Computer Gurus...help

[jtisdale]

I am having some issues with my 3. 5 yr old gateway. I am thinking about dumping everything, and then reinstalling windows. Will I loose everything? Which will be no big deal. Do you think it will help anything?



It wont defrag, it wont run scan disk, it is pretty slow, and I dont have a lot of crap on it either. Some software quit working, and after I uninstalled and tried to reinstal it, (the software) it wont work. Most everything else seems to work ok.



Ideas? I hate to take it in and spend a bunch of $$ on it. I plan on getting a new one in the spring.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jim

 

[TomGolden]

Well, over a couple of years, most PCs do tend to slow down, as files are added then deleted, hard drives become fragmented, and the way in which M/S file systems are laid out on the disks and read when you access the drive is a somewhat innefficiant algorithm, which means it gets slower over time.



Usually, unless there is actually a legitimate hardware problem with the system, reloading the OS is a decent thing to do and somewhat adviseable every couple years or so. Yes, you will lose everything on the system, as it will reformat the disk basically, when the OS is [re]loaded. But, if as you said, that isn't a big problem, I would say give it a shot.



Immediately after reloading the OS, the next things to do are as follows - in this order:



* Go to the Microsoft website and install any and all necessary service packs, patches and fixes that have been put out there since the version of the OS on your install CD was published.

* For all non-generic peripherals, such as video card, DVD drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse, joystick,... go to that manufacturers website and download their newest drivers.

* Reinstall whatever virus protection software you [hopefully] had on the system.



Oh, if you currently have a USB keyboard and/or mouse on the system, unless they came from Gateway with the system when brand new, you should temporarily replace them with a PS/2 type KB and mouse, as sometimes when reloading OS, the OS doesn't have the USB drivers loaded yet, and so it won't recognize that the system has either a KB or mouse, both of which are required for OS installation.



Hope this helps.



Tom

 

[jtisdale]

Yeah, that might be a problem, as my cable modem is connected via a usb post.



Thanks again.