PC becoming unstable - anything I can do?

vetfred

And I'm guessing you have XP if your PC is 2 years old, so here's a link to how to reinstall XP: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

jamalfatty

You'd definately need to reformat or your problems would be compounded even more by a fresh copy of windows planting itself inside an install of itself on its last legs

jamalfatty

vetfred wrote: »

And I'm guessing you have XP if your PC is 2 years old, so here's a link to how to reinstall XP: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Goes without saying print this off before you begin.

Remember my first reinstallation back in the windows 98 days, trying to format through DOS, get to a tricky part. Easy I thought, will just check the website again - then realise that I can no longer get on internet which I had overlooked before wiping my HD

londonman81

And what's the best way to back-up files before re-installing?

vetfred

Definitely print off any guides, yes! Some people advise to make a list of your hardware if you can in case on reinstallation, XP can't identify the hardware and find the drivers to make them work properly. Then you can just go to the manufacturer's website and download the right one for your hardware. I have to say that my PC was 2001 and I reinstalled in 2006 for the first time and had no issues with drivers, but some recommend that. You might have a Dell CD shipped with your system already anyway which contains the drivers for your system, so have a look for that. That's really the likeliest problem you can really run into, although it's one that can be remedied quite easily in the odd instance XP doesn't find the drivers automatically.

jamalfatty

Depends on what your backing up to. If its an external HD, just drag and drop.

If its a CD, use whatever CD burning software you have.

Or if you have a home network, move everything you want to save onto another PC

jamalfatty

vetfred wrote: »

Definitely print off any guides, yes! Some people advise to make a list of your hardware if you can in case on reinstallation,

Thats another issue I had with that same example above, inside case was like spaghetti junction, took me best part of 2 hours squeezing everything in and tucking cables away.
Finished the installation of windows, then realised I didnt know the make and model of the network card so had to pull the whole sodding thing apart again

vetfred

londonman81 wrote: »

And what's the best way to back-up files before re-installing?

CDs are fine, I did my first back up to CDs no problem. It just takes a bit longer than when you have an external hard drive. I only saved things like photos and music, with programs I had downloaded off the net, I just made a list of them and then when back up and running I downloaded them again. With e-mails in outlook express, there's a way of backing them up (although I just forwarded them to my hotmail account!) and then you might want to make a list of your favourites in Explorer or maybe there's a way to back them up too, although I don't know how to.

Whatever you do, make sure you give yourself a whole morning/afternoon to do it - it can't be done in an hour and shouldn't be attempted at night or when you can't stay about for a length of time. The first time you do it, it is quite stressful simply because you feel you have no idea what you're doing - but it's for the best and a good thing to know how to do. XP is quite good in the respect it prompts for what it wants at every stage so together with a guide by your side, you can't go too far wrong. It sounds a lot scarier than it is.

jamalfatty

And when you think you've backed everything up, especially things like photo's / personal files etc, go back and double check!

vetfred

jamalfatty wrote: »

Thats another issue I had with that same example above, inside case was like spaghetti junction, took me best part of 2 hours squeezing everything in and tucking cables away.
Finished the installation of windows, then realised I didnt know the make and model of the network card so had to pull the whole sodding thing apart again

The first time I opened up my PC I was overcome by dust! It's actually another thing which I would recommend doing if you've never looked inside a PC. Just slide off the side and look how it's all put together without touching anything at this point! You can see where the ram goes and if you one day want to stick another 512MB in or more, you'll know just the slot to put it in!