Help with formatting :(

No Mercy

No Mercy

Master Sergeant
|K3| Member
|K3| Media Team
I have windows 7 and I NEED to format my computer completely,. BUT I dont want to uninstall windows 7. Since you guys are into this stuff, could you give me a step by step instructions to format :) I want to format my whole laptop like it was when I first got it :(
 
stevo

stevo

eh
Former Krew Member
What you talk about is impossible lol, if you reformat all will be lost so this means you need to back up everything you want to keep, then reformat and reinstall windows
 
WaLLy

WaLLy

Lieutenant General
|K3| Executive
What kind of laptop do you have?

These days, PC manufacturers install a restore partition onto the drives so basically all you'd have to do is restart and press one of the F keys at the top and a couple clicks later, it would format and reinstall your drive back to new. You'll lose everything, so make sure you backup your stuff.
 
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PwnSauce

Banned
stevo is right. Formatting a disk drive removes ALL everything from a disk drive and creates a new file format and NTFS MFT (File system Master file table)

You can't both not remove windows AND format a drive, heh.
Sorry. That's kinda funny to see that question.

If you think windows is infected or damaged your best bet is to reinstall Windows and let the install process format the drive for you.
That wipes out all damage or threats.


What is your objective here?
why are you trying to do this? Maybe there's a better solution.
 
WaLLy

WaLLy

Lieutenant General
|K3| Executive
Ah yeah! That's right Greg!

If it's viruses/ worms/ trojans, then download Malwarebytes (Google it), and do a few full-scans until you get 0 infections.

If you just want to reformat your drive because it's running sluggish then by all means reformat that monkey!! I do that every 6-9 months for the sake of it. :)
 
A

AVC

Banned
Just create a new partition (preferably hlaf the drive's capacity), and format it. Copy your C drive and W7 over to the new partition and then format the old partition.
Voila! you will have formatted the entire drive without uninstalling Windows.
And achieved absolutely nothing!

You may also have a "restore disc" with your laptop. Sort of like a Windows disc, but with all the propriety software and drivers specific to your laptop. Load the disc, reboot (or it may autorun and give you options) to restore your machine to factory settings.

BACK UP YOUR DATA!!! Before doing this.
 
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PwnSauce

Banned
well, once a computer is infected with malware, it can no longer be trusted.
Antivirus software doesn't detect all malware, only about 80% is detected according to some sources I've read.

Just back up your stuff and reinstall windows.
OR, consider a disk imaging solution like ghost or Acronis.
Basically, install windows, all patches and software you want.
Configure it just like you like, create a disk image.

If you ever have problems just backup docs and reapply the image to the disk drive.
It's pretty sweet.

Greg
 
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AVC

Banned
Yeah, good point Greg. when I build a new machine, I set it all up, install windows, drivers, tweak it up, THEN do an image. In case it dies I can doa restore instead of spending half a day setting up the OS and everything again.
 
WaLLy

WaLLy

Lieutenant General
|K3| Executive
You'd still spend quite a bunch updating drivers. I'd rather go through everything and install everything I need from scratch.

Better advice: Buy a Mac!

:)
 
No Mercy

No Mercy

Master Sergeant
|K3| Member
|K3| Media Team
There is no virus on my computer. It may sound stupid but I used to run team fortress 2 with hardly any crappy frame rates. Now i have to use Gamebooster and restart my laptop everytime I want to play a smooth game. I just want to get rid of all programs which my laptop doesn't need, and only have the ones I need installed. I tried uninstall a program but I still have 160 GB of my hard drive full (Maximum 360 GB) :( So do I just reboot my laptop holding down a F6 f7 f8 etc key?
 
WaLLy

WaLLy

Lieutenant General
|K3| Executive
No Mercy said:
There is no virus on my computer. It may sound stupid but I used to run team fortress 2 with hardly any crappy frame rates. Now i have to use Gamebooster and restart my laptop everytime I want to play a smooth game. I just want to get rid of all programs which my laptop doesn't need, and only have the ones I need installed. I tried uninstall a program but I still have 160 GB of my hard drive full (Maximum 360 GB) :( So do I just reboot my laptop holding down a F6 f7 f8 etc key?
Click to expand...

Whats the name and model of your laptop?

Are you planning on saving anything?
 
No Mercy

No Mercy

Master Sergeant
|K3| Member
|K3| Media Team
Toshiba L500D Satellite :) All Im going to have downloaded when Ive deleted everything is steam, Firefox and game booster
 
WaLLy

WaLLy

Lieutenant General
|K3| Executive
No Mercy said:
Toshiba L500D Satellite :) All Im going to have downloaded when Ive deleted everything is steam, Firefox and game booster
Click to expand...

Restart your laptop and during boot press the F8 button (keep taping it) 'til you reach something along the lines of "Recovery Partition"; it'll say Recovery on there.

If F8 doesn't work, restart and press the number 0 (yes, zero) instead.

You should get some sort of recovery wizard that'll help you ERASE EVERYTHING and re-install Windows 7 with all the drivers and just about everything else that you'll need. Basically, it'll look exactly how you got it from the store brand new.

The above is ONLY possible if you bought it brand new and it came with Windows 7 and nothing in between has been done to it, like re-installed from an OEM Windows disc.
 
No Mercy

No Mercy

Master Sergeant
|K3| Member
|K3| Media Team
Wally, I will try what you just suggested to me in a couple of days. I gotta back up all my crap and pr0n ;P so just TAP f8 or hold it down :S
 
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