Denver Colorado Blog

Useful Tips Before a Hard Drive Format
by FrosT

Introduction

Here are some very userful tips that one would should take before they format their hard drive. For those of you who want to know I have probably formatted my hard drive about 100 times in the past 5 years, no joking. I speak from certain expierence about formating hard drives. Press the print button and keep this list handy you will need it.

Preperations

First things first, prepare for the format. Gather a list of documents, pictures, files, and settings that you want to save and copy them to a thumb drive, CD, or another computer on the network before the format of your hard drive takes place. Remember most programs have setting files and if you have a program that has particular settings to your preference I would uninstall that program to see if the settings can be copied and applied in the new system or just copy the whole program to your Thumb drive before the format.

Once you have compiled a list of the programs and their settings, and all of the files you need are backed up on a thumb drive or cd, it is time to go over the formatted PC check list. There have been many times when an unpredicted issue came up with the format. Lets go over these issues.

Unpredicted Issues

Unpredicted issues will come up whether you want them to or not. This list will help keep those issues at a minimum. First of all make sure you have a good Operating System cd for the Operating System you plan to install on your formatted hard drive. Second, if that Operating System needs a CD Key make sure you have them handy. Remember you can never have too many CD Keys to try. Third, make sure you have the name of ALL your hardware. Incase the new Operating System cannot find your drivers this way you are not at a total loss. Fourth, with knowing all the names of your hardware before you format, download the drivers off of Drivers Guide.com. When an issue does arise with the driver for your internet connection, whoa you already have the drivers downloaded, fancy that.

Last, but not least, make sure you rented a good movie to watch. This process takes a while. A good movie will speed up the format in a sense. Finally the install of the new Operating System.

Installing the Operating System

Not all operating systems are the same. When chosing the right Operating System to install there are several factors that will come into play. First, how computer literate are you. If you know very little about computers, Linux is not for you. Second, do you own a PC or a Macintosh. The answer to this question will either limit your Operating System choices are expand them greatly. Finally, make sure your computer can handle the new Operating System being installed. If your system cannot handle the new Operating System then your computer will either be slow or you will have to re-format the hard drive again and install a different Operating System.

Ending Notes

Once your operating system is online, just simply install the drivers, software and copy the files over from your Thumb drive or CD. Then you can pat yourself on the back for not forgetting anything when formatting your Hard Drive. With these useful tips I have managed to succesfully revert my computer to exactly what it was the past 5 times formatting. When you are ready to format remember these useful tips and save yourself the frustration of losing data and settings.

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