Tetzcatlipoca Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Windows XP has gotten ridiculously slow for me on my computer recently, probably due to the fact that it's been installed for 4 years and loads of crap has built up ... I re-installed XP on my laptop a while back and it's not much hassle, but there are too many important files on the computer to attempt re-installing XP. If anything went wrong, I'd be screwed, and I'm not up for backing them all up! I have two hard drives, so I figure installing a second copy of XP would be the best option (just for me, the rest of my family can keep using the slow one! ). Any advice before I embark on this mission? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shino Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Copy everything your need to the other hard drive and format the current one, no need to fill another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetzcatlipoca Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 Copy everything your need to the other hard drive and format the current one, no need to fill another one. Yeah, there's not enough space to do that though ... therein lies the problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shino Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 But wouldn't you have to format one of them either way? It won't get much more performance if you keep adding layers of XP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Sounds like a stupid question to me. What you basicly are asking is, 'can I save my precious files on a slow PC, reinstall XP and not back-up my files?' I guess the answer is no, since you have to either re-install XP and delete all files, or keep your important files and your annoying files (SPAM!SPAM!SPAM!, here's our privacy policy). But that's why I think, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetzcatlipoca Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 Sounds like a stupid question to me. What you basicly are asking is, 'can I save my precious files on a slow PC, reinstall XP and not back-up my files?' Yes, that does sound accurate alright ... I want to take the easy way out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 You could try a repair installation: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#RI Read the instructions carefully (most importantly, don't use the "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R" option) This reinstalls windows without deleting your files.... Alternatively, and probably the best option, get or borrow an external HDD and put everything you need to keep onto there, or burn DVDs, then format your HDD and put a fresh install on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Odwin Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Try cleaning up your HDD of all the crap first. Scan for viruses (AVG/Avast/Comodo ). Scan for spyware (Spybot). Uninstall any programs you don't use anymore. Use CCleaner to get rid of GBs of crap (CCleaner - cleaner button) and clean your registry too (CCleaner - issues button). Finally, Defragment the hard disk (use the windows defragger). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetzcatlipoca Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 Right, I've done all the cleaning, and a repair, and if anything, it's slower than ever. I'm going to have to take the plunge and do a fresh re-install ... this is going to be fun! Well that went more smoothly than I could've possibly imagined. It went without any hitches in just 40 minutes, and it's so fast now I can't believe it! Slight problem though, because my Internet connection won't work now, despite the fact that it's just an ethernet cable so it shouldn't need any setting up ... and it's not the modem, because I'm on the wireless on my laptop right now ... hmm ... Woo got it sorted, it was just a driver problem with the ethernet card ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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