Format & Reinstall, or Reinstall over existing XP?

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CiscoJP

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I've been having some internet connectivity problems lately, and I believe it's due to some nasty spyware. I've already gone through all the steps to correct this (checking my DSL speed, anti-spyware scans, anti-virus scans, doing it all in safe mode, even reset my winsock.dll, etc.) but I'm still having problems with slow browsers. So now I think I'm faced with reinstalling Windows XP. My question is, should I do a format & reinstall, or is it better to reinstall Windows over my existing version? I have a Compaq Presario, and it comes with a Recovery CD. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
if the "Recovery CD" is Windows xp then do a FULL FORMAT
reinstall isnt very nice is scrwes up all your files and isnt as good as a clean install.
 
Ok, so with the recovery CD, I want to do a Full System Recovery, which erases and reformats the hard drive, right?
 
yep!

i think "recovery CD" is just windows xp, so yes chuk the cd in and boot from it then follow the steps! it will give you the option to format your hard drive (format it to NTFS)

-make sure you have backed up all importand stuff-
 
Cool thanks. It's been a long time since I had to do a Recovery. And reading the forums, some people say it's better to just install XP over the existing one, without formatting. That didn't really sit right with me, because as you said, too much chance to screw up the files and maybe not fix everything I need fixed. I'd rather just start fresh, and be more vigilant in my virus/spyware protections moving forward.
 
SHAWN said:
Starting fresh is always better. Recovery and copying over just carry over your problems

That's what I figured. I'll make sure I use the full system restore, which formats the drive before reinstalling Windows.
 
CiscoJP said:
That's what I figured. I'll make sure I use the full system restore, which formats the drive before reinstalling Windows.

Not being picky or anything, but I think your getting System Restore & a Fresh Installation mixed up.

A System Restore is where you roll back your PC's registry and user setting to a prvious date, usually to solve driver issues. It doesn't involve formatting the HDD.

A Fresh Installation on the other hand is where your HDD is completely formatted [ rendering any previous data un-readable without specialist equipment ] and the O/S re-written to the HDD.
 
Catbert said:
Not being picky or anything, but I think your getting System Restore & a Fresh Installation mixed up.

A System Restore is where you roll back your PC's registry and user setting to a prvious date, usually to solve driver issues. It doesn't involve formatting the HDD.

A Fresh Installation on the other hand is where your HDD is completely formatted [ rendering any previous data un-readable without specialist equipment ] and the O/S re-written to the HDD.

Sorry, I used the wrong term here. Compaq calls their disks "System Recovery" disks. I accidentally used "System Restore" here, which is the MS term for rolling back the computer. But the Compaq disks DO format the drive first, and then reinstall XP fresh.
 
CiscoJP said:
Sorry, I used the wrong term here. Compaq calls their disks "System Recovery" disks. I accidentally used "System Restore" here, which is the MS term for rolling back the computer. But the Compaq disks DO format the drive first, and then reinstall XP fresh.

No need to apologise, we all knew what you ment, just thought best to inform you had used the wrong termanology for future reference.

Most installation disks give you the option to either upgrade or do a fresh install. As has already been mention, it is best to do a fresh install, sometimes not doing so causes conflicts as drivers are only altered, not updated.
 
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