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For some of us a computer is just a tool, just like a hammer or wrench is to a carpenter or a car-mechanic. So if we would like to work with our tool for as long as possible then let me provide you with some advice of how to keep your computer clean and working.

Working as an IT engineer, I see a lot of computers. As if that isn’t enough I’ve made it my hobby to help and solve other people’s computer problems outside my job.

I am addressing this blog to whoever is capable of reinstalling a computer and has a little common sense of what to do with your computer and what not to do!

Assuming we all now what a operating system is and how it is layered on our computer, behold a image to illustrate everything I’m about to tell:

Here we see a computer. First of all there is the hardware; when we say hardware we mean our central processing unit, also called: CPU, our motherboard on which the CPU is plugged. Our random access memory - RAM, graphics card, network controller, soundcard, harddisk, cd/dvd-drive etc.

Then we see our Operating System, the operating system is not bound to any form of restrictions as long as we meet the minimum required system specifications provided by the manufacturer of the operating system software.

On top of our operating system, we have our apps- or applications. These pieces of software we all use on a daily basis. Think of our iTunes, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader etc.

Since 90% of all the computer users use Microsoft’s Windows, I’ll focus on these users.

Currently there are a few operating systems available, starting with ‘good ‘ol’ Windows XP. Windows XP is a operating system launched in 2001 and was a huge success for Microsoft since the disappointment of Windows ME (successor of Windows 98) and Windows 2000 (aimed at business use). It is today still popular due to it’s low requirement on system specs and can be considered as a light operating system.

After Windows XP, Microsoft introduced Windows Vista in 2007 almost 6 year’s later then it’s predecessor Windows XP. Although Microsoft was very enthusiastic about it’s product Windows Vista flopped over instability and incompatibility pared with ever expanding swap files, inertia and promised exclusive content and features that never hit the market.

Microsoft wasn’t deaf, and listened to the criticism that hit it’s youngest operating system, and nearly two years later Windows 7 was introduced.

And here the revolution begins. Windows 7 is a easy to use operating system that was rock-solid immediately it hit the shelves and just functions as a good and reliable operating system without Microsoft having to make really any significant improvements.

Resuming we can conclude that there are now two reliable operating systems we can use to deploy on our computer: Windows XP and Windows 7. Later on next year Windows 8 will be released, I’ll leave this one out of the comparison since it’s not ready and my first opinion is that for home users Windows 8 will not offer any advantages towards Windows 7 users accept if you are social media addicted.

Now we have had our history lesson about Windows operating systems we can look at what we want to do with our computer:

First things first, if we want to clean up and reinstall our computer, we first have to backup everything we want to preserve. Most commonly thought of is the my documents folder, my pictures and my music folder. However there are even more important folders that we should not forget. There’s the Outlook Express mail folder, the Outlook mail folder, our tax registration program with filled-in tax registrations that have to be preserved. And what about our favorite settings, our internet bookmarks, save games etc.

You get my point?

Here’s a summarization of the following important folders where to look for these kind of files:

Windows 7
Outlook: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
Windows Mail: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail
Overall custom program settings that you want to preserve like ftp address from your ftp client, Usenet provider settings from your newsreader, most of the time these will be found here: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local and C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming

Windows XP
In Windows XP there are several similar folders to preserve if we are going to reinstall our system.

Microsoft Outlook: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Outlook Express: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{FC4E8292-11E5-43B8-ABD3-0A6AE8AD23A2}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
Overall custom program settings that you want to preserve like ftp address from your ftp client, Usenet provider settings from your newsreader, most of the time these will be found here: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data general settings folder and here C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data general settings folder

When we have back upped our system files, it is time to focus on what we want to do with our operating system. Which version, do you want to customize your partitions or not.

Do we have all the hardware drivers we need to let the computer function just the same as before? It is wise to collect these before you are going to reinstall, especially when the pc you’re about to reinstall is your only computer.

Partitioning
When we want to install our operating system, one of the very first questions asked by the installation program is the partitioning of the system hard-drive, due to my experience I can give you the following advice:

1. Partitioning a hard-drive with round numbers always gives me a nice feeling when looking to the hard-disk space. 40, 80, 100 gigabytes of partitioned disk space always looks nicer to me then 132,45 gb of disk space. To create this situation please keep in mind the following: When partitioning, multiply the number of gigabytes you want for your partition by 1024 and a an extra additional 3 mb.

Example, to create a 80 Gigabyte partition for Windows XP take 80 multiply it by 1024 and add an extra 3 Mb to make the number ’round’ in disk space properties.

If the machine you are reinstalling is a Windows 7 computer add an additional 100 Mb for the system partition since this is 100 Mb, otherwise you would end up with a disk of 79,9 Gigabytes and we don’t want that do we?

Note! Since hard-drive manufacturers produce hard drives with a capacity of 1000 Gigabyte (also called a 1 Terabyte disk) operating systems measure by binary measures so they measure 1024 as 1 Gigabyte. The result of this is that a 1000 Gigabyte disk divided trough 1024 will end up with  976 addressable Gigabytes.

2. When we are partitioning I would always advice to create an additional partition. Reason for me to do this is in my opinion for future reasons to separate your data from your programs and operating system. In case of system recovery this decreases the recovery time massivly since I don’t have to copy or backup my files to another drive or partition. This save’s time and I can say in case of system recovery you will be up and running again within 15 minutes of a total system crash. When it comes to number I also would like to make this disk a partitioned disk with round numbers. So if it is possible, make a 100, 150, 200 Gigabyte partition. At point 3 I will tell you what to do with the resuming disk space!

3. Last but not least, when there’s still unallocated space left, create a restore / recovery partition. This partition will be used for future recovery. So when your system crashes or you just want your freshly installed computer back we do a system restore with the restore program of your liking and everything will be brought back to the point in time where we have made the restore. See this as a photo or snapshot of your system when times where good!

so far my story.. next part we will be going deep into the installation procedure of Windows XP and Windows 7 and after that we will do the configurating of the computer, installing applications and making a system recovery.

Hope you enjoy my blog and leave a comment to keep me motivated!