AshMat Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Ok, my pc is getting to this point, it's getting slower, and the HDD is only 40GB as it is, and jsut doesn't seem to want to get emptier than 10gb no matter what i do. I know there's shit on there i don't use, but never know what to rid of, so i want to rid basically everything and start a fresh. But this obviously causes some problems. Basically, i want to keep XP and obviously Office on it, as i don't ahve the discs for them.. (it is a legal copy, it was on the hard drive when it was put in). As for other stuff, I still have the photoshop installer, and allt he WoW patches on the second hard drive, so that's no problem, i'll make a list of other programs and re-download them afterwards. So the question is, how do i format my pc (wipe it, restore factory settigns, wahtever), but keep XP and office there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problematique Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Hmm. You can't do "selective wiping" unless you do it manually to be honest. Is it a laptop or a desktop? Because you could just get a second hard drive if it's a desktop to alleviate space problems. Firstly, go to the add/remove programmes function and remove anything that you don't need. Because that tends to free up a bit of space. Secondly, go to My Computer, right click on the hard drive and click on Properties. On the "General" tab, click on the Disk Cleanup button. Give it about 5-10 minutes and then you check all the big space saving options and press press the clean up button. In general speed terms...first, do a defrag. Right click on the hard drive, click properties. Go to the "Tools" tab and click on defrag. Follow that through (it'll take a while). Also get a program like Registry Mechanic to clean up and compress your registry (really helps on startup especially) and use some spyware removal stuff. It's a bit of an arse...but it really does help things run a bit more smoothly. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMat Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Things: Like i said before, nothing i do clears loads of space, no matter ghow many disk defrags, disk cleanups, sifting through the add/remove programs section. Seriously i've done all those things numerous times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letty Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 CCleaner is a good app. You might just have a jack load of temporary/dead files. It happens when you've had 1 install of an OS for a very long time without a reboot. Honestly though, HDD's are so, so cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I only have a 40GB hard drive aswell, also with less then 10bg left (8.5gb) I'm considering buy an External Hard drive, then you could easily wipe windows and keep all you WoW folders, music and what not without having to mess around with them. Also handy if you computer messes up, no more finding discs out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 If XP was originally on your PC you should have a product key, check the Certificate of Authenticity sticker, should be on your PC. Also if office was originally on your PC that should have a product key too, in the documentation somewhere or you could use Magical Jellybean's keyfinder. If you have a legal license you can just get a copy of windows or office off a mate or download it or something. It's not really pirating, since the thing you pay for is the license. Then format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMat Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Ok, i ahve CCleaner, also sued regularly, cleanups apps aren't that useful to me. Also, when i say XP was on it, i mean we got the Hard Drive for free because the old one fucked up, from mum's work, it had XP Pre-installed. Is there nothing i can do to keep it unless i get a disk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McPhee Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Also, when i say XP was on it, i mean we got the Hard Drive for free because the old one fucked up, from mum's work, it had XP Pre-installed. Well, if theres no product key on the machine and you didn't buy a retail copy then you're already using an illegal version of Windows. Either buy an OEM or download another illegal copy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMat Posted July 23, 2007 Author Share Posted July 23, 2007 Yeah but technically on the pc it's not there illegaly, allt he checks for a legit copy are fine. Plus, as i understand fromt he it tech that put it in, he told me working there entitles (mum) to a copy of the OS (this is what he told me with Vista anyway). But basically im gonna need a CD to put it back on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McPhee Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Yuppage Just download the CDs. You can get the CD-Key you are currently using by using the program Shorty posted: Magical Jellybean's keyfinder Whether or not doing this is illegal is a bit of a legal grey area. Should all be above board though as long as you're current copy actually is legit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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