How to Format Your Hard Drive and Reload Your Operating System

Despite all of the wonderful (and not so wonderful) antivirus and firewall software on the market, the simple fact remains that shit happens, and computers often wind up with problems. Computer issues rank among the greatest frustrations known to man, but fortunately, there is often something to be done. Read this article to learn how to apply the principle of Noah's Arc to your computer, format your hard disk, and start fresh.

Picture this scenario: you bought a computer about a year ago, and since then it has just kept getting slower. You have downloaded things to it, installed a few programs from the internet, not been too careful, and perhaps even acquired some spyware. Most likely, your computer is now exceedingly slow, and you want to chuck it out the window every time you try to do anything with it. The best solution to your problems is to reformat and reinstall everything.

Start by finding your Windows install CD. Most likely it came with your computer for use on occasions such as this. If it didn't, however, don't despair. If you can't get your hands on the CD, all the files you need are already on your computer. I will get to that in a moment. More importantly, make sure you have the driver CD that came with your computer. You will need this to get your newly reincarnated acquainted with all of its parts. Also, make a list of all the programs you have on your computer, and find all the install files/CDs. You will have to reinstall the whole business.

Then comes the process of backing up all your files. Put the whole business on a CDs, DVDs, or an external hard drive, if you have one. Make two backups of anything important. Remember, everything on your computer is soon to be gone forever.

Then comes the flood. Pop in the Windows CD and restart. Push the key to start the boot menu when your computer first starts up (usually something like F12, but your computer will specify). Boot from the CD, and off you go. If you do not have the CD, go through the boot menu until you find the "return drive to factory condition" button. Many computers have it, and using it will reload everything using reinstall files located on a hidden partition. Most computers have it, but not all.

When Windows is installing, tell it you want to do a complete reinstall, not just a repair. Tell it to format your hard drive, and don't settle for the quick option. Expect the whole install operation to take several hours. Fortunately, you won't need to babysit it.

When windows starts up, open the device manager (my computer/properties/hardware/device manager) and find all the hardware entries with the yellow question marks. Put in the driver CD and install all these drivers, one by one. It might take a while, but when you're done, your computer will once again be able to use its WIFI card, its graphics card, and its printer. Once again, all will be well with the world.

Next comes your software. Once again, go through the whole list and reinstall. It will take a while. When you are done, you can reload your data. You will notice that you won't have to put every last thing back on your computer. Old pieces of clutter can just stay on the CD, and don't ever have to live on your computer again. Just remember to put back everything you need. It's easy to lose files in this operation.

You're done! Your computer is as good as new, (or better, since it now doesn't have all that bundled software) and you are ready to go again. Tell yourself that you will take better care of it this time, but, of course, expect to do it all again next year.