i have a dell pc and i want to get rid of a lot of things that are not necessary that is on my pc, if i do new windows will this give me a fresh start?  what do you recommend i do to clean out things that i dont use on my pc, folders that i dont even know what they are, and a lot of programs i dont even know what they are suppose to be used for, i am confused of what has to stay on the pc to make it work right and what i can get rid of, thank you for any help
217549
if you want to personally chat with me (dandyrandy20042005) i can walk you step by step to get your computer back to normal !!
141139
Make sure you do system maintenance once a week or so.  Run Disc Cleanup on C drive - and make sure to run DeFrag.  Make sure to reboot after doing those two things (in that order).  Memory should be AT LEAST 512 if you want to use XP at any reasonable speed.  Of course, you really didn't tell me about your computer.  The more memory - the better.  If you computer is newer, a gig of ram is becoming standard (depending on the chip).\n\nPersonally, I use registry mechanic to clean my registry.  One more thing is that if you're using Norton, it is notorious for slowing down your computer.  I heard that PC-cillin is a good alternative.
401506
ok first off, have you any software that can find and delete redundant files on your pc, if not try cc cleaner, free and awesome, secondly defragment the drive if you haven't already, thirdly try and limit the amount of things running in the background as this is guarenteed to slow things down. If you have taken all these steps already with no improvement it may be worth getting a new mainboard, CPU and memory possibly a new hard drive aswell. all in all cost around £200-£300.
367143
If you have a HP or Dell (& others I'm not aware of) then systems like these have options to set it back to factory settings, erasing all the junk you accumulate along the way.  However if you don't have the recovery disks it prompts you to create then don't do it.  Reformatting involves wiping everything from the hard drive and to get your pc working again you will need an operating system disk like windows XP or Vista (if your computer is powerful enough and when it's out)  If you are unsure or don't know anyone to do it for you, ask a local computer shop if they will install an operating system for you after you have formatted the drive.
495835
Put your Dell System Restore CD in your CD-ROM drive, and restart the computer. The CD will give you options to reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows. Sadly everything on your computer will be wiped out (music, photos, etc) if you haven't be able to back it up.
470197
~ Would you please edit your post and give more details about what you're trying to do ?\n\nAre you trying to reinstall your operating system, drivers ???\n\nPlease be as specific as possible, so we can better assist you.\n\n\n\nEDIT:\n~ I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, things came up.\n\nFirst, backup all your important files before you do anything else!!\n\nHave you tried/considered  a Repair install? \nI would try that first.\n\nThis is from Dell's site:\nhttp://service.dell.com/dell/kb/tech_support/view_article/1,,6418+6429+18287,00.html\n\nAlso here:\nhttp://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm\n\nIf that isn't what you need, then here's a couple of sites that provide a  "step by step" for a reinstall. \n\nJust remember if your XP CD doesn't have SP2 on it, this too will need to be reinstalled.\n\nhttp://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp\n\nhttp://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm\n\nhttp://www.cyberwalker.net/columns/aug02/010802.html\n\nDon't forget when you do a reinstall that you have to "re-activate" your copy of Windows with Microsoft.\n\n~ I sincerely wish you the best with this endeavor, and I hope it goes easily for you. :)
313327
Formatting would be your best bet. Though there are certain commercial softwares which do this for you and then rewrite junk on the drive so that all previous info is lost but since nothing important is there a simple reformat would do. In order to do it you would have to boot into the command prompt. if you are using a certain brand like Dell or HP they have system restore which allows you to reset your computer to the day you bought it thus in effect starting out on a clean slate for any new user.\nI would personally recommend this(provided of course you have this feature)\n\nCheck out the link on Cnet about deleting data, it also has some links for softwares which will help you erase your HardDisk.
80041
Microsoft has come out with a great tool for managing your computer better.  The tool is called OneCare and can be found at http://www.windowsonecare.com/.  \n\nDownload and install the tool and it will run on a schedule to clean-up your hard drives, check for potential virus threats, defrag your hard drives, and a few other things like system backup.  I hope this helps!
73710
Yes, it is "safe" to delete these files. Many times, Disk Cleanup does not recover everything. The only problem that deleting these TEMPorary files is that--as was said before me--software puts files here to assist in un/installating of programs and such, and if you attempt to re-install these programs, they will take a bit longer. But the fact of the matter is that many times these files are useless and take up space unnecessarily after installation...\n\nShucks, even more common is the fact that these files aren't ever used again even if you do reinstall a program, for the script that is run when you click "Setup" or "Install" will extract all of these files again anyway. It would be nice if programmers gave you an option, which would make these temp files more useful, but hey, when I reinstall my programs, I like for all of the files to be fresh from the cabinet!\n\nGo for it, partner... \n\nHope this helps...
259916
I would do a system clean up. Then I would defrag and remove programs I dont need from the computer. Also you might have a lot of start up programs that turn on when your windows start up.\n\nGo to Start Menu, click RUN. \nType msconfig and hit enter. \nYou should see a pop up box.\nGo to Startup tab and uncheck all the programs that you do not want on your start up. \nThis will prevent those programs from starting up when you restart windows. \nThis will usually make your computer go a little faster if you have do not have much memory on your computer.\n\nI know for a fact it will help a lot if you put more memory (RAMS) into your computer. Go to Control Panel and then go to Systems. Find out how much memory you have. If you only have like 128MB RAM, then an upgrade is definitely needed.
234065
as you load more and more stuff onto your pc, there is more and more stuff that windows has to search through to find the files it needs to start up.\n\nI would consider getting an application which can defrag your startup files and place them at the start of the drive.\n\nThere could be a corrupted driver that ste startup struggles to process which could slow the whole thing down. Defrag the drive and see if it starts up any faster. the Defrager built into windows XP does an aokay job but i might want to consider something better like O & O DEFRAG.\n\nhttp://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodefrag/pro/\n\nor Iolo's system mechanic 6 also has a whole host of features to fixup some problems\nhttp://www.iolo.com/sm/index.cfm\n\nUnfortunatly, i know of know free, better defraging alternatives to MS Defrag.\n\nOn a lighter note you might want to see what's starting up and in what order.\nhttp://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/LoadOrder.html\n\nIf you know how you should disable some of the unnesasary stuff that runs during startup. Goto START > RUN and type in MSconfig. Click on the STARTUP tab, and uncheck the items that you think/know are not neccasary for starting up.\n\nI hope that helps.
566915
i wouldnt put anything from your old pc on it you have a new one just start fresh and use your old one aswell
142880
My suggestion - if you're comfortable doing it - is to back up every important file you've got to a thumb drive, CD or whatever. Reformat your drive and do a clean install of Windows XP.\n\nI believe you get much more benefit from a clean start with a nice fresh defragmented hard drive\n\nMake sure:\n1. you know what you're doing\n2. your version of XP allows a new instal & isn't simply an upgrade\n3.  you've got the Windows 2000 boot disks http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q197063/\n4. you immediately install your antivirus after you install Win XP and before you reconnect to the internet\n5. you download all the latest Win XP patches and service as soon as you connect to the internet\n\nGood luck
218612
all of these are good ideals ----HOWEVER try this first...\n\nit is called PREFETCH----also ADD RAM\n\nWindows XP's Prefetch folder stores information about each program you launch; then, on subsequent restarts, XP uses the information in the folder to preload parts of those programs at boot time. Clean out the Prefetch folder periodically to keep boot times from dragging.\n\nOne of Microsoft's big selling points for Windows XP was that it loads applications much faster than its predecessors. To accomplish this feat, Windows XP uses what is called the "Prefetch technique," in which the operating system gathers information about each program that you launch and stores that information in the &#92;Windows&#92;Prefetch folder. Then on subsequent restarts, Windows XP uses the information in the Prefetch folder to essentially preload parts of those programs at boot time. Thus, when you launch your application, it appears to load really fast.\n\nHowever, the Prefetch folder can accumulate too much information over time. This makes the operating system so busy loading bits and pieces of lots of applications into memory that it ends up slowing down the boot process. Fortunately, you can clean out the Prefetch folder at any time. Follow these four steps:\n\n1.       Access the Run dialog box by pressing [Windows]R. \n\n2.       Type Prefetch in the Open text box and click OK. \n\n3.       Press [Ctrl]A to select all the files. \n\n4.       Press [Delete]. \n\nAs you use your system, Windows XP will rebuild the contents of the Prefetch folder.\n\nHope this helps - might be some what of a solution....A+, MCSA, CCNA, Security +, Net + (the reason i know this answer)
291425
The best thing you can do is reinstall Windows.  You can't do this without being confident that all your data will be properly backed up, and that you know how to find all the drivers.  \n\nDell makes it easier than any other manufacturer to find all the up-to-date drivers all in one spot, simply by entering in your Service Tag on the back of the computer, but still if you're inexperienced, you might be confused by the chip-set and video driver set-up; you might not remember where you got all the software you're using; etc.\n\nTypically you don't benefit much by upgrading, except maybe quadrupling your RAM or buying a significantly larger hard drive.  Performance is almost always dependent on the relationship between the processor (which can't be upgraded by much), the speed of the hard drive (which is almost identical for every PC these days), and the operating system.\n\nNow my advice if you are running Windows ME is DUMP IT IMMEDIATELY and buy XP Pro.  That will do you a ton of good right there.  But if you've already got Win2K or XP, you won't see that much of a jump.  \n\nThe main thing is to have a good, solid installation of Windows running, virus-free and unclogged.\n\nThings you can do without re-installing Windows:  delete all unnecessary large files.  Do an advanced search on your C drive for files over 10 MB, and if you see things you know you don't need, scrap them.  Also, clean out your browser caches.  Delete all files in folders called "Temp" or "Tmp".  Uninstall all suspicious programs (Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs) and all unnecessary programs.\n\nHit Ctrl+Alt+Del and see what programs are running in the background.  You can do a Google for each file name, and find out if it's a Windows system file or something evil that is slowing you down.  One example is Save.com or Save.exe (or just "Save").  That guy is very evil.\n\nActually, better yet... if you're not an AOL customer, download and install the latest version of AOL Security Edition, create a free temporary account, and then go to keyword: Virus, and download their anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware suite.  Install, reboot, run fully at least twice, then uninstall the entire program.  This works really well.  Or, if you have access to all the latest from McAfee, you can go that route too.  \n\nNext, if you're not using Win2k, you should be able to do \n\nStart>Run>type "MSCONFIG">press [Enter]\n\nand look in the Startup group for files that are started up every time you enter Windows.  Just uncheck the unwanted files and click "ok".\n\nAlso, if you run into problems, and you have the original Windows installation disk, try this trick:\n\nStart>Run>type "SFC">[Enter] \n\n...and replace any corrupt OS files.\n\nThat's all I can think of right off.  Email me with questions.
427529
You should do the following simple steps:\n\n1. Run Disk clean-up. Then delete unused files. (start>program>accessories>sys... tools> disk clean-up)\n2. Check for disk errors. (right click on a disk-drive>properties>tools >error checking, then restart)\n3. Run disk defragmenter, don't care what it says, just run it. \n4. Delete cookies. (you can do it from your browser options: tools>internet options)\n5. Delete cache or temporary files. (you can do it from your browser options) or, click on 'start", 'run', type 'temp' then click ok. Whatever shows up, just delete.\n6. Delete all history files. (you can do it from your browser options, or, CTRL + H, then delete)\n7. Empty recycle bin.\n8. Delete unused icons & short-cuts from anywhere including desktop.\n9. Uninstall any software or game that you use only once or twice in a week.\n10. Delete temporary internet files. (you can do it from your browser options: tools>internet options)\n11. Delete all recent files. (click on start, click run, then type "recent", delete all the files which show up)\n12. Run a full virus scan. If any threat found, eliminate that completely.\n13. Run a software which can remove any spyware or adware.\nLike: Ad Aware, Windows defender etc.\n\nIf you did these all at the same time, restart your computer. All these to be done once in a week if possible, depending on the frequency of use of your PC.\n\n■ Updating: (Needed only when updates are available)\n14. Update your Windows by installing latest updates.\n15. Update your audio & video drivers.\n16. Update softwares, browsers, games that you use.\n\n\n■ It is, however, highly recommended to upgrade your system RAM upto 1024 mb. 256 mb (it's not kb) is not enough for these days. \nA 512 mb of RAM module should cost no more than $50.
17600
Well, I'd consider having Firefox to be a good thing. It's a far superior browser to IE. As far as cleaning crap off the pc, I'm not really sure what you mean but here are some ideas. If you are referring to the web browser, from the Tools menu choose Options. Then click the Privacy button and you will be presented with tabs for History, Cache, and Cookies, all of which can be cleared from this window.\n\nIf it's your computer in general you want to clean up, definitely defrag for starters. Defrag by clicking Start -> Run... and typing "defrag" in the field. You need to have 15 percent of your hard drive free for defrag to work. To clean up your hard drive, go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panels -> Add/Remove programs. Go down the list and find programs that take up a lot of space that you never use. Assuming you have XP, it provides the date the program was last used, which is helpful. Finally you should consider using some anti-spyware software if you don't already. I use AdAware and Spybot, both of which are free programs. \n\nGood luck! If my answer was helpful, please remember to consider selecting it as the best one in 24 hours. :-)