows can do it all for you :D

As for installation... Once you have Windows installed, next step is your mobo/chipset drivers, CPU drivers [if any], Display Drivers and any other drivers. Next you might want to install an antivirus and firewall. Once theyre done go straight to MS update and update Windows.

Be sure to Defrag your HDD after each driver install and Windows update. This make sure all your files are tidy and keeps your system running nice and quick.

After the Windows update you can install any other software you like.

This is the way I do my Windows installs and so far it has worked fine for me. To be honest there is no real right or wrong way of doing it.

SiriusB
 
ah ok, thats odd, i would have thought that the information for your bios of your MB, would be stored on the motherboard itself, so wouldnt need upgrading again?
Or am i completely wrong there?
im up to date on my MB by the way. :)
Thanks for your help so far sirius :D
 
Blokey57 said:
ah ok, thats odd, i would have thought that the information for your bios of your MB, would be stored on the motherboard itself, so wouldnt need upgrading again?
Or am i completely wrong there?
im up to date on my MB by the way. :)
Thanks for your help so far sirius :D
Click to expand...

The motherboard, like all other hardware, needs drivers in order for Windows to use it correctly. The motherboard/chipset drivers are not the same as the BIOS.

The BIOS is there to start the system and to look after the hardware. Windows uses the BIOS for all sorts of hardware related tasks. The drivers tell Windows how to do this.

SiriusB
 
Blokey57 said:
Oh yeah, whoops!

Well thanks again mate, wish me luck, no problems i hope. *fingers crossed* :p

:)
Click to expand...

You have everything backed up, so there is nothing you can do that would make you cry. Some idiots forget to backup and do silly things to their HDDs and nearly lose stuff. [only ever did it once :D]

A screen will simply come up saying "where you want Windows, mate?" and give you a list of HDDs and Partitions. If you have existing partitions you can choose to delete them, or leave them as they are. But once you are happy with the layout, choose Partition C and say "install there please" and away Windows goes.

SiriusB
 
Hey again, formatted successfully, just in the pain staking process of putting everything/installing everything back onto computer again... oh the joy. :rolleyes:


Anyways... i was having a look through my bios, when i noticed that when i select my hard drives that they have the option to enable "32 bit Data transfer", its currently set to disabled, should this be enabled?

Any help with that would be great too and the age old what should i set my Gfx aperture to, i have a X850 XT 256Mb AGP gfx card.

Thanks again! :D
 
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