Make your PC as good as new! Part 2
jjones | Guides | 03/03/2009 14:51pm
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Make your PC as good as new! Part 1
Does your PC seem slower, less stable than it used to be? Reinstalling Windows Vista could be the answer. But is it the right choice for you?
50 ways to make Windows Vista faster
Discover tips, tweaks and techniques for speeding up your Windows Vista-powered PC.
20 technology myths exposed
We sort out the facts from the fiction
6 brand new, but unmissable tips, for any Windows Vista user
Use these tips and your Windows Vista experience will be more rewarding and safer as a result.
Back up and reinstall in 10 easy steps
1 SAVE YOUR SETTINGS
Back up Windows settings and all your important data with Windows Easy Transfer, or the back-up tool of your choice.
2 EVERYTHING TO HAND
Locate all your existing application CDs, registration keys and installation files for easy reinstallation later.
3 DRIVER DISCS
Find the original driver CDs that came with your computer, and any other drivers for hardware you’ve installed or updated later.
4 LATEST UPDATES
If you’ve a pre-Service Pack 1 Windows Vista DVD then track down an SP1 disc, or download the stand-alone version to avoid Windows Update delays.
5 WINDOWS VISTA
Find your Windows Vista DVD and product key. If you don’t have a DVD then read your computer’s manual and make sure you understand any system recovery procedure.
6 DECISION TIME
Think about whether you’re performing an upgrade or clean reinstallation. Either can lose important data, so check one last time that you’ve backed up everything you need.
7 REINSTALLATION
Reinstall Windows Vista. We’ve provided basic instructions here but the set-up wizard has more information – follow those links if you need more help.
8 AVOID HARDWARE HASSLES
Reinstall any drivers to get your hardware working first. Internet access is particularly important, as you’ll need that to get advice on any problems you have with the rebooted PC.
9 PERFECT PROGRAMS
Reinstall your applications. Or, if you only performed an upgrade reinstallation and they’re all still there, test them to ensure they’re all running properly.
10 BACK TO WORK
Use Windows Easy Transfer (or your preferred back-up utility) to restore your Windows settings and data, getting your PC back into full working order.
Save your settings
Easily back up settings, emails and data
1 WINDOWS EASY TRANSFER Close all programs, then click Start, type ‘Windows Easy Transfer’ and press Enter. Click Next > Start a new transfer, then select My old computer – you want to save settings from this Windows installation, then reinstall them later.
2 MEDIA MASTER Click Use a CD, DVD or other removable media then choose how you’d like to save your data: to a CD or DVD, USB drive or external or network drive. The best choice depends on how much you’re backing up, but it could be many gigabytes.
3 DATA DECISIONS Choose to save All user accounts, files and settings and you’ll see how much disc space this requires. Too much? Click Customize and clear the boxes next to anything you don’t need, but remember, anything you don’t back up may be lost forever.
4 COLLECT AND SAVE Windows Easy Transfer will now collect the files and settings you’ve specified, then save them all. Don’t run any other program while it’s going or the transfer will stop. Be patient, and your data and settings will soon be safely backed up.
Save your drivers
A quick way to prevent reinstallation hassles
The Windows set-up process won’t necessarily recognise all your hardware. You could find after reinstalling that your wireless network adaptor no longer works, for instance, which will mean you can’t get online to download a new driver for it. Oops.
It’s absolutely vital that you find all the drivers for your system, then. Locate the discs that came with your computer and any hardware you’ve bought since. Or go online to download the latest version (follow the Support link at the manufacturer’s web site and look for driver-related information). Copy everything you find onto a CD or DVD.
There are also programs that can help. DriverMax (www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax), for instance, can export all your current drivers to a folder, which in theory should make it very easy to reinstall them later. In practice, your hardware may need other files that DriverMax and similar programs won’t recognise, though, so I wouldn’t rely on them completely. But with the original driver discs, latest versions and DriverMax files on a handy DVD, you should be able to cope with any hardware issue after your reinstall.
DRIVE-BY DriverMax can export all your drivers to a folder, making them easy to restore later
Restore your data
What to do once Windows Vista is reinstalled
1 CHECK YOUR HARDWARE If you have hardware issues then there’s probably a driver problem. Reinstall your original device software to fix things, or view Device Manager (type ‘devmgmt.msc’ into Start Search) to see if it’s identified any problem hardware.
2 BACK TO NORMAL Applications may not work properly, even if it was just an upgrade. Test your programs carefully to see if they’re okay. If there are any problems then don’t worry, that’s not unusual. Just remove and reinstall them and everything should return to normal.
3 DATA RECOVERY All your settings have been lost (data as well, if this was a clean reinstall), so restore those now. Open Windows Easy Transfer, click Next > Continue a transfer in progress > No…, choose where the data was saved and wait as it’s restored.
Five reasons to reinstall Windows
1 MORE SPEED
A clean reinstall will remove redundant Registry clutter, get rid of leftover drivers and more, delivering faster start-ups and shutdowns and better all round performance from your PC.
2 IMPROVED STABILITY
A corrupted Windows installation can fail unexpectedly and deliver all kinds of odd crashes, but you should find a fresh install much more reliable.
3 NO MALWARE
If your computer has been infected by something nasty without your antivirus software noticing, then a clean reinstall will get rid of it forever.
4 GET MORE DISC SPACE
Do nothing and your hard drive will gradually fill with leftover Windows and application remnants, but a clean reinstall will free up all that
space – ready for you to fill up again!
5 NO PROBLEM
You should see an end to niggling problems. Explorer behaves oddly sometimes? Windows Media Player won’t play some of your MPEGs? Reinstalling can fix many strange issues and helps get Windows Vista working properly again.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
