Giving Your Computer a Fresh Start

Everyone has computer problems eventually. Computer systems are built to be tough and endure a lot of physical strain. However every computer will eventually have problems with its software. The software may stop running, run very slow, or may have several issues with it such as spyware and viruses. If your computer is plagued by unknown sources or a virus has made a home on your operating system you can take it in to try to get rid of the problem or you can give your computer a fresh start.

Giving your computer a fresh start is very easy. It is relatively effortless however it does take some time to complete. You’ll want to start by backing up any type of files that are important to you. This could be anything ranging from photos to word documents. It’s easiest to do this by backing these files up on an external hard disk, CD, or DVD. After you’ve backed up the files that you want to keep you will need to find your original Windows disk or your recovery disk. Most computers don’t come with a Windows disk anymore and most of the time you’ll have to create the recovery disk yourself unless you paid for it to be created when you bought your computer. If you need to make a recovery disk then you can do this in the start menu by clicking on All Programs then on Accessories and finally on System Tools.

The rest of the process is rather simple. You insert the Windows or recovery disk and then restart the computer. Most computers will tell you to push any key to boot from disk. If you do not see this screen then hit F12 or F8 (it will show this in the bottom left of your screen). This will take you to the system bios. What you’re looking to do is to change the boot order. You will want to make your CD-Rom Drive boot first and the hard disk boot second. This will ensure that your Windows disk or your recovery disk will boot before the actual operating system does. After you have the CD booted the on screen instructions will guide you through the rest of the formatting and Windows installation process. By doing this it will wipe any and all information from your computer system including any viruses or spyware that you had. After you’ve given your computer a fresh start it’s important that you remember the basics.

When you boot Windows for the first time it’s imperative that you get the Windows updates installed on your computer. Next you’ll want to install and update any antivirus and antispyware programs that you may have. If you don’t have any of these types of programs then you will want to get them to prevent yourself from getting any viruses or spyware. By following these computer basics you’ll ensure that your system is well taken care of and that you don’t have to reformat your computer again anytime soon.