What Can I Expect From Reformatting?

Question

I know this question seems very layman but I really don't know much about how these things work. I do know something is very wrong with my laptop and according to my son who knows more than I... 'mom your computer is messed up you need to reformat it'. I saved all of the pics and files I need, now I'd like to know what to expect after reformatting. I realize everything will be gone... what about my outlook express? Will that still be there or do I have to go download it somewhere (see, told you... don't know much!) I know I need to do this I'm just nervous about trying to being able to access things once it's done.

I appreciate any help or advice you may have... thanks =o)

Answer 1

First off, I want to make sure you understand the difference between a Format, and a Restore.  If you format your hard-drive it erases everything, the OS, all data, absoluetly everything.  If you have a virus sometimes this is the only way to completely clean a drive.  You then have to reload Windows, Drivers, Programs, Settings, etc.  If you restore your computer (non-destrictive restore) it will bring it back to like the day you first turned it on, but it will keep your factory programs, you will still lose your data though.  Before you reformat you need to make sure you have the restore software that came with your PC this varies by manufacturer as a CD, DVD, set of CD's or a specific section of your hard-drive known as a restore partition (usually accessed by pressing F11 or similar during startup).  You also want to make sure you have the Windows Key (a long code usually on the CD sleeve, owners manual, or back of the PC that "unlocks" windows)  You want to make backups of all your files you want to keep.  Important: After you reinstall Windows (or whatever operating system you have), install anti-virus software (AVG Antivirus is a decent free one, or Norton is ok) and before you move your saved files, scan them with the anti-virus software first to ensure your not putting bad files back on the new setup.  As far as outlook, that comes with Windows however you will need to know your name, password and account settings and redo them once you restore as they will be erased.  Old messages will also be erased.  

A bit of advice before you do anything.....purchase a USB portable Hard drive that is as big, or bigger than your current drive and a program called norton ghost.  This program will make an exact copy (image) of your current hard-drive (backup), if something goes wrong or you find out later that reformatting your PC wasn't a good idea, you can run that image copy back and will have lost nothing.  I do this on every computer I work on just incase.  Plus after the fact assuming the recovery goes ok, every month or so you can run this backup and always have a backup incase of complete drive failure.  Believe me the cost of norton ghost and a USB hard drive is well worth the aggrivation it can save you.  

Furthermore, it can be alot easier and solve most of your problems by doing the following:

1. Download Ad Aware 2008 from www.downloads.com (it should be on the top of their list), install, update and run a full scan with this program, erase EVERYTHING that it finds.

2. Download AVG Anti-Virus, install, update and run a full scan with this program, also erase everything that it finds.

3.  Go to Internet Explorer and go to tools (top right corner in IE7) and look for "Windows Updates", click this and click on Express download everything that comes up, this will take a while and require several reboots.

4.  Go to start, click on run and type msconfig and press enter, in the window that comes up the last tab will say startup, click that and uncheck everything in that window, accept and reboot (anything windows needs to run, will reload, any programs you dont need, spyware, etc will not), once it reboots a warning box will come up, you can check do not show me again and close it and it will go away in the future.

If you do those things you should clear anything "bad" on your computer plus have free spyware and virus protection.  Also be up to date with windows.

Lastly you can go to start, programs, accessories, system tools and click on disk defragmentor, let this run overnight and you should notice a good improvement in performance.

Answer 2

In laymans terms, "reformatting" means to wipe out data ready to start over from scratch.

Sayings like"Mum, your Microsoft Windows computer is messed up you need to reformat it" don't actually make a lot of sense. In reality you'd want to reinstall the operating system and not simply reformat.

If you aren't happy playing about then simply take the computer to a reputable service company.

Answer 3

Reformatting will essentially remove ALL DATA on the drive. After the drive is re-formatted, then you will need to re-install all your software. The operating system (Windows) and all your programs - including your Outlook Express. Your operating system should come with Outlook Express (depends on which version you have)

Go ahead and ask your son to give you a hand in doing this.

Answer 4

Outlook Express data will be gone.

If you reformat, everything is gone... the OS, files, all of it.

Before reformatting, make a back up of all your data.  You might be better off asking someone to do this for you.  Also, make sure you locate all the cd's that came with your laptop including the Operating System CD.  This is essential to getting a working laptop back.

Good luck!

Answer 5

ALL your emails, documents , pictures and programs will be lost. ALL the drivers for the hardware may need to be re-installed. I have never had to re-format a machine to get it back into full working order, except if a hard drive has physically failed. This is a method used by people who do not really know how to clean up and  repair systems. Scanning with good anti-spyware and anti-virus software, then intelligent use of a good registry cleaner like ccleaner.exe can nearly always restore it to a good working state. In very rare cases it may be required to do a repair re-install of the operating system to recover from corrupted files, this is not the same as formatting.

Answer 6

Reformatting will basically wipe out everything and give you a fresh start including removing any spyware and viruses that may be causing you some problems.  It is something that probably all users should do periodically as most people are downloading files from the internet and installing programs that may contain this "malware". Reformatting can also speed up your computer again and improve access times.

The only drawback of course is the time necessary to do the reformat and then re-installation of your program and restoration of your data.  In the end however the benefits far outweigh the cons.  If your needs are simple I would recommend replacing Microsoft Windows with Ubuntu or Kubuntu (Linux-based) and use programs like OpenOffice and Evolution. Linux is far less subject to degradation, malware and other problems.  If you have to reformat anyways its worth a try to see how you like it - you may be pleasantly surprised!