Octopus Overlords

It's time for my bi-annual thorough cleaning of my computer. Everything that I want saved has been backed up or can be easily downloable, I've got all my program discs and passwords, etc. If I want to wipe my hard drive completely clean and have Windows be freshly installed, what's the best way to go about that? And is there a way to get the shiny-new Windows feel without re-installing the whole thing but still making sure it goes back to all the default settings, cleans out the registery keys of all my old programs, uninstalls all the current programs, etc.?

I've found the best way to wipe a hard drive clean is to put it in the dishwasher.

Don't use the Pot and Pan cycle - you might damage the drive.

And do be sure to add a rinse aid.

Smoove_B wrote:I've found the best way to wipe a hard drive clean is to put it in the dishwasher.

Don't use the Pot and Pan cycle - you might damage the drive.

And do be sure to add a rinse aid.

What about drying it? Do I use the hot air or just let it dry out by itself?

Smoove_B wrote:I've found the best way to wipe a hard drive clean is to put it in the dishwasher.

Don't use the Pot and Pan cycle - you might damage the drive.

And do be sure to add a rinse aid.

Ha ha, very funny. Kelric, if you want a more serious answer, try this method.

~Neal

It's time for my bi-annual thorough cleaning of my computer. Everything that I want saved has been backed up or can be easily downloable, I've got all my program discs and passwords, etc. If I want to wipe my hard drive completely clean and have Windows be freshly installed, what's the best way to go about that?

My guess: format c:
If the drive is partitioned, you'll also probably want to format the partitions (if they are windows partitions).

And is there a way to get the shiny-new Windows feel without re-installing the whole thing but still making sure it goes back to all the default settings, cleans out the registery keys of all my old programs, uninstalls all the current programs, etc.?

I don't know a way to do this. Maybe somebody else does?

Just delete your partitions with fdisk, then recreate them. Format the drives with NTFS (or whatever) and then reinstall Windows. Easy breezy.

What version of windows? And what do you hope to accomplish by doing this?

Oh, and what are you using for a network connection/firewall/etc.?

ChrisGwinn wrote:What version of windows? And what do you hope to accomplish by doing this?

Oh, and what are you using for a network connection/firewall/etc.?

XP and I just want the shiny new feel while getting rid of everything I don't need without having to go through program by program and folder by folder. It's the one way I clean anything - I take everything away and just bring back what I want and need once something is completely empty. I do this with my housefold posessions (I cleaned everything out of my bedroom, including all the furniture a few months ago), I do this with my OOTP teams (I rebuild from the ground up) and I do this with my computer.

I use my cable modem thingamabobie and ZoneAlarm as firewalls. Which reminds me, I use Ad-Aware and SpyBot on my computer from time to time and don't have any anti-virus programs. Is there anything else I should be using to keep my computer under my control?

I don't have any partitions, don't even know what they do.

I typically use Ghost to make an image file of the disk and then do a fresh install. Copy the image onto the drive after the fresh install and use the Ghost Explorer utility to extract anything I want back, such as favorites, e-mail, quickbooks files etc.

No, you should be fine. It's the people who aren't behind some sort of firewall that can get hosed when they bring up a new install of windows without being careful.

Personally, I don't see any reason why you would do a clean install of windows unless you're actually trying to fix something. But that's just me - I replaced my motherboard without reinstalling.

ChrisGwinn wrote:No, you should be fine. It's the people who aren't behind some sort of firewall that can get hosed when they bring up a new install of windows without being careful.

Personally, I don't see any reason why you would do a clean install of windows unless you're actually trying to fix something. But that's just me - I replaced my motherboard without reinstalling.

I'm just like that.

Well the computer still works. Hooray, I didn't break it!

I dunno, this PC I'm on has NOT been reformatted since 1999 and it runs just fine. Periodic tuneups with Norton Utilities (WinDoctor, SpeedDisk, etc.) has kept it quite clean and speedy.

Kasey Chang wrote:I dunno, this PC I'm on has NOT been reformatted since 1999 and it runs just fine. Periodic tuneups with Norton Utilities (WinDoctor, SpeedDisk, etc.) has kept it quite clean and speedy.

It's just a me thing. I like cleaning EVERYTHING out every once in a while to start something from a blank slate.

Kelric wrote:It's just a me thing. I like cleaning EVERYTHING out every once in a while to start something from a blank slate.

I hope the high colonic goes as well as the reformat...

msurby wrote:

Kelric wrote:It's just a me thing. I like cleaning EVERYTHING out every once in a while to start something from a blank slate.

I hope the high colonic goes as well as the reformat...

Doh. My hard drives and disc drives got their names changed around. I don't mind the HDs being C and D drive now but it's really throwing me for a loop when my burner is E drive and my dvd-rom is F drive. How can I change the burner and dvd-rom's names around?

Go into Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management.

You will be able to change the drive letters from there.

Biyobi wrote:Go into Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management.

You will be able to change the drive letters from there.

Aha, found it. Thanks.

I do this too. I just like wiping the whole thing clean and having that clean computer feeling.

RodeoRanch wrote:I do this too. I just like wiping the whole thing clean and having that clean computer feeling.

Exactly.

Kelric wrote:

RodeoRanch wrote:I do this too. I just like wiping the whole thing clean and having that clean computer feeling.

Exactly.

Same here, although I have to admit that I haven't done that since I installed XP (29 Nov 2002).

I had actually planned to wipe my disks when I installed SP2, but I haven't done that yet. I'm thinking about getting a new computer, so I'm saving myself the pain of the reinstall...

Kelric wrote:

RodeoRanch wrote:I do this too. I just like wiping the whole thing clean and having that clean computer feeling.

Exactly.

Yep. I like knowing there aren't bits and pieces of garbage hidden away somewhere slowing things down. God knows, I don't have the skill to hunt everything down.