Reformatting HD

[jk88]

Are there any downsides to reformatting my hard drive to remove all the unnecessary programs that come with my laptop?

 

[WorldIndustries]

Biggest one that I can think of is that you have to reinstall and reconfigure XP all over again, as well as reinstalling all your drivers and programs.

 

[talldude123]

PROS - All viruses, trojans, spyware that you could've had are all removed, and gives you a full HD!

CONS - No more programs are installed, no music, documents on it. You should back those up to USB memory key, HD, or DVD anyways.

 

[jk88]

Do you think its better to just reformat my HD so that I can remove all programs that came with laptop or should I just remove them manually through add and remove programs? Is also using add and remove programs just as effective as reformatting?

 

[Elbatrop1]

Using Add/Remove leaves clutter in the registry. If you use a program like "Your Uninstaller" you can get rid of all that clutter that would have previously been left. With less junk in the registry, Windows seems to respond a bit better, especially if this 'junk' is left to clutter for a while.

 

[jk88]

So if i were to use this "Your UnInstaller" then it would be just as effective if i were to reformat?

 

[Elbatrop1]

I'd say you would probably get a similar result. The only problem is that that program is not free. However, you could probably find a similar program that is

 

[jk88]

Do you know of any program that has the same function but free?

 

[jk88]

I've tried googling it but no luck. They are all trials. Anyone know of a good free program that is reliable that would do a clean uninstall?

 

[bear85]

best thing i would suggest would be to uninstall the programs you dont want, then download this program,

tweaknow regcleaner std (free) it will clear registry of unused and dead registry files from programs uninstalled for freeeeee

goto www.download.com and search for it there

Then go to program files in c drive and delete old folders of programs just deleted, not much space hoggin buit i just like to get rid of em personally!