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Reformatting?
Daric
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I've never reformatted a computer before. But my laptop is acting really weird lately and I think this may be my only option.
This is my system information. If it's even needed, I have no idea.
There's my main issue right there. When I started typing this post I had 7 gigs available on my C: drive. I haven't installed anything, I haven't done anything but type this post and I'm already down to less than a gig of memory now. I can't figure out what's going on.
But, I've never done this before. When I bought this computer, it came with Vista on it, but it didn't come with a copy of the software, so I'm going to buy it from my school's store for like $30. But is there any way to save my Firefox settings before I do it? I really just need the saved passwords. About how long does a reformat take? I have a few hours until my next class, will I be able to get it done before then?
Help me, guys, you're my only hope.
This is my system information. If it's even needed, I have no idea.
OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6000 Build 6000
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DARIC-LAPTOP
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model F3Sv
System Type X86-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz, 2001 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 201, 4/17/2007
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6000.16386"
User Name Daric-Laptop\Daric
Time Zone Central Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,046.63 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.09 GB
Total Virtual Memory 4.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.93 GB
Page File Space 2.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Version 6.0.6000 Build 6000
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DARIC-LAPTOP
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model F3Sv
System Type X86-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz, 2001 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 201, 4/17/2007
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6000.16386"
User Name Daric-Laptop\Daric
Time Zone Central Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,046.63 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.09 GB
Total Virtual Memory 4.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.93 GB
Page File Space 2.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
There's my main issue right there. When I started typing this post I had 7 gigs available on my C: drive. I haven't installed anything, I haven't done anything but type this post and I'm already down to less than a gig of memory now. I can't figure out what's going on.
But, I've never done this before. When I bought this computer, it came with Vista on it, but it didn't come with a copy of the software, so I'm going to buy it from my school's store for like $30. But is there any way to save my Firefox settings before I do it? I really just need the saved passwords. About how long does a reformat take? I have a few hours until my next class, will I be able to get it done before then?
Help me, guys, you're my only hope.
Daric on
0
Posts
Who did you buy it from? Was it new?
Well, it's possible that there is something malicious and/or crashed running in the background that it constantly writing to disk. Does this happen all the time, even immediately after a fresh reboot?
It's also possible (though probably not likely judging from your virtual memory size) that you have Windows managing your virtual memory size, and something is really swapping like crazy and causing that file to be increased repeatedly. You should set your virtual memory file to a fixed size, if you haven't already. I'm not sure how to set this in Vista, but if it's similar to XP you need to go to your System settings in the control panel, Advanced tab, Advanced again, click the Change button under Virtual memory, and set it to a custom size with the initial and maximum size the same value (2GB is most likely more than adequate).
Also, you could try searching your computer for very large files that were modified very recently to see if there's a single huge file somewhere that's being written to and taking up space.
Stick in the CD, boot from CD. It will tell you what to do. Since you have two partitions, you will probably want to move anything you don't want deleted onto the D drive (including anything in your My Documents folder, since this is stored on the main windows drive by default). When you boot from the Windows CD it should give you the option of repairing, reinstalling, or repartitioning. You don't want to repartition, but just reinstall (there might be an option to do a full reinstall which wipes the original data first).
I assume (though not positive) that he actually meant he had 7gb free space, and then later it was down to under 1gb... not that the actual partition was changing size as this would cause all sorts of problems, and windows would crash (since I doubt 1gb is even enough to hold a default Windows install anymore).
Do you know about how long a full reinstall takes? I'm thinking I may go to the store before I leave and let it reinstall while I'm at work tonight. I just need to move the Firefox folder over to the D drive right? It'll have my saved passwords in there?
I'm not entirely sure where Firefox saves passwords. The bookmarks are kept in the Documents and Settings folder, under your username, Application Data, Mozilla, Firefox.
Also not sure about a Vista install as I haven't done one, but I suspect there's a lot of interaction involved (there is in XP) so you can't really easily start it and walk away for awhile and expect it to be done when you get back.
Personally I think it would make more sense to do some legwork on finding/correcting the problem then doing a reinstall.