Erasing a PC

[shakalaka]

Okay guys so my fiancee's laptop is being a POS lately and I told her to back all the important things up so that we can reset everything and set it up as a new computer. I did this on my Mac a little while ago and it works a lot better. So after I reset her laptop and start fresh, I will install AVG and some other stuff that will help protect it down the line (recommendations?).

The big question is, how do I reset the whole thing? What is the best/easiest way to do this? I want it to be like they come out of the box brand new so any and all garbage is gone. Thanks for the help guys!

[theken]

Format hard drives reinstall windows

[Mista Bob]

Originally posted by theken
Format hard drives reinstall windows

This.

And AVG is alright, still not sure what the best free AV software is now (I use AVG).
But should also have malware bytes along with that as that will pick up a lot of stuff other programs never do.

[firebane]

Originally posted by theken
Format hard drives reinstall windows

Bad idea. The computer should either have a factory partition which can be booted from or the manufacturer put a program to create recovery media.

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by theken
Format hard drives reinstall windows

Yea see that's the thing. I haven't used a Window's computer in over 5 years and have no idea what you mean. I would appreciate a link to some sort of step-by-step instructions.


Originally posted by firebane


Bad idea. The computer should either have a factory partition which can be booted from or the manufacturer put a program to create recovery media.

Just as above. Have no idea how to do any of this. So please instructions would be much appreciated.

[shakalaka]

Originally posted by Mista Bob


This.

And AVG is alright, still not sure what the best free AV software is now (I use AVG).
But should also have malware bytes along with that as that will pick up a lot of stuff other programs never do.

I was just thinking of grabbing a full version of AVG from the Torrents or something. I don't know of any other AV software.

[G-ZUS]

Do you have a windows cd? if so pop it in the drive and restart/turn on the pc. then it will say "press any button to boot from cd". It will then take you to windows setup, once it gets to the screen where it asks you what drive you want to install windows on, click on a drive and at the bottom it'll show you a bunch of options, with format being one of them

[zipdoa]

Get a USB drive, get an image of windows, use the window USB boot loader tool to create a bootable drive out of the USB key, set the BIOS to seek your USB drive to boot first, restart computer, hit the any key when it asks if you'd like to boot from the USB drive, format all harddrives during setup and delete partitions, recreate as one partition, install windows, voila.

Or just PM me and bring your laptop by, I'll do it for you.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Don't blow away the entire thing unless you are 100% sure you can get all the factory stuff back.

Laptops often have reovery partitions pre-installed, and those also contain all the drivers for little stuff that are probably super annoying to get again, such as drivers for your trackpad, keyboard lighting, ethernet, bluteooth, hotkeys, fan controllers, etc.

If you have the exact model of the laptop, you can probably look up how to do a full reset/restore. Sometimes you need to do it from outside of windows, some of them you can do right from windows.

I wouldn't just pop in a windows CD and let it completely format your entire computer unless there is no way for you to recover from a partition.

[sabad66]

what kind of laptop is it? need the exact model number.

different laptops have different methods of initiating the recovery partition.

don't bother with torrenting AVG full. Just download and install MSE (microsoft security essentials) and use that. it will get the job done, it's free, and doesn't slow down your computer as much as some of the other AVs

[Mista Bob]

Nah, don't waste your time with MSE. Just get the free version of AVG, nothing wrong with it.
MS themselves have said MSE isn't that great at detecting stuff, because it isn't.

[Xaroxantu Zero]

Originally posted by sabad66
don't bother with torrenting AVG full. Just download and install MSE (microsoft security essentials) and use that. it will get the job done, it's free, and doesn't slow down your computer as much as some of the other AVs

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131023163224/animaljam/images/f/f9/Nonono_cat.gif

MSE is nowhere near as safe as it used to be. I've seen too many people getting infected by malware, and MSE completely fails to detect or clean them.

See this link for better alternatives: http://www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/windows-7-the-best-security-packages-at-the-end-of-mainstream-support/

[firebane]

Originally posted by Mista Bob
Nah, don't waste your time with MSE. Just get the free version of AVG, nothing wrong with it.
MS themselves have said MSE isn't that great at detecting stuff, because it isn't.

LOL AVG is a bloated pig. MSE is far easier on the resources.

[sabad66]

The free AV argument is akin to Rogers vs. Telus or Android vs. iphone.

everyone will have their opinions based on their personal experience but at the end of the day they all have their positives and negatives.

For me, resource use is the biggest thing. I'd rather have 85% protection but 95% speed vs. 95% protection with 85% speed.

[revelations]

MSE is about as useful as Windows Notepad for protection. I've cleaned hundreds of machines with it installed and its happy as ever doing nothing.

AVG is considered consumer bloatware and will slow down your system unless you tell it to JUST run a manual scan once a week for eg.



ESET online scanner or Malwarebytes. You cant lose with either, and both are free to run manually.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I've been using MSE ever since AVG and Avast were very noticeably slowing down my computer (I used to switch between AVG and Avast). I realize it may not be the best AV, but it's been working great for me, and I can't even tell when it updates itself. My biggest complaint with other AV's were super annoying updates that took forever and hogged resources (no it wasn't scanning). Regardless of what program I have been using, I have never got a virus for as long as I have been using a computer, so maybe I have just gotten complacent but it's been working great for me so far.

[jacky4566]

Back to the Question.

OP here is a link for steps on how to reformat a hard drive.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows/installing-reinstalling-windows#1TC=windows-7

When you get to step 8 delete all the existing partitions and install windows to the "empty" space.

[codetrap]

.

[Swank]

Given the age of the laptop I'd take this opportunity to upgrade to a solid state drive depending on how much storage you need. This way you don't have to back up anything, but you would need to buy a new drive, I think you can get 120GB for about $70. The bonus is SSD have no moving parts so they are silent, use less battery, generate less heat.

Sorry if this is over your head, you can find lots of 'how to' vids if you want to research this option further. I just did this in my GF's 7-8 year old laptop and it's as fast as her brand new laptop with a regular hard drive. It's now my garage laptop!

[Seth1968]

Antivirus software is just about the biggest scam in the computer industry. Even Symantec has finally admitted it.

http://dottech.org/157355/symantec-admits-anti-virus-software-is-no-longer-effective-at-stoping-virus-attacks/

Go to the manufacturers site and view the manual. It will tell you how to restore the laptop to factory condition. This can easily be done from within Windows and/or a hot key at boot.

[carson blocks]

Originally posted by Seth1968
Antivirus software is just about the biggest scam in the computer industry. Even Symantec has finally admitted it.

Computer security is about a layered swiss cheese model. You don't rely on any one aspect or layer to be anywhere near 100%. I don't love AV software, but it's part of a responsible approach to IT security. Too many hack IT guys spout shit advice like 'don't use AV' which just isn't a good idea for your average PC end user.

[Seth1968]

I'm not suggesting to not use an antivirus. I'm merely pointing out that an an antivirus program doesn't remotely protect a computer as well as most people believe.