wiping and reloading computer

[gucciman]

hi

we have a dell inspiron 1501 which has been nothing but trouble snce we had it and has got slower and slower every week. its now continually freezing and refusing to play video clips etc.

i have the recovery and driver discs and would like to wipe the computer and reload it.

I dont know a lot about computers so can someone tell me in easy steps how to go about it please?

do i have to physically wipe the comp and reload or will putting the recovery disc in do it all automatically?

many thanks

[jp_2031]

That is rather odd, i got a Dell Inspiron last year and i absolutly love it to pieces.
If you want to loose all the information you have, start from fresh, then place the disk in the computer and then restart it. As it starts up, it says press for BIOS. Press the key, and then select the drive you have placed the disk in. Then follow the instructions.

If you want to install a fresh version of your operating system, simply place the disk in, and it should open in auto play. If it doesnt, double click the drive in which it is in, and follow the instructions it gives you.

Perhaps the reason your comptuer is going slow is caused by a virus. I reccomend AVG antivirus, and AdAware, two program i use.
Try AVG before formating your computer.

JP

P.s - and also remember to install updates, otherwise if a new version of flash comes out, and you dont have it, then you wont be able to watch some online videos!

[ChuckFickens]

LOL, maybe you shouldn't have used < a key > in your reply :)

[Gormless]

It does sound a drastic remedy. Before you do that, have a look around with Task Manager, see what is running on the box, which processes are using which resources. You've probably got all sorts of rubbish you don't want. Examine your startup (Start/Run/msconfig/startup tab). You may have got loads of stuff starting up when you boot. Untick things you don't need. Do a disk defragmentation (if you've never done one, then it may take hours and is best started at bedtime to run overnight).

Download anti-spyware and anti-virus (I use Avast and Adaware) and scan your disk. Again this could be a very lengthy process.

Download ccleaner, free and excellent!. Just google "download ccleaner". This fabulous little utility cleared up 2gb of rubbish from my pc when I first ran it.

[Gormless]

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

[kempie]

<а key> :D

[Ethel]

Back up all your personal files - documents, folders, music and so on to cd, dvd, flash drives or an external hard drive first as everything will be lost.

Print off your passwords for future reference, I also find it useful to print off the list of programs in my add/remove programs so that I know then names of the programs I want to download.

It is an easy process to restore your pc to factory settings - as it was when you bought it but you need to prepare as I've explained, and be prepared to spend time reinstalling your programs and so on.

Before doing it, think about cleaning your computer inside and out. Remove programs you don't use, if you have lots of music, pictures and videos on the hard drive think about moving them.
Run antitrojan and antispyware software to make sure you have no nasties - these are free and good:

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/ (the third in the list)

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ad-aware/

Download and run CCleaner to get rid of unnecessary junk that you don't know about:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Make sure the fans aren't clogged with dust - this will cause your pc to overheat and crash.

As it is a laptop, make sure it is on a firm surface when you use it - putting it on your lap, on the duvet or other soft surface will stop the air getting in to keep it cool

[gucciman]

thanks everyone for your answers

i have to say that when i bought our dell (2 yrs ago) my father, father -in -law and brother-in-law were impressed with the price so also bought the same model, within 6 months at the most all 4 laptops had slowed down to a crawl. for instance, if were viewing a webpage, when you close off the page a blank box remains on the screen where the page was and takes a few secs to dissappear.

[beso]

It could be a hardware problem rather than software.
Disconnect the power and open it up.

Pull out the memory cards and reseat them firmly in place making sure the little clips on the end go in all the way.

[gucciman]

ive done what was suggested and gone into the start up menu to see whats running. ive disabled quite a few prorams but theres a lot that i dont know if i shoulddisable them or not i.e. are they critical programs or crap?

below is a list of them, can anyone tell me which ones i need to disable and which ones i must keep please?

ehtray
juschd
stsystra
clistart
syntpenh
quickset
realplay
qttalk
dlactrlw
isospm
issch
dslstat
dslagent
fts
bjpsmain
ultray
mskagent
lifeexp
vvx3000
ssbkdupdate
opwarese4
mcagent
hpwwuchd2
netwaiting
dsagent
adobe reader se
digitalline detect


if it helps im on windows xp with service pack 2 and on the net with aol 9.0 via a asdl broadband wireless modem

[ChuckFickens]

here is a start for you

http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/ ehtray/21509

any your still not sure about ask again

[ChuckFickens]

errr, ok I just tried a few more and that ^ search didn't find hardly any :)

just put the process name into google, there will be numerous results for each one telling you what it is