Hard drive format

Hi,

I'm preparing to reinstall windows on my main desktop (XP Home SP2) because
it's got a lot of conflicts and is very sluggish. I know from previous
experience that this can be a very traumatic experience! However, I'm hoping
that this time I will still be able to access the Internet during the
install, should I encounter problems and need to find the answer online. I
now also run a laptop with a wireless connection to my Belkin router. My
question is - will I be able to use the online connection from my laptop
once windows has been wiped from my main desktop (which is wired to the
router) or will the router lose its connection until the reinstall is
completed and I have reconfigured my internet connection? I'm guessing that
I will lose connection on both computers - and hence will not benefit from
online help during my reinstall :-(

Thanks for any help - and sorry if this is considered a slightly off-topic
post.

"embee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eqb8jj$k8$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> I'm preparing to reinstall windows on my main desktop (XP Home SP2)
> because
> it's got a lot of conflicts and is very sluggish. I know from previous
> experience that this can be a very traumatic experience! However, I'm
> hoping
> that this time I will still be able to access the Internet during the
> install, should I encounter problems and need to find the answer online. I
> now also run a laptop with a wireless connection to my Belkin router. My
> question is - will I be able to use the online connection from my laptop
> once windows has been wiped from my main desktop (which is wired to the
> router) or will the router lose its connection until the reinstall is
> completed and I have reconfigured my internet connection? I'm guessing
> that
> I will lose connection on both computers - and hence will not benefit from
> online help during my reinstall :-(
>
> Thanks for any help - and sorry if this is considered a slightly off-topic
> post.
>

you should still be able to access the net with your laptop using the
router. Did you never do this before when the other pc was switched off?

BTW how much RAM do you have in the desktop pc? It sounds as if you may need
a bit more especially if the pc is a bit old.

"Bryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eqbaj3$6hi$(E-Mail Removed)...
>

> you should still be able to access the net with your laptop using the
> router. Did you never do this before when the other pc was switched off?
>
> BTW how much RAM do you have in the desktop pc? It sounds as if you may
> need a bit more especially if the pc is a bit old.
Thanks for the reply. No I didn't have the laptop last time I reinstalled,
just the desktop - so no chance of having Internet access during the
procedure!.

I have a gig of RAM - enough for most of my needs. The system problems are
unrelated to RAM I believe - after the last Windows reinstall the system
worked really well, fast enough for me anyway. I don't play games and my
most memory-intense process is Photoshop CS2. After the last reinstall,
Photoshop worked fine - but things have really slowed down to the point I
need to blitz the system again. My boot-up time is now about 5 minutes -
compared to less than a minute when I last reinstalled.

embee wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm preparing to reinstall windows on my main desktop (XP Home SP2) because
> it's got a lot of conflicts and is very sluggish. I know from previous
> experience that this can be a very traumatic experience! However, I'm hoping
> that this time I will still be able to access the Internet during the
> install, should I encounter problems and need to find the answer online. I
> now also run a laptop with a wireless connection to my Belkin router. My
> question is - will I be able to use the online connection from my laptop
> once windows has been wiped from my main desktop (which is wired to the
> router) or will the router lose its connection until the reinstall is
> completed and I have reconfigured my internet connection? I'm guessing that
> I will lose connection on both computers - and hence will not benefit from
> online help during my reinstall :-(

You have a proper router - not a USB modem ?

If it is, the connection simply won't be affected by formatting your desktop
PC's HD.

You really shouldn't need help to install XP + SP2 though. It's child's play
(almost). Just answer the questions and enter the relevant details.

Graham

embee wrote:

> "Bryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eqbaj3$6hi$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
>
> > you should still be able to access the net with your laptop using the
> > router. Did you never do this before when the other pc was switched off?
> >
> > BTW how much RAM do you have in the desktop pc? It sounds as if you may
> > need a bit more especially if the pc is a bit old.
> Thanks for the reply. No I didn't have the laptop last time I reinstalled,
> just the desktop - so no chance of having Internet access during the
> procedure!.
>
> I have a gig of RAM - enough for most of my needs. The system problems are
> unrelated to RAM I believe - after the last Windows reinstall the system
> worked really well, fast enough for me anyway. I don't play games and my
> most memory-intense process is Photoshop CS2. After the last reinstall,
> Photoshop worked fine - but things have really slowed down to the point I
> need to blitz the system again. My boot-up time is now about 5 minutes -
> compared to less than a minute when I last reinstalled.

Do you by any chance install lots of 'cover CD' crap p[rograms ?

When did you last defrag the hard drive ?

It's *extremely* unlikely XP itself is it fault. I suspect you clutter your
system with rubbish and don't clear it out. Formatting the HD is a very daft way
of fixing that.

Graham

In message <eqb8jj$k8$(E-Mail Removed)>, embee
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>Hi,
>
>I'm preparing to reinstall windows on my main desktop (XP Home SP2) because
>it's got a lot of conflicts and is very sluggish. I know from previous
>experience that this can be a very traumatic experience! However, I'm hoping
>that this time I will still be able to access the Internet during the
>install, should I encounter problems and need to find the answer online. I
>now also run a laptop with a wireless connection to my Belkin router. My
>question is - will I be able to use the online connection from my laptop
>once windows has been wiped from my main desktop (which is wired to the
>router) or will the router lose its connection until the reinstall is
>completed and I have reconfigured my internet connection? I'm guessing that
>I will lose connection on both computers - and hence will not benefit from
>online help during my reinstall :-(
>
>Thanks for any help - and sorry if this is considered a slightly off-topic
>post.
>
formatting the hard drive on one PC will not affect the programming of
your router

--
dave @ stejonda

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Eeyore
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>
>It's *extremely* unlikely XP itself is it fault. I suspect you clutter
>your system with rubbish and don't clear it out. Formatting the HD is a
>very daft way of fixing that.

An alternative may be to use one/some of the various registry/disk
cleaning programs and certainly regular defragging would be a good idea
but format & reinstall is a sure-fire way of improving things.

--
dave @ stejonda

"dave @ stejonda" <no$spam!delete&abuse%(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message news:VzGc3pDmcXyFFA$(E-Mail Removed)...
> In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Eeyore
> <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>>
>>It's *extremely* unlikely XP itself is it fault. I suspect you clutter
>>your system with rubbish and don't clear it out. Formatting the HD is a
>>very daft way of fixing that.
>
> An alternative may be to use one/some of the various registry/disk
> cleaning programs and certainly regular defragging would be a good idea
> but format & reinstall is a sure-fire way of improving things.

First advice is to uninstall any programmes that aren't needed any more,
removed any spyware (eg using AdAware) and checked Start | Programs |
Startup and the registry for programs that get started automatically.

That *may* speed things up. But in my experience you can still have a PC
which takes ages to boot and/or intermittently runs slowly once it has
booted.

You could try removing and reinstalling any anti-virus or firewall software.
I've seen two PCs which had Norton which had dramatic boot improvements when
I totally removed NIS (including using the Norton Removal Tool from their
website) and then reinstalled it. I think if you upgrade from one version to
another you can get into problems: the manual that comes with NIS is totally
silent about upgrading: it neither says "leave the old version on and let
the new installation overwrite it" nor "uninstall the old version first".

What registry cleaning programs would people use? Which ones are safe? I
tried one (I forget which) and only selected the default options. I ended up
totally knackering the PC and had to restore from the System Restore point
that I'd made as insurance just before running the registry cleaner.

"embee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eqbbgf$1kc$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Bryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eqbaj3$6hi$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>
>> you should still be able to access the net with your laptop using the
>> router. Did you never do this before when the other pc was switched off?
>>
>> BTW how much RAM do you have in the desktop pc? It sounds as if you may
>> need a bit more especially if the pc is a bit old.
> Thanks for the reply. No I didn't have the laptop last time I reinstalled,
> just the desktop - so no chance of having Internet access during the
> procedure!.
>
> I have a gig of RAM - enough for most of my needs. The system problems are
> unrelated to RAM I believe - after the last Windows reinstall the system
> worked really well, fast enough for me anyway. I don't play games and my
> most memory-intense process is Photoshop CS2. After the last reinstall,
> Photoshop worked fine - but things have really slowed down to the point I
> need to blitz the system again. My boot-up time is now about 5 minutes -
> compared to less than a minute when I last reinstalled.

I found that increasing the RAM to 2GB made CS2 run a lot faster, especially
when working with multiple layers or when using Image Ready at the same
time.

On Wed, 7 Feb 2007 01:04:50 -0000, "embee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I'm preparing to reinstall windows on my main desktop (XP Home SP2) because
>it's got a lot of conflicts and is very sluggish. I know from previous
>experience that this can be a very traumatic experience! However, I'm hoping
>that this time I will still be able to access the Internet during the
>install, should I encounter problems and need to find the answer online. I
>now also run a laptop with a wireless connection to my Belkin router. My
>question is - will I be able to use the online connection from my laptop
>once windows has been wiped from my main desktop (which is wired to the
>router) or will the router lose its connection until the reinstall is
>completed and I have reconfigured my internet connection? I'm guessing that
>I will lose connection on both computers - and hence will not benefit from
>online help during my reinstall :-(
>
>Thanks for any help - and sorry if this is considered a slightly off-topic
>post.
>

If it is a router, then it is completely independent of your (other)
computer(s).

It is a small computer in its own right, which runs along quite
happily with no input, and responds to commands you send it via
ethernet and/or wireless.

So re-installing on your desktop PC will make not the slightest
difference to your laptop access.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Reality seems to be a constant intrusion on my dreams!
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom