Formatting a laptop.

[boelie]

Hello,

 

 

 

My mother has a laptop that she uses for school and her job. She's not very good with computers and since she's had it it has gotten slower and slower. My plan is to just empty out the whole thing, and install Windows XP instead of Vista because I think many of the problems occur because my mother isn't used to Vista and I can't stand Vista either. My question is is this safe to do on a laptop? Isn't there any integrated software (i.e. drivers or something) that would ruin the laptop if I removed it? Or maybe anything else I haven't considered?

 

And what's the best way to do this? Just pop in the Windows XP cd-rom and instal XP or should I format the laptop in a different way?

 

 

 

I'd really appreciate your help because my mom's complaining about her laptop being slow is driving me nuts.

 

Thanks.

[Hobgoblinpie]

The laptop should have come with driver disks when it was bought. However, if you cannot source these, then I'm pretty sure that Windows XP has basic drivers for the touchpad. Be aware that if you don't have the driver disks, you may need to go to the manufacturers website to download the correct drivers before everything works properly (e.g. Screen may be in reduced resolution/colours until you install the correct drivers).

[sloter]

You will need XP for that machine. For the drivers just get those from the laptop manufacture's site. Also be careful because if you have to post on how to do this it is a recipe for disaster, not that it is rocket science.

[Pinkbullet3]

Head to your local library and check out the July 2009 issue of MaximumPC magazine. For that month's story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're worth a try. :?

 

 

 

They include such things as:

 

• [*:wbvv0325]Using the Disk Cleanup
   
  [*:wbvv0325]Compressing old files (via My Computer --> right-click your HD --> Properties --> "Compress this drive to save disk space" checked when you click Disk Cleanup)
   
  [*:wbvv0325]www.pcdecrapifier.com will automatically uninstall and elete the majority of trialware apps that are preinstalled on new PCs (the laptop may still have a few even though it's not new anymore)
   
  [*:wbvv0325]Defragging the HD

[sloter]

Head to your local library and check out the July 2009 issue of MaximumPC magazine. For that month's story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're worth a try. :?

 

...

[Pinkbullet3]

Head to your local library and check out the July 2009 issue of MaximumPC magazine. For that month's story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're worth a try. :?

 

...

 

Well he asked because he said his mum's computer is really slow. I know I didn't answer the question, but I was just trying to help.

 

 

 

:(

[boelie]

You will need XP for that machine. For the drivers just get those from the laptop manufacture's site. Also be careful because if you have to post on how to do this it is a recipe for disaster, not that it is rocket science.

 

 

 

What do you mean I will need XP? You mean XP will run better than vista or do you mean I will need a XP disk? Because I do have one. And I've done this before on a PC but I don't know if it's different for a laptop, that's why I asked. But what can really go wrong? Last time I did it on my computer I just put the XP disk in and followed the steps.

 

 

 

The laptop should have come with driver disks when it was bought. However, if you cannot source these, then I'm pretty sure that Windows XP has basic drivers for the touchpad. Be aware that if you don't have the driver disks, you may need to go to the manufacturers website to download the correct drivers before everything works properly (e.g. Screen may be in reduced resolution/colours until you install the correct drivers).

 

 

 

She doesn't use the touchpad so I guess that won't be a problem. I guess it would be a good idea to check if I can download the drivers before I try this, right?

 

 

 

PS: I'm from Holland so I can't get that magazine here.

[sloter]

No different on laptop. Your also going to need an activation key too by the way not just the disc.

[Laura]

No different on laptop. Your also going to need an activation key too by the way not just the disc.

Depending on your manufacturer, it may be on the underside of your laptop.

[boelie]

No different on laptop. Your also going to need an activation key too by the way not just the disc.

Depending on your manufacturer, it may be on the underside of your laptop.

 

 

 

The key for Windows XP? I doubt it since it came with Vista.

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

Unless you have "downgrade rights" or another copy of XP lying around somewhere, there's a pretty slim chance you'll be able to just rip out Vista and put on XP.

 

 

 

There is a solution, however, for the drivers. If it's a well-known manufacturer (Dell, HP, etc), then you can just go to their website, enter your model in, and get the drivers that way. If it isn't well known, take down as much information about your machine as you can (including wireless/wired cards, graphics card, and sound card specifications). That way, no matter what, you can at least search online to find the missing drivers for your machine.

 

 

 

By the by - it's only safe to do if you have a backup plan. Key word: backup. ;)

[Sbrideau]

Could we have the model of the laptop? Nowadays they don't make the hardware for XP, so there are chances that XP won't run well on the computer.

 

 

 

Would be good to have the specs.

 

 

 

Although, if it was good at the beginning and is just getting slower and slower, then it might have something to do with what your mother does and installs on the computer. I would give a shot at cleaning (CCleaner helps a bit too here) and unchecking the unused and rarely used programs in msconfig so that they don't load at startup.

 

 

 

Also, if she has Norton or McAfee, that is one more reason for the computer to be slow, since they are resource hogs and aren't really good at detecting viruses anyway.

[boelie]

Unless you have "downgrade rights" or another copy of XP lying around somewhere, there's a pretty slim chance you'll be able to just rip out Vista and put on XP.

 

 

 

There is a solution, however, for the drivers. If it's a well-known manufacturer (Dell, HP, etc), then you can just go to their website, enter your model in, and get the drivers that way. If it isn't well known, take down as much information about your machine as you can (including wireless/wired cards, graphics card, and sound card specifications). That way, no matter what, you can at least search online to find the missing drivers for your machine.

 

 

 

By the by - it's only safe to do if you have a backup plan. Key word: backup. ;)

 

 

 

I do have another copy of XP lying around I believe. But what exactly do you mean with a backup plan? I backed up all the files that she wants to keep if that's what you mean.

 

 

 

Could we have the model of the laptop? Nowadays they don't make the hardware for XP, so there are chances that XP won't run well on the computer.

 

 

 

Would be good to have the specs.

 

 

 

Although, if it was good at the beginning and is just getting slower and slower, then it might have something to do with what your mother does and installs on the computer. I would give a shot at cleaning (CCleaner helps a bit too here) and unchecking the unused and rarely used programs in msconfig so that they don't load at startup.

 

 

 

Also, if she has Norton or McAfee, that is one more reason for the computer to be slow, since they are resource hogs and aren't really good at detecting viruses anyway.

 

 

 

The laptop is an Acer Aspire 5310 series.

 

I agree it probably has to do with what my mother does on the computer but I think she'll make less of a mess if I put XP on there because she's used to working with that. Vista is like a giant puzle for her sometimes. I installed AVG on it but I think it hasn't been working for a while. I've had McAfee on my computer and it was the most horrible program I've ever seen. I think programs like CCleaner might help somewhat but there's also a lot of stuff on there that's completely useless that came with the computer. The computer is very, very cluttered and I think starting off with a clean slate would be the best solution here.

[shawn3090]

When I formatted my PC to XP (from 2000) it automatically installed my drivers for me. I never had to download anything for my audio, graphics etc. (I installed XP on a separate partition, maybe it detected from the C: drive since that's where 2000 is)

[boelie]

Alright so just to be sure... if I pop in the XP cd and install that, it shouldn't give me any trouble? I won't hold anyone responsible obviously if it does, but to the best of your knowledge...

[PastyGangsta]

You could also try out clean installing Windows 7, it'll be like installing XP but you won't have nearly as many driver issues.

 

 

 

As for just popping in the XP cd, beforehand you'll want to be sure to find the XP drivers for your network card. If you reformat and XP doesn't have a driver that can run your internet... you're in trouble. Also I don't know if XP will even be able to wipe a Vista drive, I've heard reports of it just refusing for some unknown reason.