Formatting my computer - Suggestions/tips/ideas?

[Brazoliange]

Due to a few various issues, I want to format my computer at some point in the next week/few weeks. To (hopefully) ensure I won't have to deal with this again for as long as possible (backing up 300+ gig of data isn't very fun), and for ease in the process, I'm looking for any suggestions/tips/ideas you guys have regarding formatting. What programs work for you? Which don't? What do you guys do to a base installation to enhance/correct/refine it to your liking?

Here are some of the things I'm seeking advice about:

1) OS - I started on Windows 98 and moved on to XP, which I've been using since. Which XP installation is really best to go for with a fresh install? I'm not planning on spending money on a new copy or anything, so should I shoot for Home, Pro, Corporate, Pro Corporate, SP1/2, a custom-built installation, etc? I've heard largely nothing but bad things about Vista, but I could consider it if it's actually a good/better option. Linux is largely out of the question for me right now - I'm not willing to learn to deal with a new operating system like that right now. I've also heard nothing but rave reviews so far about OS X/Leopard, and I had seen a bit about the 'hacked' version floating around for Windows. Has anyone tried that out? How is it? How difficult would it be to adjust to using? Would Windows programs run straight-up on the PC-compatible version of Leopard, or require work?

2) Antivirus - I know I'm sure I will get a huge mixed bag on this one, largely due to personal preference. Obviously paying for a fresh subscription/program would be ideal, but is there any real issue with using a cracked client? My PC isn't on a router or anything, and frankly I could care less about dealing with a firewall. I had always had the ideology of 'if I don't download shady shit, chances are I won't need an AV client'... until I got a virus. My computer is fairly modest (512 mb RAM right now, other specs here) and I'd prefer to stay away from a memory hog if possible. I'm also not sure that I really need one (haha, same 'as long as I'm not stupid' argument), but I guess it wouldn't hurt. Any suggestions on which work best, are easiest to use, and won't cause me bigger headaches than most viruses?

3) Tweaks/optimization/customization of OS - These are the little things, like removing items from right-click menu, changing file associations, useful Firefox extensions, what I should disable in XP after a fresh install, installing language packs and how to do so without validated Windows, etc. Anything you think might be useful that I might have forgotten installing over the past year or two :3

4) Programs/codecs - I've been using Firefox for web browsing (memory hog but it works well for about everything), Trillian for IM (covers AIM/MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/etc, automatically logs conversations, and is generally fine for my use), no e-mail client, uTorrent for torrents. I want a hand remembering some of the other things to install that I might not think of. Is there a codec pack that will cover my general needs? Which versions of EAC/LAME do I need to grab and how should I configure them? What, if anything, should I be using instead of WinRAR, Foxit Reader, D-Tools, etc?

5) Other shit I didn't think of - I'm sure almost all of you have had to deal with formatting at one point or another and spending months remembering what you were missing from your old setup. I hope this thread doesn't annoy too many of you or make me appear totally dumb; I'm just trying to get others' thoughts to make this as quick, easy, and pain-free as possible. I had more ideas going when I started writing this and forgot some things I would ask advice on. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

[DeusExMachina]

WHat I do is partition about 20 gigs as C drive and nothing except the OS is there. All files from my documents are short cut to another partition as well as every program file etc etc. That way whenever I need to format i can just close my eyes and format C without risking losing anything that cant be reinstalled within a few hours.

In addition I backup all my data on external SATA drives.

[stuartwood89]

Originally Posted by DeusExMachina

WHat I do is partition about 20 gigs as C drive and nothing except the OS is there. All files from my documents are short cut to another partition as well as every program file etc etc. That way whenever I need to format i can just close my eyes and format C without risking losing anything that cant be reinstalled within a few hours.

In addition I backup all my data on external SATA drives.

That's a good idea, can you tell me how to do that?

I have XP professional and that's given me no problems in terms of program compatability. Try AVG Anti-Virus for internet security, can't fault it really (However if you're upgrading your OS, it might be worth upgrading your RAM as well, what's your processor speed?). You can run XP on 512MB, but I'd play it safe and get 1GB if your motherboard will support it.

[Excel-2008]

One way (I haven't tested this but I just thought of it now) is to install a program like NTFS Link to enable the creation of junction points (which are similar to symbolic links) and somehow move the files from Program Files and Documents and Settings and whatever to another drive and create junction points back to C: in the appropriate locations.

[Baroque Obama]

well i learned this off of slashdot,

use a 4 gigabyte cf card with an ide converter and install your os on to it. this will lead to faster boot times.

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by Satchmo

One way (I haven't tested this but I just thought of it now) is to install a program like NTFS Link to enable the creation of junction points (which are similar to symbolic links) and somehow move the files from Program Files and Documents and Settings and whatever to another drive and create junction points back to C: in the appropriate locations.

Or you could simply go INTO THE REGISTRY OR BETTER YET, THE GROUP POLICY EDITOR, and change the location of said folder.

[Excel-2008]

Oh yeah.

[kimcicle]

I'm going to go ahead and second the "make multiple partition" idea. For me, my first hard drive is partitioned into my program drive (windows, games, applications) and the rest for whatever media (I think it's my anime / hd rips drive).

I would recommend doing a fresh XP install instead of going from 98 to XP. Would take less time. Vista is a lot better on the time it takes for format / install, which is probably one nice perk of running it.

I would not recommend going only OSX, and that if you want you should install XP and get that going, and then have OSX on a separate partition. If you're going to go this route, might as well make up 3 partitions.

Another (more costly) option could be to buy a new harddrive, pop that sucker in, and install your OS to that and make it boot from that HD. I did that the first time and then set up my partitions, so now I'm not too worried about doing XP formats and reinstalls since all my data is on the other partitions and hard drives.

Then there's my external that backups my important documents and whatnot on a regular basis.

[phuzion]

1.) Legally obtain through your workplace a copy of XP Pro Corporate XP2, and shrink it down to size with nLite. Take out all the excess bullshit, such as language packs, etc.

2.) I currently run no antivirus, but if you're less careful with what you download, you may want to consider investing in NOD32. It's what I use on my mom's computer, and it works beautifully, especially when my retarded 14 year old sister downloads AIM viruses because she gets IMs that say "holy shit this looks so much like you lolol click here http://www.example.net/pictures.jpg.exe"

3.) Get AdBlock Plus for Firefox. Obviously whitelist Bemanistyle. Thanks. I'm sure there's a bazillion things people are going to recommend here.

4.)
Firefox (If you don't know what firefox is, go to ie7.com)
Thunderbird (Email from the same people as Firefox)
uTorrent (If you can't figure this one out...)
AIM AdHack (Stripped down version of AIM, just removes the stupid stuff)
VLC Media Player, as well as Media Player Classic with the ffdshow codec pack (MPC with ffdshow works well for HD, if your PC supports it. VLC is inefficient for HD.)
Google Desktop (beats the ever living shit out of Windows' Search function. Think about it, it's made by Google.)
Foxit Reader (Acrobat replacement)
WinRar AND 7zip. You'll probably end up using both. (compression)
mIRC or xchat, your choice, (IRC)
PuTTY if you have any shell access to servers, (ssh client)
SpeedFan if your computer has cool sensors inside it (also useful to check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your drives) (sensor checker program thing)
DAEMON tools (from oldversion.com, so it doesn't have teh adwarez), (CD/DVD drive emulator)
FileZilla (FTP client)
WinSCP for SCP transfers (again, you'll need a shell access server for that) (SCP client)
Google Earth for shits and giggles (ZOMG THERES MY HOUSE), (map viewer
TreeSize Free for checking how big your folders are (I actually HIGHLY RECOMMEND this program. It's saved my ass many times when I suddenly need 50GB of HDD space for one reason or another, and I find some content that's on my hard drive that's been sitting for 2 years). (shows the sizes of each directory on your hard drive)

5.) If you have an extra drive lying around, or a few DVDs, after your make your partition and install everything, make a drive image using Norton ImageCenter (NOT GHOST, IMAGECENTER). hi dan If you do this, then whenever your computer is totally fucked, you can just re-image your HDD and its like new.

OH, and defrag the computer as soon as you're done installing everything. I recommend Diskeeper Pro. I recommend this because I remotely defrag my mom's computer from my room whenever I feel like it. If you can't afford it, Diskeeper Home should work as well.


Thats just a few things I can think of at 3:30 in the morning about defragging.

If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm available via PM in IRC 99% of the time (irc.bemanistyle.com #bemanistyle)

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by Phuzion

1.) Legally obtain through your workplace a copy of XP Pro Corporate XP2, and shrink it down to size with nLite. Take out all the excess bullshit, such as language packs, etc.

2.) I currently run no antivirus, but if you're less careful with what you download, you may want to consider investing in NOD32. It's what I use on my mom's computer, and it works beautifully, especially when my retarded 14 year old sister downloads AIM viruses because she gets IMs that say "holy shit this looks so much like you lolol click here http://www.example.net/pictures.jpg.exe"

3.) Get AdBlock Plus for Firefox. Obviously whitelist Bemanistyle. Thanks. I'm sure there's a bazillion things people are going to recommend here.

4.)
Firefox (If you don't know what firefox is, go to ie7.com)
Thunderbird (Email from the same people as Firefox)
uTorrent (If you can't figure this one out...)
AIM AdHack (Stripped down version of AIM, just removes the stupid stuff)
VLC Media Player, as well as Media Player Classic with the ffdshow codec pack (MPC with ffdshow works well for HD, if your PC supports it. VLC is inefficient for HD.)
Google Desktop (beats the ever living shit out of Windows' Search function. Think about it, it's made by Google.)
Foxit Reader (Acrobat replacement)
WinRar AND 7zip. You'll probably end up using both. (compression)
mIRC or xchat, your choice, (IRC)
PuTTY if you have any shell access to servers, (ssh client)
SpeedFan if your computer has cool sensors inside it (also useful to check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your drives) (sensor checker program thing)
DAEMON tools (from oldversion.com, so it doesn't have teh adwarez), (CD/DVD drive emulator)
FileZilla (FTP client)
WinSCP for SCP transfers (again, you'll need a shell access server for that) (SCP client)
Google Earth for shits and giggles (ZOMG THERES MY HOUSE), (map viewer
TreeSize Free for checking how big your folders are (I actually HIGHLY RECOMMEND this program. It's saved my ass many times when I suddenly need 50GB of HDD space for one reason or another, and I find some content that's on my hard drive that's been sitting for 2 years). (shows the sizes of each directory on your hard drive)

5.) If you have an extra drive lying around, or a few DVDs, after your make your partition and install everything, make a drive image using Norton ImageCenter (NOT GHOST, IMAGECENTER). hi dan If you do this, then whenever your computer is totally fucked, you can just re-image your HDD and its like new.

OH, and defrag the computer as soon as you're done installing everything. I recommend Diskeeper Pro. I recommend this because I remotely defrag my mom's computer from my room whenever I feel like it. If you can't afford it, Diskeeper Home should work as well.


Thats just a few things I can think of at 3:30 in the morning about defragging.

If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm available via PM in IRC 99% of the time (irc.bemanistyle.com #bemanistyle)

Hi.

Also, I'm not recommending VLC media player to anyone UNLESS they don't have a DVD Playing solution. VLC will decrypt DVDs without the need for a licensed codec, which not everyone has (if you want one, buy Nero Burning ROM)

In terms of what you should be using to watch video, its all about the CCCP Codec Pack now. It comes with Media Player Classic, and ffdshow and a few other codecs and supports a wide range of video files. Get Real Alternative Lite along with the CCCP and you can watch everything except Quicktime videos in WMP or Media Player Classic and be merry and happy for the rest of your days.

CCCP Codec Pack is also installed in a way that will NOT entirely fuck your system, so if a new version comes out, or something better comes out (highly unlikely), it can be cleanly uninstalled and completely removed, unlike the majority of Codecs. I once spent over 4 days cleaning bad codecs off of someone's system because they lost their Windows license key and we couldn't reinstall. For the reason alone that CCCP can be cleanly uninstalled from a system no muss no fuss is the NUMBER ONE REASON I pressure people to use it. Go get it.

Combined Community Codec Pack

Their wiki is also hilarious. Read it sometime.

[Excel-2008]

I'm going to recommend Power Defragmenter GUI for defragmentation. It uses Contig at its core, which is supposedly a free and highly efficient (and endorsed by Microsoft though they claim it's better than the built-in Defrag) defragmentation method.

[DeusExMachina]

I always back up my computer before I use the windows defragmentor. 2 times it killed my HD.

[dieKatze88]

Originally Posted by DeusExMachina

I always back up my computer before I use the windows defragmentor. 2 times it killed my HD.

The only time Windows Defragmenter has ever killed a HD I was using, It was when the HD was defective or near death.

[eureka1]

OS: Windows XP, fresh install

Anti-Virus: AVG Free Edition

Tweaks: Aren't needed

Programs: Don't install bloat, CCCP for codecs

Other shit: Who cares, you're starting fresh

[sreeja]

I have had this problem before, but after formatting the hard drive and then reinstalling the drivers, everything is fine. This time, however, the problem remains. It is so annoying as I can't listen to any music, or watch any DVD's, let alone play any games.Defragment the computer and clean it up. But i m not sure what else to do. Maybe a virus is on your pc.