Reloaded windows....now what??

[fmahovalich]

The computer was getting SO SO SO slow, and after many attempts to use spyware, malware and everything in between, I decided it was time to reload windows. I was told it was the slickest way to get control of the O.S.

So I scrubbed the hard drive clean. re formatted and loaded windows. It seems MUCH MUCH faster...but I'm not online.

Thats is the problem. How do I make the link to my wireless card. Can I? Also Video/Audio

I got no icons or nuthin. Can anyone help??

 

[fmahovalich]

Bump

 

[WoodPeckr]

Which OS you running, XP, Vista or W7?
To get online try a hardwire connection if wireless won't connect.
Did you do all your updates after reinstall?
Usually Windows auto-finds your wireless network and connects. It should even auto-find any needed drivers. If not you will have to do a manual reinstall.

You have to now reload all your fav apps/programs, one by one.

Who needs icons?
I only have 'recycle bin' and 'my computer' incons. I like an uncluttered desktop look with no icons. Fav apps go on the left side bottom of quick launch taskbar. Your PC will run better without a lot of icons cluttering up the desktop.

 

[fmahovalich]

I am running XP...

So if I hardwire...I should be able to first do a WINDOWS UPDATE correct? Assuming I can get online?

From there I can go after audio video drivers...or are they in WINDOWS?

Sorry..pretty slow at this

Thanks

 

[WoodPeckr]

Yes first do Windows updates. There will be a ton of them. Then install your AV, then try and find your drivers. That may be tricky because of how old XP is.

 

[fmahovalich]

Thanks A bunch guys!!

 

[blue_bawls]

Rule 1 for a WinXP rebuild: ALWAYS keep a copy of the NIC (Network Interface Card) drivers on some form of removable storage. Chances are XP does not have a generic driver to enable that device and as WorkingMan2010 indicated you may have to download them on to removable storage and copy them to the affected system. Once your network card (Wired and/or Wireles) has been installed you can them proceed to the interweb and download to your hearts content. My suggestion would be to download a copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and perform a manual install (double-click on exe, accept defaults) as this would eliminate a lot of the updates, but not all.

URL to XP SP3: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4&displaylang=en

 

[nofrill]

Go to the PC manufacturer's support website and download the drivers for the wifi, audio and video cards.

You should have downloaded all the drivers for your specific model before reinstalling Windows.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Back a few years ago before switching to Linux, I used a cloned HDD to do this. The extra clone drive had a fresh clean copy of XP Pro, along with all the Windows updates, programs, apps, browsers, AV, drivers, etc., everything I needed/used.

When XP slowed down and it was time to reformat and reload XP all that was needed was to get out that clone drive and swap it with the slow drive making the clone Primary Drive and the slow Drive the slave. With this setup you then format the slow drive, then transfer all clone data to the slow drive. When complete, just swap drives again pulling out the clone drive and you are done. Total process took about 30 minutes. It was like a brand new PC all speedy and snappy again. It was a heck of a lot quicker than doing it the proper way by the book.

 

[enyaw]

http://www.drivermagician.com/

this is a small little program that should help you in the future, once you have everything tweaked just the way you like it. There is a free version which also does the job but less goodies I suppose.

 

[WoodPeckr]

enyaw

Nice find. Thanks for posting....