Rebooting Computer ?

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 15, 2006

So I have a few viruses (maybe), and some errors that have been happening, aswell as random files I wont gone.

If I were to buy an external HD could I send all my Music files, and needed documents to the external hard drive, and completly reboot the computer and reinstall my windows?

How would I got about doing this? the computer is like a year old Dell, running on windows XP Professional. Also, will this delete EVERYTHING that is left on the computer?

Kaiser · Nov 15, 2006

You have a semi complex job coming for an inexperienced person but I can walk you through it. What we can do first is to try and fix your current Windows install if you'd like. This shouldn't be too hard actually, and you will not lose a thing if you do. Would you like to recover, or just go about removing your old data and re-install Windows? Also, is this XP Pro or Home edition? I always vote for fixing the current install because at least you will get some diagnostic experience, and if it doesn't work, you're left with re-installing anyway with nothing but a little time lost.

Also, depending on the amount of data you have you could probably back it up to CDR instead of buying a whole new drive. Although having an external drive always has its benefits for home users to back their data up to on a regular basis.

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 15, 2006

I wanted to get the Hard Drive either way, I have about 12GB worth of songs alone so that would take a few CDR's i'm guessing?

Honestly, I don't care how it get done, I just figured that reinstalling windows would be the easiest thing to do, but if you have a better way then I will do that instead, I just want get rid of any virus that might be on the computer, all the hidden cookies, and files, and anything else that may have saved it self from viewing the net, and get the computer to run as fast as it can.

Thanks for you help Kaiser

Kaiser · Nov 15, 2006

Well, in the case that you would rebuild/reload your PC, do you have another PC to log on here so I can consult you if you have any questions or if something goes wrong with the initial setup? I don't want you to not have a way to get in touch with me if you get stuck.

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 15, 2006

Yeah, Its a laptop, I need the laptop for college work (lots of papers) until Wednesday, after that I'll be home so I can use that home computer, or roommates if I don't have it fixed by the time I get back.

I still need to get the External HD anyways, but if you could give me the instruction so I can red through them a few times first that would be great.

Also it there anyways to move my entire Itunes onto the external HD? I have all my music in play list's by album, along with the album cover artwork, and redoing that for 1900 songs would be a PITA!

Thanks again.

Kaiser · Nov 16, 2006

When are you ready to reload? It sounds like you are just researching. If you are ready now, then let me know and I'll walk you through everything.

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 16, 2006

I need the computer until Wednesday, and after that, as soon as I get the external HD. I'll post up as soon as I get the HD , but do you have any idea about the Itunes thing?

Oh, and just how tough is this going to be?

Kaiser · Nov 16, 2006

LS1IMPULSE said:
I need the computer until Wednesday, and after that, as soon as I get the external HD. I'll post up as soon as I get the HD , but do you have any idea about the Itunes thing?

Oh, and just how tough is this going to be?

It's easy for some people it's complicated for others. I will walk you through so it will not be a problem. Let me know when you get your other drive. As far as the iTunes, you can always get your MP3s out off the drive and just reload iTunes. We'll be copying your whole profile, and the whole iTunes directory to overwrite once you have iTunes loaded.

Kaiser · Nov 16, 2006

Also, in the mean time, download the free trial of F-Secure at www.f-secure.com and do a full scan. You will need to uninstall any other Antivirus software you currently have prior to installing F-Secure. Reason for this is you do not want to copy infected data from this current build to the HD you're going to buy, then copy that data back on to the clean Windows build.

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 19, 2006

Wow, I downloaded F-secure, and did the scan, found like 10 virus and 5 spyware, computers already running better !

Kaiser · Nov 19, 2006

LS1IMPULSE said:
Wow, I downloaded F-secure, and did the scan, found like 10 virus and 5 spyware, computers already running better !

I tried to tell you, you probably wont have to reload. F-secure is the best on the planet. Let me know if you would like to move forward, but I would recommend just fixing what you have as it is very hard to mess up the NT kernel itself. we can clean your existing OS up even more but it is up to you. What would you like to do?

LS1IMPULSE · Nov 20, 2006

What would it take to clean it up even more, I really had no idea I had that many viruses, the computer ran a little slower and froze up every now and then but I didn't think I had all that stuff that popped up after the F-secure scan.

Kaiser · Nov 20, 2006

Well there are a bunch of things to tighten it up, but the main thing is to stop things from running that do not need to be running. A good tool to do that with for beginners is:

**broken link removed**
It will create a Control Panel Icon called "Startup" Look for it and double click it in Control Panel. (note, you will have to show normal or classic view of control panel in XP to see it if it doesn't show up. The setting is on the right).This will allow you to delete certain start up features/applications that you feel you do not need, and save it under the "Deleted" tab in case you want to reverse what you did. (sort of like a recycle bin for things you deleted) I would say start with deleting everything except for the F-Secure start up features and go from there. You will need to do a reboot after you make changes. If you find that there is something you want enabled again simply go back into the application and enable it again. you may see blank entries. These are also safe to delete and recommended as some spyware write to the registry past the 255 character limit and hence making it invisible for you to see, but a blank entry will come up in Startup Control Panel.
Once you have this done, let me know and I'll walk you through more steps to speed it up.