Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Computer Wipe

ZavianZavian universal peace sounds better than forever warRegistered User regular
edited November 2006 in Help / Advice Forum
I want to do a clean wipe of my computer leaving only Windows and my drivers. Is there anyway of doing this with a third party program instead of doing a fresh install of windows?

Zavian on

Posts

  • CatcherCatcher Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Have you tried running a Windows repair? That might help, but there is actually no third-party program that just uninstalls all your programs and leaves Windows and the drivers, unless you're looking for a virus. Why couldn't you just go down the list of add/remove programs and uninstall them individually and delete all your non-Windows data if you wanted to do that?

    Catcher on
    When the Journeyman testifies a fateless man believes. He can send you into paradise or bring you to your knees.
  • saltinesssaltiness Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Even if there were a way to do this, it'd probably be a lot faster and more effective to just reformat. Why not reformat?

    saltiness on
    XBL: heavenkils
  • HalberdBlueHalberdBlue Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    I reformat my hard drive quite regularly (like every 3-4 months). I just copy all the essential drivers (sound/video/NIC) onto a CD (I keep important files on an external hard drive), reinstall Windows, the drivers, and whatever game(s) I'm currently playing. Usually takes 2 hours at most (depending on how large the games are) and the computer always runs squeaky clean afterwards. I find that doing this is a lot easier than running virus scans, keeping up with the Jones on spyware, etc. I use Opera for internet browsing so I don't get problems with that much anyways.

    HalberdBlue on
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum