laptop getting intolerably slow -- should I reinstall windows 98?

[supernova87a]

In the last few months, my fairly old laptop has gotten incredibly slow, I think maybe it's accumulating a lot of useless hidden files. First thing I'm going to do is buy some more ram, but also I was considering reinstalling windows 98.

I remember trying to do this once about a year ago, and getting this really annoying message that I couldn't reinstall, had to upgrade to next operating system version (did I mention I found this incredibly annoying?). Does anyone know how to do this? Or is this even the correct thing to be doing? Do you have any tips for making my system "fresh" again -- I basically want to get rid of things that have accumulated, like leftover program files, hidden resource eaters, that stupid aol icon that appears in the IE browser window...

Thanks!

 

[guptasa1]

The "best" thing to do, at least in my opinion, is to back up all your important data somehow (onto a reliable source) and then totally wipe the hard drive by formatting it. Then I'd simply install a brand new copy of Windows 98 or whatever OS you would like. However, from what you're saying it sounds like you may have the upgrade version of your operating system instead of the full version (which means you can't do a clean install). I think when you tried to reinstall it before, it realized you were already running that OS and couldn't "upgrade" you when you were already there. Make any sense? Truthfully, my recommendation is to get the full version of an OS if you don't already have it and do a clean install with a wiped hard drive. If that makes you nervous, have somebody who's experienced it do it for you. Remember, a format will wipe out all your data, so if you do this you need to back up *everything* you don't want to lose, and to something that has very little chance of failure (a few if possible). Also, you'll need to make sure you have the drivers for all of your laptop components handy to get it working right. Some laptops come with "Restore CD's", and if that's the case, you may be able to format and just use that to reset your system to it's initial configuration.
One other thing you could consider besides this is to defragment your hard drive if you haven't in a while. That could increase your performance quite a bit. Nothing beats a good format and clean install though. I typically do it about twice a year just so my system's running at it's best.

Hope some of this helps,
guptasa1

 

[supernova87a]

Thanks for this info.

What about applications that I want to keep but no longer have the installation cds for? For example, I have a bunch of apps that I've collected over the years from the net, friends -- how can I reinstall these from a drive backup if I do a complete wipe?

 

[nibblenuts]

When is the last time that you defragmented your machine? I have seen many a laptop slow to a crawl because this has never been done. Also try cleaning out your temp folder, temporary internet files and uninstall any programs that you never use. Personally I would try this rather than reinstall everything.

 

[bacillus]

also try turning of unecessary startup programs in msconfig to save on resources! 🙂

 

[supernova87a]

Any other tips on how to keep my favorite apps if I do a reinstall?

 

[guptasa1]

The bad news is you probably can't, which may or may not be a big problem for you. I'd see if I could get all the applications you *really* need from another source first. I doubt there's a reliable way to back those up. If you copy the entire directory of them, some of them *might* be able to work and rebuild the registry enteries, but that's really pushing it, and I'm sure many of them wouldn't. Sorry I can't be more help with that.

guptasa1