Hello im a beginner and i want to know how to reformat my computer using Windows 7 ultimate, please teach me the step by step procedure i have here cd's of nvidia and emaxxx i dont know what is that should i install those two things before reformatting the computer?? i dont know what to do, im wasting so much money on hiring someone to reformat our computer. Thanks!
wallet123 15 Junior Poster
JorgeM 958 Problem Solver Team Colleague Featured Poster
During a clean install of Windows 7, you have the opportunity to format the drive.
Reverend Jim 4,966 Hi, I'm Jim, one of DaniWeb's moderators. Moderator Featured Poster
If I might add my recommendation:
My laptop has two internal hard drives. The first is partitioned as C (60 gig) and D (400 gig) (approximately). I have Windows 7 Pro and all my applications installed on C. I store no data on C that I am not willing to lose. I use Acronis to iimage my C partition. Acronis is a commercial product but I understand that Macrium Reflect comes in a free version and has been recommended by several sites. This is my process for setting up.
- Wipe C partition
- Install and configure Windows 7 (activate)
- Install all driver software
- Install all Windows/driver updates
- Install disk imaging software
- Create basic system image
- Install anti-virus
- Install most used applications
- Apply all outstanding anti-virus/application updates
- Freeze Windows updates (details below)
- Install and run CCleaner to remove all temporary files
- Create final system image
At this point you have two images. The basic system image is your "I want to go back to a completely clean system. This one likely won't be used much. The second image is the important one. At some point you may find yourself infected with a trojan/virus/etc. Or your system may just be running slow. I find Windows does that after many months of use. Or you may have installed so much software that your system has gotten too cluttered. As long as you have kept all of your data on another drive (D, for example) it is a simple matter to refresh your system by doing the following:
- Restore the final system image to C
- Apply all outstanding Windows/Anti-Virus/driver/app updates
- Run CCleaner
- Create new final system image
At this point you will have a refreshed and peppy system. As for the "Freeze" I mentioned earlier - Microsoft updates can be uninstalled. To support this capability, Windows has to keep around a lot of uninstall information. It is possible to freeze your system (most useful after applying service packs). Freezing the system throws away all of this undo information and can free up a lot of space on your C drive. To do a freeze you must follow these steps:
- Open a command line shell as Administrator
- Run the following command
- DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /SpSuperseded
Do not do anything until after the command completes. Don't panic. It will take several minutes to run. It might be interesting to check the free space on C before and after you do the freeze.
wallet123 commented: Thanks sir, im not american and im 16 years old and i hope you dont mind if i want to ask some further questions.. (the fact that i dont understand some and i havent heard or encountered some of the things that u have stated) what do you mean by "Wipe C p +2
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