Reformat or Reg Clean

[Jack Bruss]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Conor]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

REformat and reinstall. 3 years isn't bad. Download all the latest
drivers etc first and burn them onto a CD so you're not loading the old
stuff then overwriting.


--
Conor

I'm really a nice guy. If I had friends, they would tell you.

Earn commission on online purchases, £2.50 just for signing up:
http://www.TopCashBack.co.uk/Conor/ref/index.htm

 

[Ian]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Don't waste your cash on a utility that won't really fix your problem and
can cause other problems. If you want to try a reg cleaner first, google
for CCleaner and try the registry cleaner that comes with that. A
re-install will make a huge difference though, and is definitely the way to
go after 3 years..

As Conor says get all your updated drivers downloaded and ready. Also look
into Autopatcher, it installs all the windows updates for you from one
download. The chances of being infected through one of the many windows
vulnerabilities whilst downloading all the windows updates to patch those
same vulnerabilities is a real problem.

In short, download everything you need including Autopatcher, disconnect
from the net and perform your clean install. Only re-connect to the net
when you're all patched up, then download the last few updates.

Autopatcher also includes a few extras including the Royale theme from XP
Media edition, which imho looks quite good.

 

[John Doe]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to
boot and shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and
shutdowns, strange error messages from time to time, etc. It has
been almost 3 years since I reformated, and I was wondering
whether I ought to bite the bullet and do that, or whether it's
worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry cleaner would
solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Just in case you don't get the answer you want here, you can try
posting to a Windows group. Be sure to include pertinent information
like the operating system your running.

Good luck.

 

[John Doe]

As Conor says get all your updated drivers downloaded and ready.
Also look into Autopatcher, it installs all the windows updates
for you from one download.

That sounds interesting/good.

The chances of being infected through one of the many windows
vulnerabilities whilst downloading all the windows updates to
patch those same vulnerabilities is a real problem.

A firewall or even Windows firewall will probably make that a
non-issue.

--
HTH

Ian




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Reply-To: "Ian" <ian_dunbar6 hot[un-munge-me]mail.com>
From: "Ian" <ian_dunbar6 hot[un-munge-me]mail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
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Subject: Re: Reformat or Reg Clean
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[Victor]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Might want to try Regscrub XP first:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048

 

[JAD]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jack

Although the REG can be the source of the 'slowness' its more likely old
driver files that are still running for obsolete
(missing/changed/upgraded)hardware or software DLL's that were not properly
removed. OR the ever popular spyware and viruses. If the 'cleaner' you
employ has a dead dll finder and driver clean up that may be worth it.

A cleansweep of the drive and reinstalling is the ultimate way of assuring a
fresh system. Prepare wisely and get files that are important to you.

 

[Larry Roberts]

My computer has been acting up a bit for several months, slow to boot and
shut down, sluggish overall, Outlook errors and shutdowns, strange error
messages from time to time, etc. It has been almost 3 years since I
reformated, and I was wondering whether I ought to bite the bullet and do
that, or whether it's worth taking a chance that a $30 or so registry
cleaner would solve the problems.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jack

I have an Athlon XP 3000+ machine with WinXP Pro Sp2 here. The
last time I had did a reformat, & reinstall was over a year. I just
built me an Athlon 64 3800+ this summer, so I decided to reformat the
Athlon XP once the Athlon 64 was setup. I never download suspicious
programs, open file attachments, install adware based programs,
toolbars, and such. I keep my systems clean from viruses, adware, and
other malware crap. Even so, when I reinstalled WinXP Pro, it's
updates, and all the updated device drivers, that thing made my Athlon
64 seem like a minor upgrade at the time. It was like a new system.
The only thing my Athlon 64 really has over that Athlon XP is new game
performance is better, but the Athlon XP still has enough to make them
enjoyably playable. :/
I think you'll notice a nice difference. Just be sure to
update the OS, and your device drives. Especially your mainboard
chipset drivers.