How to reinstall Windows Vista?

How to reinstall windows vista Business?

• Ok i have very much programs and other things on my pc so a wanna reinstall hole machine so that my drive will be clean and others settings will be normal again so i kinda little bit afraid to do this. When i first installed my windows vista i did not use any CD or DVD so do i need 1? (i hope no) and is it hard to reinstall? and how long it going to take to complete holl thing? thx for any help.

• Answer:

  Make sure you back up all you data first onto USB pen or external hard drive. 1. Reformat the Hard Drive and Re-install the Operating System Reformatting a disk prepares it to accept a new operating system. It also wipes out everything on the hard drive. That's your goal. Past versions of Windows (through Windows ME) allow you to create a start-up disk. You'll need one to reformat your hard drive. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click Start-up Disk. Click Create Disk. On Windows XP, you'll need to download the disk information. Go to BootDisk.com and click "DOS — Windows 9X/NT4/2000/XP Excellent Bootdisks." Download the Windows XP Custom Install Disk and save it to a floppy. On all systems, shut down all open programs. Restart the computer with the floppy in the A: drive. At the A: prompt, type Format: C. Answer "yes" to the warning; you want to wipe out all the data. When the reformat finishes, put the Windows installation CD in the CD drive and remove the floppy. Restart and re-install Windows. Reformatting will keep most people out of your old files. But specialised shareware exists to reclaim files after reformatting. If you do not know who will get the computer — or you do know and you don't trust them — stronger measures are required. 2. Buy Software and Overwrite the Disk, Again and Again and Again If you don't know much about computers, this might be easier than Step 2. There are several programs that write gibberish to the hard drive. They promise that nobody will be able to find your files after the software is utilised. Norton's SystemWorks includes an application called Wipe Info. OnTrack's DataEraser offers a similar feature, as does Jetico's BCWipe. There are more such applications on the Internet. You can leave the operating system and other files on the hard disk, if you want. These programs can be set to overwrite only the unoccupied areas. The process can be slow, because they write to the disk repeatedly. You might want to run it overnight. 3. You're Totally Paranoid, so Get Out the Acetylene Torch I'm not kidding. The only absolute and assured way of protecting your data is to destroy the hard drive. To do that, you need to remove it from the computer. If you want to save the rest of the computer, touch the machine's metal frame before reaching in. Static electricity can wreck the circuitry. Unplug the wires on the hard drive and remove the mounting screws. The hard drive slides out from the back of its holder. The Pentagon shreds its hard drives. That should work, assuming you can find a hard-drive shredder. I've never seen one. You need to destroy the platters inside. Try smashing them with a hammer. Destroying them with a torch should work. Step 4 seems excessive to me. But you're right to be paranoid about this. Identity theft has become overwhelming. Personally, I would use Step 3. I believe in being careful, no matter who gets the computer.