pc problem

[jammy76]

hope u can help? ive had my pc for 2 years now the kids use it alot now its running very slow how do i get it back 2 the way it was when i bought it just a basic computer THANKS

[vehelpfulguy]

It depends what was provided when you bought the PC. If you still have the documentatoin that came with the PC see what it says in there.

Some companies provide a recovery CD or DVD, while others provide a hidden recovery area on your hard disk.

This should all be explained in the PC documentation.

Be aware that if you do perform a recovery you will LOSE EVERYTHING ON THE HARD DISK.

So any personal file like photos, music files, videos, homework, games etc will be lost.

You will also lose all your favorites on your browser, plus any settings you have for you e-mail and so on.

So you need to save or backup all this material before you do any sort of recovery.

[Ethel]

Is it Windows XP?

Have you got adequate antispyware and run it regularly?

Do you defrag every few months?

How much free space does the hard drive have?

Have you got the original Windows disks that came with it?

[Postdog]

This is quite a normal thing really. The more you use it, the more it accumulates stuff, even stuff that you aren't aware of.

Re-installing is a bit drastic, so what I tend to do every now and then - aside from running defrag, anti spy, crap cleaner, etc, etc - is check what is going on in start up and remove anything I KNOW shouldn't be there, and uninstall then re-install programs.

I don't think - without doing a complete re-install of the OP system - you will ever get it running as new, but you can certainly improve things.

[ACtheTROLL]

kids, 2 years ..... oh boy do you need to rebuild the machine.
(I've done this since windows 3 - every 12-18 months)
the rubbish that accumulates can't be cleared any other way .... and if your kids are that certain age ... they'll be swapping tunes, progs, downloading - all the stuff kids do.
If their bedrooms are messy ... think how bad the PC is likely to be when they share!!!

problem is .... the others are right .... it's a rotten job which will likely result in you loosing all your stuff ...... unless you prepair for the job.

before you get bogged down ... try CC Cleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/download
despite the paypal links - it's free
if that improves things .... well stop there

if not (and I suspect it won't)
first ... make sure you have all the CDs that you need to rebuild (windows OS and drivers - or a restore disc).
without them .... don't even think about it

Then backup everything you (or the kids) can't do without.

then .... do the deed - you will feel the benefit