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Reformatting 101
I happened across this forum looking for more info about the pros and cons of using a 64 bit OS, I happened to 'land' in the middle of a bunch of posts about sound not working after reformatting and thought to myself, "Oh my! There must be an epidemic of computers going bad after people had reformatted their hard drives."
After about five minutes of reading, it soon became apparent that there's an epidemic alright but it's not the computers themselves that are the problem, it's user related.
In almost every section of this forum, there is somebody.. let me correct that, there are hundreds of people who have posted problems related to reformatting their hard drives. There are probably thousands who never post but search this forum trying to find similar answers. As this section states that it is for hardware tips, I am going to put in my 2 cents and give some, tips that is.
Step 1. Think about what you are about to do.
You are about to remove everything from your hard drive. If this is a data drive that has been backed up, it's no big deal, if it's your main hard drive with operating system (Windows, Linux, Mac, DOS, whatever), plus your games, plus your data and you don't know what backed up means, you may want to rethink this.
Step 2. Are there better alternatives?
If it's because of a virus, too much clutter, or you just think your computer will run better, there may be better solutions. Most viruses can be removed without going the reformat route, if you know what you are doing, you could probably get rid of the clutter by deleting it, if you don't know what you are doing, you don't want to reformat any ways, and perhaps a new driver may help more to boost performance.
Step 3. You've decided to go ahead and reformat.
Before reformatting, you will need to do a little preparation. Check out your hardware specs by going to control panel and seeing what your hardware is under "Device Manager". Make sure you have the disks you need to replace the drivers for those "devices", or find out on the internet where you can download new drivers, and write these web page Urls down because 'bookmarks' and 'favorites' will all be gone. A little prep will prevent a lot of headaches later.
I read that a few of you tried Linux and had problems when you went back to Windows because you didn't have the right drivers? Installing Linux is not a good idea if you've never installed an operating system before, unless you know the risks and are prepared. If nothing else, know that GRUB or LILO can render your hard drive unusable if you don't know what you are doing and can't 'fix' your hard drive partitions afterwards.
Step 4. Think before pressing "y".
Did you back up important data to another drive, a tape backup or onto a CD/DVD? Uncle Henry's pictures will be lost forever if you didn't save them somewhere else.
Step 5. Point of no return.
Once you've reformatted, it is possible, theoretically, to restore your drive, as long as you don't start to reinstall files to your hard drive. Personally, I've never restored a drive, but it's always an option, just in case.
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As far as I'm concerned, everyone should know how their computer functions, it's not rocket science, and should at least install their operating system once, to see what is involved. Ideally, this should be done when your computer is new, and you have nothing installed on your computer, you have your install disks in your hot little or big hands and with somebody who is more familiar with doing this, in case you run into trouble.
As I said before, this is a tips section and if anyone found this useful and would want me to post more tips, let me know as well as if this is not welcome here and I will cease and desist.
Last edited by ethyrdude : 01-20-2008 at 09:03 AM.
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. We all learn the hard way 
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