Should I reformat with a clean install?

[gujuguy007]

id like to reformat my laptop and install win xp pro. i have all the drivers. is there anything i should know before my reformat as this is my first time dealing with a laptop?

also are laptop hard drives supposed to be kind of noisy? maybe it's because laptops (compared to pc's) don't have a lot of fans running, but still annoys me.

 

[SJP0tato]

The main thing to be sure to have done ahead of time before a format/restore (if the laptop is your only available computer) is have a backup done, and get your networking drivers ahead of time. That way your modem/ethernet will still work, and you can download anything else that you might have forgotten. Torture is having all the drivers except networking ones when you're 50 miles from the nearest known computer. :Q

 

[vegetation]

Did you just get your system? If so, don't really need to reformat the drive. HP loads the system with very little junk on it compared to other manufacturers (i.e. Dell), so frankly I would just use the upgrade feature of Pro and be done with it. Benefit is all the drivers will move over as preloaded. Big time saver.

 

[gujuguy007]

Originally posted by: vegetation
Did you just get your system? If so, don't really need to reformat the drive. HP loads the system with very little junk on it compared to other manufacturers (i.e. Dell), so frankly I would just use the upgrade feature of Pro and be done with it. Benefit is all the drivers will move over as preloaded. Big time saver.

yes i did. the compaq did come with little software. i just wanted to squeeze out more hard drive space. i found some folders that were pretty big. There is a "SWSETUP" folder that contains all the setup programs that the laptop came with. I'm not sure if i should delete it. i could make a backup of it on cd just in case. There's also an I386 folder. Not sure if I should keep that also.

 

[vegetation]

SW setup is just the preloaded software, which nearly all should already be installed at the factory. You can safely delete. I386 is a windows installation source directory, which can be deleted as you have the original cd with the system. But if you need to load asian fonts or something, do that before you delete the directory.

 

[ShellGuy]

You always want to keep the I386 dir for the fact that if you need to install something that was on ur XP cd then you don't need the cd. Because all the info files that it should need are in that dir. As for the SW file you can back it up format and then just add back what you need from the cd. I always do a new install on systems i get. New or otherwise. Just for the fact that, that way i know what is on it and everything else. Also make sure to do backups weekly or how you see fit. Just make sure to do them..




Will G. <MCSE Win2k>