[Closed] How to format my laptop hard-drive

Given the level of knowledge apparent from your post, I'd recommend you leave well alone.

I'm not having a go at you, honestly!

i agree. DO NOT TOUCH.

so if i want a computer to run quickly you recommend spending c.£350 on an equivilant computer when the hardware in my current one should be absolutely fine for what i require of it, it's just i've installed and uninstalled probably more than my fair share of programmes on to it in the last 3 years? 😯

You should be able to find a local guy who can delete spyware and other stuff that makes your pc run slow. They usually advertise in the local paper, or have a scruffy shop in the back streets. £25 is the going rate.

Might be that it just needs a spot of spring cleaning. If you've been installing/uninstalling a lot, the registry may be in a bit of a state. Running something like CCleaner might help?

Re-format is a bit drastic.

ccleaner is run about once a week and still it runs slowly. if we leave it on for about 30mins without using it then it will run really slowly and sometimes it has to be crashed as it wont come back from the screensaver.

If you bought the laptop from new you should have received a disk or 2 labeled rescue disk or similar. Inserting these will return the laptop to original. You will lose all settings and any software you have installed since new.

restoring the lappy this way is normally pretty foolproof

find some of your local uni computer science students to do it for you

It's how I made all my cash at uni (the going rate was a tad more than £25 tho!)

edit:
or as hip says, but make sure you turn on the windows firewall before you connect to the net, then download all the windows updates etc to make sure you don't get hit by worms, viruses etc

i'll have a look at home for that. sounds like what i wanted. i'll have to back up the pics and documents i've got on there first tho wont i?

How full are the hard drives? That is often the reason computers start running slowly/crashing etc, the HDs are nearly full.

You do have to be careful not to end up losing data when you reformat- you not got a PC savvy mate who can sort it for you?

If you're using the windows disc you can use that but need to know your OS and what cd's you have with your laptop.

I've done mine many times.

But always backup important files.

Might be worth checking you have all the driver discs for the hardware too.

i'll have to back up the pics and documents i've got on there first tho wont i?

Yes. Anything left on the hard drive will be lost when restoring/recovering so backing up anything you need to keep is a good idea.

"so if i want a computer to run quickly you recommend spending c.£350 on an equivilant computer "

I don't know whose post you read to come up with that interpretation. I just wouldn't recommend you doing anything too exhaustive if you don't know how to format a drive and have to ask "how do I get Windows back on the computer afterwards?".

It may be an idea to defragment the hard drive before trying anything else. this often speeds up the computer.

Start menu/programs/accessories/system tools/disk defragmenter

I just wouldn't recommend you doing anything too exhaustive if you don't know how to format a drive and have to ask "how do I get Windows back on the computer afterwards?".

ok fair point, not sure why i put that is there as it's quite obvious that i use a cd in order to put windows back on. sorry. i'm not quite as dumb as that op looks like i am.

I have checked my CDs and the only one that i can find that relates to Acer (the brand of my laptop) is a Norton AntiVirus CD. if a mate has a 'rescue' disk or similar for their computer can i use that or does it have to be for my specific make and model of laptop?

I have checked my CDs and the only one that i can find that relates to Acer (the brand of my laptop) is a Norton AntiVirus CD. if a mate has a 'rescue' disk or similar for their computer can i use that or does it have to be for my specific make and model of laptop?

Yes you really need the exact one for your machine, as the only advantage of using a 'restore disc' rather than a normal Windows cd is that it will be pre-loaded with all the drivers that model needs.

It can be a real pain in the gin-gang-goolies tracking down the drivers you need (especially if your laptop is a few years old and the manufacturer has helpful removed all downloads for it from their page)

You can use generic drivers, but they;re not always as good.
For example, my Sony Vaio can use generic Nvidia drivers for graphics isntead of the ones supplied by Sony, but they won't have allow me to use the brightness functions for the display, and the external screen output doesn't work.

if a mate has a 'rescue' disk or similar for their computer can i use that or does it have to be for my specific make and model of laptop?

If its in the same model range I dont see why it shouldnt work, just make sure your laptop is stated as being compatible on the disks

Different laptops have different internal components and need specific device drivers to operate correctly.

Oops... went for tea and didnt refresh page... as retro says... 😉

Johnners is right.

This is going to end in tears

When I replaced the HD in my macBook, all I did was put the osX CD in the drive and press install, then go off and do something more interesting for an hour or so.

Backup any of your created stuff. Docs, pix etc.

Stick in your Windows disk, format the partition it's currently on.

Reinstall windows.

or better still Linux, such as Ubuntu or the like.