righter77 wrote:
flaming_cowpie wrote:
I've never uninstalled and reinstalled Windows. Will that erase everything that's on the desktop and all files/folders on the computer? I'm only a couple years removed from Webtv, so not really a "techie".
Yes it does. I do it every six months by simply backing up everything on disc and then doing a fresh install.
Note that this is very hard the first time you do it, but it gets easier and easier. You'll need to sort out a bunch of stuff [but all VERY worthwhile doing!!]:
1) your windows config. I have a bunch of things that I tweak and tune on windows [access control lists, explorers folder-view defaults, etc, etc].
After you do your first [or second..

] reinstall, you'll remember to write all those things down so you'll be able to do it easily the next time [and the interesting thing is that there ain't so many of them, it is just hard (for me at least) to keep track of things.
2) All the apps you use. This is often a big one. I have lots of apps that don't exist any more [so I really need to be sure I know where the old setup.exe/install-zip files are for them]. Many others should just be downloaded afresh from the net [to get the latest versions], so you need to remember the right download sites. And keepign track of all the license-keys, etc. Don't forget all your device drivers that'll need installing/updating, too! [this one just bit me...sigh...: no ethernet card drivers for my Dell on the reinstall left me with no way to GET the drivers....]
3) Configuring all of the apps. Gad this has proven to be a problem. Getting all the font-choices, directory setups, UI config options, defaults etc, etc set up is a real bear [since no two apps configure in quite the same way]. Also, XP-sanitizing the apps is a nuisance if you didn't keep track of what you did the last time [e.g., knowiing which files/folders you need to tweak the ACLs on so you can use the prog from your limited acct, etc]
4) restoring the 'active data' for each of the apps. Usually not too much of a problem -- you've got your mailboxes and your browser favorites/bookmarks. On my systems, at least, not a lot of other stuff actually has to be 'reloaded' into different apps: I just need to restore the appropriate directories [with all my .pdfs and databases and images and ...etc..]
This may sound tricky but it really isn't [at least hasn't proven to be for me]. It is hard the first time, but after you've done it once or twice you (or at least "I"

) get better organized about this and it becomes pretty simple. Among the advantages:
1) system is very uncluttered [disks slick, no crap, no junk in the registry, etc],
2) You actually get up-to-date versinos of most of the apps you use [last time I did this I was surprised at how many versions-old many of the ones I had neglected to update]
3) you discover how many applications/games you don't need/don't want any more.
4) you understand MUCH better how to backup and restore your system, and have less fear of a hardware failure.