Can you save a battered computer?

[Giotto]

One of my comps is pretty screwed up from having numerous music dowloading programs on it. What is the best way to restore it to it's previous state? Do I have to do a total reformat, or is there another way that I can improve overall performance. For the record, the comp i'm talking about is in a study room and thus won't be used for graphics intensive gaming. It will be used exclusivly for writing and for web surfing.

 

[Jeratain]

I'm assuming it's a brand name computer that you bought (ie: Dell, HP, Compaq, E Machine, etc). If so, most likely there was a System Restore disk included. That will delete all your files and reinstall them to the computer's original state (in most cases, unless you have some obscure restore CD).

If you don't have a system restore disk but you have your operation system disk and basic software disks, then I highly recommend formatting.

You can uninstall some of the programs that you may or may not need, but your registry and files may never really go back to the optimal settings - bleh, it's 2am and I'm tired so don't mind me if I make no sense. Point being, if you want to increase your performance, simply uninstalling programs wont do you much good.

 

[funxus]

The best to do is definitely to reformat, or use recovery cd. Get a way to backup the files you need to save first, via LAN, cd-burner, extra HDD or some other way.

If you don't want to reformat, uninstall programs you don't want or need. Delete unnecessary and space-consuming files you won't need on the HDD. Run a defrag and scandisk on the comp. If you don't have an anti-virus program installed, try installing one and clean the disk from possible viruses. Use ad-aware (or similar).