ok, i would like a step by step on how to completely wipe my hard drive and reinstall everything, but the downside of it all is i do not have any of the programs...such as vistas/microsoft word...etc....so what can i do...ive tried to fix my computer...im tired of scanning and same files are missing and same files keep showing on task manager...so with that being said is this possible to completely wipe everything and reinstalling?
To reinstall from scratch after a format you're going to need one of the following before you even begin:
* Windows installation CD or DVD
* Windows installation recovery partition
If you have either of those the format and reinstallation of Windows XP or newer is rather simple and straight forward.
I'd highly recommend searching Microsoft support website for documentation to print (yes print it because you surely can't read a website after you've formatted). Or browse other help sites like Bleeping Computer which have very detailed instruction articles.
Before you go to such a drastic measure of reinstalling, we might be able to help out if you have a problem. Otherwise, you should follow Andavari's instructions on reinstalling.
ok, so reinstalling might not work out for me since i do not have a vistas cd/dvd my laptop came pre-installed....well can one do a windows system recovery point will that solve my problem with this issues
EDIT: Nvm, Rorschach can probably help you out with this problem better than us. I recommend you follow his instructions so you can avoid a reinstall.
ok, so reinstalling might not work out for me since i do not have a vistas cd/dvd my laptop came pre-installed....well can one do a windows system recovery point will that solve my problem with this issues
No install CD/DVD means you probably have a recovery partition on your system, if you bought the PC from a big name manufacturer like Dell, HP, etc., you can contact customer support for help via a toll free number.
Like Icedrake stated however you may not need to actually format. In some instances creating a new Windows user profile and copying your files over to it is enough to solve many issues especially those which are registry related to a damaged user profile - in that instance many people will blindly format not realizing they can fix the issue in mere minutes.
System Restore may help your issue, then again it may not make a difference. If you've had malware (viruses, etc.) on your system you need to follow this thread before receiving any help, since an active malware infection may thwart attempts to fix other things: