Reformatting my PC?
 

so my mom bought here 2000 dollar gateway multimedia beast of a computer...

so now this one is in my room and I want it to run like new..

I want to reformat it...how do I do that? In detail please

Thanks in advance

just put in that ol system refresh disk.

first off do you have all the drivers and a windows cd and everything else you need to set it back up?

Yes make sure you have this, then just do "format C:" and hit enter for yes

if not all you can really do is de frag and clean disk space. the usual cleaning of cookies and temp internet files, this should be done weekely or every 2 days. i think thats i set up my computer and perfromance stays ok. i suck at computers so what do i know. remember i was told that windows couldnt run more then 512 megs of ram.

if you put in the original windows disk that came with the system, it will ask you if you want to reformat the hard drive before installing windows. poc

will lose all my files?

Take all the porn and it will run like new Jon....lol:nono:

yeah you're gonna lose everything, back it all up first. burn cd's or whatever you gotta do. or just dont reformat. clean up your computer instead. remove programs you dont lose etc etc... and all the stuff stanger00 said

gimme 1 minute and a baseball bat and I'll reformat that son r bitch

Only do it if you know what you are doing...

Just go buy a stick of ram and Windows XP. Pop the ram in there, pop the CD in there, when it says "Click any button to boot from CD" hit the spacebar (or anything). Once it boots up, hit enter or whatever button it wants for to install XP, then it'll ask you where, choose your C: drive, then I'm pretty sure it'll ask you if you want to format, say yes, then pick NTFS (Quick) for the type of partition.

To keep it running fast, DON'T INSTALL A BUNCH OF CRAP. People don't seem to understand that installing 4 virus programs, toolbars, weatherbug, google desktop, and 10 other programs that all need to startup on bootup is what makes their computer unbearably slow. Just install Firefox, iTunes, AIM and WMP10 and then leave the rest alone.

what do I need the stick of ram for?

k you guys are confusing me...

what disc do I need to reformat? the drivers disk or the windows disc?

The RAM will just make it run better. What are the specs on it anyway? And the disc to reformat it is the Windows disk. If it's not XP though don't bother, just go buy one or borrow one from a friend trust me, you want XP.

Whoa whoa whoa.... just a second it's not that easy. Don't tell him things like that, he might go buy some random stick of memory that doesnt work :nono: . He has to know if it's PC2100, PC2700, PC3200 etc.

Plus he might not have room on the motherboard for more memory, and he might have enough the way it is. A gig is plenty (1024Mb).

So do you have Windows XP or something else Jon?

From the way he was talking, it sounds like it's completely original, so I doubt all it's slots are taken. And I doubt it's got a gig already either.

im not gonna buy any RAM...and it is xp...

Im gonna reformat it in a lil, I saved all the files i wanted to keep and I have all the original cds i need incase anything goes wrong

just do what i said then once you find out everything you need. then go buy another stick of ram. those guys think you are some computer whiz. i know im not but i do the preventive crap to keep the comp optimal. i dont need it mind blistering fast because all i do is surf the web and store music and pics and videos.

I tried to do "format C:"

but it says:

"Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume?(Y/N)"

I press yes and nothing happens...what process could be using this "volume"

I also tried to just put in the Windows disc, and nothing happened there either.

i don t think thats the way ya do it... there should either be a "recovery" drive or a "recovery" cd... my guess is ya need that cd...

or theres another way to do it during start up

You gotta boot off the disc. Put it in there and then restart the computer. Assuming your boot order is properly set up, one of the first things that should happen after you restart is it'll say "Press any key to boot from CD..."

Push any button and let it do it's thing. From there it's pretty self explanatory, but depending on the speed of your computer it's gonna take at least an hour to install XP. Make sure when you're picking what type of format you want to pick NTFS (Quick) otherwise it'll take even longer.

yeah I figured it out, it's formatting as im typing this

Im on my mom's beast of a computer (that she's only gonna use to check her email :rolleyes:)

did you get it to work? formatted?

yeah everything formatted fine....but theres some setting thats on, and I cant find that wont let me type, when I press keys, they do other stuff, like open searches or minimize windows

btw im on a diff comp right now

two possible problems. 1. you still need to install all drivers and software, especially if your keyboard requires a certain driver or program. 2. there are certain types of programs that allow you to do different things by using the keyboard instead of the mouse w/ windows. Its possible that this type of program might have been automatically installed with windows xp (not likely) or with the recovery disk (whatever you used to format and reinstall windows). If option (1) isn't the problem and you have all necessary drivers installed, then restart windows and immediately begin to hit F8... a DOS type screen will appear asking you to choose between a couple of options - choos the one that says start in safe mode (this allows you to start windows without loading unnecessary programs such as the one that might be screwing up your keyboard). If you start in safe mode and your keyboard is acting normal, then we need to figure out which program (when running) is causing this to happen. If you start in safe mode and your keyboard is still acting like a b*tch, then, well, we can cross that hurdle when you come to it.

or.... maybe the computer is just a POS

for a possible quick fix...

Control Panel > Accessibility Options > make sure stickykeys ets aren't enabled.

http://www.photosandstuff.com/shortbus/untitled.jpg

no...I figured it out...kinda

I went into the task manager (ctrl alt del) and looked at my processes...and there was one that looked fishy to me...it was called "mgsmsger" or something like that...I clicked end process and that fixed it.

the only problem is I have no idea what it is, where it is, and how to delete it

click Start --> Run --> type in "msconfig" and press ok --> go to the startup tab find the program called "mgsmsger" and uncheck the box on the left, then restart your computer. this will keep the program from loading at startup

What a beast. :punk: