By
Lincoln Spector,
PCWorld
How did things get this messed up? Windows has slowed to a crawl. Programs won't run. The
free firewall you installed last year won't update or uninstall itself.
System Restore hasn't helped; neither have your assorted cleanup and
antimalware programs. Only one option remains: Reinstall Windows and start from scratch.
I'm not going to lie to you--this is a scary and time-consuming
job. Your PC may be unusable for a day or more. You could even lose all
of your data.
And let's face it: You'd be wise to avoid this chore if at all
possible. If someone in tech support tells you to do it, get a second
opinion, and then a third.
If you have to reinstall--and sometimes it is necessary--here's how to make the process as safe and painless as possible.
Gather What You Need
You'll have to collect a few things before you can begin.
First, you'll need your
recovery tool. What's that? If
you're using the version of Windows that came on your PC, it's probably
in a hidden partition on the computer's hard drive. That partition
contains the information necessary to restore the hard drive to its
factory condition.
Obviously, a hard-drive partition is not something you have to
gather. But if your PC is a few years old, the recovery tool may be on
one or more CDs or DVDs instead. Find the discs that came with your PC
and see if anything looks promising. Alternatively, check the PC's
manual to learn what kind of recovery tool came with the machine, and,
if it's on a partition, how to access it.
If you
upgraded Windows since you bought the PC--for instance, going from XP or Vista to Windows 7--the upgrade disc is now your recovery tool.
If you can't find a recovery disc, and the PC has no hidden
partition (or offers no workable way to access that partition), contact
the system manufacturer to see what they can do for you. Read "
How Do I Restore Windows If I've Lost My Restore CD?" for details.
After Windows installs, you'll have to reinstall all of your
programs. Collect all the original discs or downloaded installation
files, and all of your license numbers.
You'll want an empty external hard drive with a capacity at least
as large as your existing hard drive. Another external hard drive will
come in handy later. That one doesn't have to be empty; you'll need only
a part of it.
Finally, you'll need time. The best-case scenario for a reinstall
is a day. The worst case: three or four days. You'll be spending a lot
of that time waiting, so get a good book, too.
Back Up Everything
Things could go horribly wrong, so you need to make a backup of
your entire drive. That way, you can at least return to where you were
before the reinstall.
You also have to create a backup of your data, because the reinstall might destroy everything on your hard drive.
To manage both tasks, use cloning software to turn the empty external
drive into an exact copy of your internal hard drive. I recommend
EASEUS Todo Backup,
which performs both image backups and cloning. For this job, I
recommend the cloning because it will make the later job of restoring
the data files easier. On the other hand, an image backup doesn't
require an external drive all to itself (although it will require a
large piece of one). Either option will work.
Be sure to create an emergency boot disc with EASEUS or whatever
program you use to do the cloning. Without that, you may not be able to
recover from a disaster.
Having a second backup of your data wouldn't hurt, especially since
you're about to erase the original. If you don't already have another
up-to-date backup, create one with whatever backup program you regularly
use.
The Windows Reinstall
Exactly how you replace an old Windows installation with a new one
depends on your recovery tool. If your PC came with a recovery partition
on the hard drive, find the instructions for booting into the repair
environment. Watch the screen as you turn on the computer; it might show
a message such as 'Press F10 for Repair'. If it doesn't, check the
manual or call technical support.
If your recovery tool is a disc, boot the PC from it.
Either way, follow the prompts.
If your recovery tool is an actual Microsoft Windows disc, the tool
will ask what kind of installation to perform. You want the kind that
gives you a fresh version of Windows. For Windows 7 or Vista, when the
wizard asks about the type of installation, select the
Custom (advanced) option. For XP, at the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press
Enter to Continue, not R for Repair.
Setting Up Windows
Congratulations: You have a fresh Windows installation. Now the hard work starts.
Remember that Windows will need updating. The patching will happen
automatically, but if you want to get it out of the way, launch Windows
Update and take care of it.
You'll have to reinstall at least some of your
drivers.
You can go back to the discs that came with your PC, printer, scanner,
and so on, or you can download newer versions off the Internet.
Alternatively, you can install the drivers off the clone you made before
reinstalling.
If you reinstalled Windows from a vendor-supplied tool--one that
returns your hard drive to its factory condition--you probably have a
lot of junk on your computer. You'll have to uninstall the stuff you
don't want.
The uninstallers that come with Windows applications are
notoriously sloppy, leaving all sorts of remnants behind. I recommend
either
Revo Uninstaller or
Total Uninstall. These programs run the application's own uninstaller, and then clean up the remaining mess.
The difference? Revo is free, but Total does a better job with
uninstalls that require a reboot. Also, Revo doesn't work with 64-bit
programs, while Total does.
Now that you've cleaned Windows of unwanted applications, you have
to reinstall the programs you do want. Start with your security tools,
and go from there. Don't try to install two programs at the same time,
and if an installation requires a reboot, don't put that reboot off.
Just do it.
Once everything is installed, take some time to make Windows your
own. Pick your wallpaper, change your power and screensaver settings,
and so on.
One More Backup
You just spent a lot of time taking a fresh Windows installation
and customizing it. If you ever have to reinstall Windows again,
wouldn't you like to skip that step?
Use image-backup software and an external hard drive to create an
image of your hard drive in its current everything-but-data state.
Should you have to reinstall again, you can use this backup as your
recovery tool and simplify the process.
Again, I recommend
EASEUS Todo Backup, although you can find other good programs that will do this job.
Whatever program you use, make sure to create an emergency boot disc with it.
Restore Your Data
Now it's time to bring back your data. If you used an actual
Windows 7 retail or upgrade DVD, the data is in a folder called
C:\Windows.old. If you used a manufacturer's recovery tool, your files
might be in a special folder off the root, perhaps called C:\Backup. Otherwise, your data is no longer on your hard drive.
Aren't you glad you made that backup?
If such a folder exists on your hard drive, open it in Windows
Explorer and navigate to its User folder (Windows 7 or Vista) or
'Documents and Settings' folder (XP).
If the folder doesn't exist, you'll have to get it off of the clone
or image backup. Create a folder on the internal drive called
Backup
(it should be C:\Backup). Plug in the external drive with the clone,
and copy the contents of that drive's User folder (Windows 7 or Vista)
or 'Documents and Settings' folder (XP) to C:\Backup. Once the copying
is done, remove the external drive (properly, of course, through the
system tray's removal tool). Leave Windows Explorer open to the
C:\Backup folder.
Whether you needed to copy the data from the external drive or not,
you should now have a Windows Explorer window open and displaying
multiple folders--one for each user logon. For convenience's sake, I'm
going to call this window the
Backup Location.
Open a second Windows Explorer window, and navigate to C:\Users
(Windows 7 or Vista) or C:\Documents and Settings (XP). I'll call this
window the
Proper Location, because it's where your data
should be--and eventually will be.
Do the following for each user:
Open the user's folders in both the Backup and Proper Locations. You
will see additional folders, mostly the same ones, inside each. Drag
some of the folders from Backup to Proper.
Which folders should you move? The obvious ones are Documents,
Music, Pictures, and Videos. Their names may or may not be prefaced with
My. XP users needn't worry about the lack of Music, Pictures, and Videos folders--they're inside Documents.
You should absolutely
not move AppData (Windows 7 and
Vista) or 'Application Data and Local Settings' (XP). These folders are
hidden, so it's likely you won't see them, anyway.
Use your own judgment about other folders. Just remember that the
folders you don't move aren't going away immediately, so you can always
correct that mistake.
You'll get several error messages as you move the folders. If Windows
asks, yes, you do want to merge folders. Replacing a file with one that
has the same name is also probably safe, but use your own judgment.
That process will take care of your documents, spreadsheets,
pictures, music, and so on. Application data (Firefox settings, Outlook
data files, and the like) is more complicated. Each application has its
own way of handling the task, so I can give you no general instructions.
