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cleaning windows without format

Rhinokey
polycounter lvl 18
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Rhinokey polycounter lvl 18
i want to take and give my old laptop to my girl since i got my new super machine. is there anyway to completely strip everything from it but leave the OS? i want to give it to her clean. but do not want to go thru the format reinstall hassle.
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  • Spark
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    Spark polycounter lvl 18
    Just let her see the porn Rhino, don't be so greedy:P Trust me, the sooner the better:) Hahha, jk wish I knew the answer to this, as I went through the hassle of the format reinstall:/

    Spark
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  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    Just pop in the windows install disc. It does the format and install for you mostly. Just takes a while.

    Cant think of any way you'd do it any quicker or easier.
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  • bearkub
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    bearkub polycounter lvl 18
    I put my vote in for clean install mainly because that means when you it give it to them, it will be starting at zero as far as problems (hopefully) and they won't inherit any problems you may have had with it.

    Otherwise, i think there is an option to reinstall without actually reformatting.
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  • Xenobond
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    Xenobond polycounter lvl 18
    I'd offer to do it for you... but you're on the 8th floor.
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  • low odor
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    low odor polycounter lvl 17
    Depending on the brand of laptop...there might be an image restore..if it's still under warranty you can usually call the company you got it from and ask for a copy of the image restore disk...it will set everything back to factory settings ..so no futsing around with loading drivers etc....It's standard on most Dell, HP, Compaq....If its a Vista laptop hit f8 and then go to the repair computer option...then there should be an image restore option in the list..if it's xp depends on the brand of computer...my dell is ctrl f11
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  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    [ QUOTE ]
    but do not want to go thru the format reinstall hassle.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    nuke it from space with the windows disk, it's the only way to be sure.
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  • dfacto
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    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    You could clean it up without a format and reinstall, but you'll have to manually uninstall, delete, and edit lots of files, plus the windows registry. That doesn't really sound worth it to me.

    Pop in the disk and nuke the sucker like Hawken said.
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  • Jarrod1937
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    Jarrod1937 polycounter lvl 15
    Just do a windows reinstall. And since you already know the hard drive is good, you can simply do a quick format. The regular format just takes forever because it scans for bad sectors.
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  • Mr.T
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    Mr.T
    You can try various registry cleaner after uninstalling
    softwares you don't want. I really suggest CCLEANER, it
    did a really nice job on my comp. But it would be better
    to full format and install a clean windows with your
    main apps, and backup. Once you need a full format
    again, you just load the backup and in 20mn you're ready smile.gif
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