Need to format my PC

alterna88

alterna88

alterna88

Associate
Joined
14 Oct 2009
Posts
120
Location
Swansea, Wales
Hi
I know a lot of people would want to hit me for asking, but I'd rather ask and learn than stay ignorant forever.

Ok, my PC was slow for a long time. Windows itself if fine, but when I work with graphics it is complaining that it has no ram. I have 4 gb ram and 32 bit mindows 7, I know that 32 bit sees only 3 gb of and soon I'm planning to upgrade it to 64 bit and add another 4gb of ram.
For now I was advised trying to re-install windows.
Firstly, I've never done that in my life and don't want to make a mistake.
I've got an OEM version I hope it is ok for me to re-install (so long that it is on the same PC)... The question is, how do I go about HDD. I want to wipe it all, but I when my friend built it we split the HDD into 2. Would I need to do that when I format my PC or would it keep like it is.
lol I have loads of questions. If there is a tutorial on this please send me a link.

Sorry again for asking such a stupid thing, but I really want to learn more about dealing with my PC
 
Not a stupid question at all.

With any copy of Windows whether it is OEM or Retail, you can reinstall as many times as you want. After a few times you may be required to use phone activation but this takes 2 minutes. The only thing you quite rightly pointed out is OEM copies of Windows are tied to the original computer (defined as the motherboard) they were installed on. Retail can be installed on a new system as long as its installed on 1 PC at a given time.

Before formatting I always advice to BACKUP. Should anything go wrong you'll have a backup to fall on. You can make an entire disk image (highly advised) using the inbuilt Windows backup and restore application. This will take a snapshot of your hard drive in its current state and put it into a .VHD (virtual hard drive) file. I would also advise baking up personal files (docs, pics, music, saves etc) by copying them to an external device along with your disk image (.VHD) The clever thing about the disk image is you can then mount the .VHD using Windows Admin Tools and it'll show up in "My Computer" Like any another hard drive. You can then drag across all your documents to your newly formatted C: drive :). I would still advise backing up documents as normal however in case anything should happen to the .VHD (mainly corruption)

When you reformat(after backing up!!) simply boot your PC with the 64bit Windows DVD in the drive and follow the instructions :). If your PC doesn't boot when the DVD is inserted check in your BIOS whether your DVD drive is set as the first boot device.

When you split ( known as partitioning) your HDD, what partitions do you have and what data is stored on the partitions? I assume one partition contains you Windows directory and the other stores your personal data?
 
Last edited:
Well, I have C drive with the OS on and D drive with my personal files.

I have one 750 HDD, so when we were building my PC during the OS installation my friend split it into two C and D. I don't remember at what stage he did it hence I'm a bit scared of formatting my PC. If it was done in BIOS I won't be able to do it on my own without instructions.
 
In which case that makes reformatting a bit easier as you can reformat the C: partition (which holds your Windows Directory) without affecting your personal data stored on D: drive. However I would still recommend backing up both C and D partitions before formatting as a fail safe.

Just to confirm, you have one PHYISCAL HDD partitioned into two drives (C: and D: )? :)
 
To be honest I want to wipe everything to make a clean start.
Lol, I've lost data so often that I'm used to getting it back. My personal files are always backed up. What I don't quite get is what do you mean to back up and make an image of current HDD?

And yeah there is only one physical HDD partitioned into two drives
 
Making an image (.VHD) of your hard disk is a way of backing up the entire contents of your hard drive and placing it into a .VHD. Think of it as a snapshot of how your hard drive was before. Should anything go wrong you can "go back in time" and use the .VHD to put your hard drive data back to how it was when the .VHD was made.

If your personal data is backed up externally (USB Flash, USB Hard Drive etc) and up to date, format away :). The main thing to worry about when formatting is your personal data.

It's worth downloading the latest drivers for your hardware before formatting, at a bare minimum drivers for your wireless or Ethernet controller so you can connect back up to the Internet after formatting and download other drivers or Windows updates.

Once you've finished and you've got a nice clean install and your personal data is back its well worth making another .VHD. Whenever you want to reformatt you can just restore from that .VHD. It'll make things 100x easier in the future :).
 
is that video right? Is this how the process is? I saw that he re-partitioned his drive already at windows installation.
 
I would stick to having C: and D:. But before you reformat, look at how full each is. If your friend split the HDD in two equal parts, C: is probably very empty compared to D:. I would size C: to be twice the current amount of data on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom