Computer wizards????

[alldunn]

A format and clean install is a good idea every now and then, IMHO.

[BlueTJCO]

Originally Posted by alldunn

A format and clean install is a good idea every now and then, IMHO.

why? There is no need to format the drive and do a clean install unless he has exhausted every other option IMHO...................

do you work for geek squad?

[alldunn]

Originally Posted by Mooncricket

why? There is no need to format the drive and do a clean install unless he has exhausted every other option IMHO...................

Guarantee you I can reformat a machine and reimage it faster that you can figure out what the h3ll is going on with it (in some cases). I'm not saying reformat becasue the f'ing thing won't print. But for our workstations, most of the time that is the quickest solution...we are using Citrix, so really not installing any software.

Originally Posted by Mooncricket

do you work for geek squad?

doubt they pay enough to buy the gas for my H2.

[ree]

Originally Posted by alldunn

Guarantee you I can reformat a machine and reimage it faster that you can figure out what the h3ll is going on with it (in some cases).

If f5fstop is referring to a corporate laptop, then you might have a weak argument. It sounds like his system is a personal one.

Even if it were corporate, I guarantee you can't reformat, reimage, and then have a happy user with all of his non-IT managed apps installed and configured the same way as before. Plus the added cost of having the user do all the post-reimage work and not getting any other work done in the mean time is way steeper than most IT staffers ever seem to appreciate.

[alldunn]

Originally Posted by ree

Even if it were corporate, I guarantee you can't reformat, reimage, and then have a happy user with all of his non-IT managed apps installed and configured the same way as before.

That's the beauty of Citrix, no software is installed on the local machine. It's all housed and run from a server farm. Now that is a bit off subject and I realize his laptop is probably not a corporate machine. I don't regularly format my personal computers either, but was humbly offering my opinion that that sometimes is a good idea. Frankly I don't care if you agree or disagree.

[ree]

Originally Posted by alldunn

Frankly I don't care if you agree or disagree.

[evldave]

Is this your new Compaq? If so, check to see what sort of pre-installed software came with it. When I got mine, I immediately wiped and started w/a fresh install from the re-image disks. I didn't install all the 'add-ons' and that helped a lot.

Follow the other instructions as indicated here on eliminating startup apps. If you've done both (re-image and removal of all non-essential startup apps), you'll likely have to deal with it - more memory or HD won't likely help much on faster startup (defrag regularly if you edit files a lot).

I've got a ton of essential software running on mine at startup, so now I never shut it down - I have it hibernate, which kicks it right back up - takes no more than 1 minute to re-start in the same place as I left when shutting it off. If your laptop is like mine, you should be able to set up the 'power' button to actually be the hibernate button.

[ree]

Originally Posted by alldunn

A format and clean install is a good idea every now and then, IMHO.

That's BS. Care and nurturing can keep a windows box going without a reinstall for a loooong time. Of course, you have to know what you're doing.

[BlueTJCO]

Originally Posted by ree

That's BS. Care and nurturing can keep a windows box going without a reinstall for a loooong time. Of course, you have to know what you're doing.

thank you.....