Cleaning the Computer ??? - Tilted Forum Project - TFP - Sexuality, Philosophy and Political Discussion

danny_boy · 03-14-2005, 09:42 PM

Hey,

My computer is very slow, and I know I need to reformat, or just clean out my hard drive. Usually, I just reformat, and reinstall windows, but many of my things are still there.

Is there a free easy to use program that will effectively delete everything off my hard drive, and then I can simply re-install windows and make this computer like new ?

I am fairly knowledgeable with computers, so if there is another way please let me know.

Otherwise, does free software exist, and is it effective in deleting everyhthing.
Thanks.

Stare At The Sun · 03-15-2005, 02:57 AM

personally, i'd just save whatever you need to onto a cdrom, or dvd rom, then reinstall windows, as use firefox as your default browser from day 1. Also, run adaware and such constantly, and don't be stupid!

danny_boy · 03-15-2005, 06:18 AM

But if I just reinstall windows then it will not clean out my whole comp.

Sp0rAdiC · 03-15-2005, 06:29 AM

What kind of things are left after formatting and reinstalling windows? Are you sure you're not just doing a Repair of Windows?

vinaur · 03-15-2005, 06:55 AM

Reformating should clean everything up. Now for a question of my own. I have about 40 GB of data which I have nowhere to put and I don't feel like burning it onto cds or dvds. So what I thought is that I'm going to use Partition Magic to divide up my HD into two partitions 100GB and 150GB. I'll dump all of the data onto the second partition and reformat the first one. Install windows (keep on using IE :-) ) and merge the two partitions together after dumping all the files back on the 100GB partition. I'm pretty sure this would work, I think I might have done it once again. My question is, would this be a good thing to do or would it not??

God of Thunder · 03-15-2005, 06:59 AM

FDISK - It's your friend

Kadath · 03-15-2005, 07:21 AM

vinaur: you really should keep (at least) two partitions on a drive that size, if only one for your OS and programs and one for your data to avoid the situation you're currently in. If you had a 20 gig OS/programs partition and the rest data you could just format the OS partition when it was time to clean up and keep all your data. In addition, a 250 gig drive unpartitioned will lose you approximately 17 gigs of space.

danny_boy: a format will more or less get rid of everything. If you quick format it only erases the allocation tables, which means the data is still there but the computer writes over all the old stuff as it comes in. If this is a high-security situation, where you need to make sure everything is destroyed, you could get a program that writes garbage (ones) to every single bit on the hard drive -- but I don't think we're talking national security here. Formatting the computer clears it all out.

03-14-2005, 09:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
danny_boy Crazy Join Date: Jan 2004	Cleaning the Computer ??? Hey, My computer is very slow, and I know I need to reformat, or just clean out my hard drive. Usually, I just reformat, and reinstall windows, but many of my things are still there. Is there a free easy to use program that will effectively delete everything off my hard drive, and then I can simply re-install windows and make this computer like new ? I am fairly knowledgeable with computers, so if there is another way please let me know. Otherwise, does free software exist, and is it effective in deleting everyhthing. Thanks.

03-15-2005, 06:59 AM	#6 (permalink)
God of Thunder Talk nerdy to me Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Flint, MI	FDISK - It's your friend __________________ I reject your reality, and substitute my own -- Adam Savage

03-15-2005, 07:21 AM	#7 (permalink)
Kadath Muffled Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Camazotz	vinaur: you really should keep (at least) two partitions on a drive that size, if only one for your OS and programs and one for your data to avoid the situation you're currently in. If you had a 20 gig OS/programs partition and the rest data you could just format the OS partition when it was time to clean up and keep all your data. In addition, a 250 gig drive unpartitioned will lose you approximately 17 gigs of space. danny_boy: a format will more or less get rid of everything. If you quick format it only erases the allocation tables, which means the data is still there but the computer writes over all the old stuff as it comes in. If this is a high-security situation, where you need to make sure everything is destroyed, you could get a program that writes garbage (ones) to every single bit on the hard drive -- but I don't think we're talking national security here. Formatting the computer clears it all out. __________________ it's quiet in here

03-15-2005, 02:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
Stare At The Sun Eh? Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ohio	personally, i'd just save whatever you need to onto a cdrom, or dvd rom, then reinstall windows, as use firefox as your default browser from day 1. Also, run adaware and such constantly, and don't be stupid!

03-15-2005, 06:18 AM	#3 (permalink)
danny_boy Crazy Join Date: Jan 2004	But if I just reinstall windows then it will not clean out my whole comp.

03-15-2005, 06:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
Sp0rAdiC Insane Join Date: May 2004 Location: VT	What kind of things are left after formatting and reinstalling windows? Are you sure you're not just doing a Repair of Windows?

03-15-2005, 06:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
vinaur Insane Join Date: Feb 2005	Reformating should clean everything up. Now for a question of my own. I have about 40 GB of data which I have nowhere to put and I don't feel like burning it onto cds or dvds. So what I thought is that I'm going to use Partition Magic to divide up my HD into two partitions 100GB and 150GB. I'll dump all of the data onto the second partition and reformat the first one. Install windows (keep on using IE :-) ) and merge the two partitions together after dumping all the files back on the 100GB partition. I'm pretty sure this would work, I think I might have done it once again. My question is, would this be a good thing to do or would it not??