The Big Wipe

I think I’m finally ready to wipe my hard drive and start fresh.

It’s been about 2 1/2 years since I’ve done it last and the old laptop is getting pretty slow.  Overall my 5 1/2 year old Toshiba laptop itself has served me well (aside from a crippling hard drive crash).  I’ve just replaced the fan assembly and battery to the tune of $400 but it’s cheaper than buying a new laptop… something I simply cannot afford at this time.

So I’ve transferred all my documents, files, email and music to my server and I believe I’ve got all the install CDs and keys I need to get ‘er done.

I just hate wiping everything, re-installing and a week later scrambling to find something I forgot about.

Oh well, best just get to it and get it over with.

This entry was written by Roger Jamieson, posted on November 26, 2008 at 17:24, filed under Technology. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

6 Comments

  1. dan
    Posted November 27, 2008 at 11:29 | Permalink

    Think about this (which I did successfully recently):

    1. Use gParted to reduce the size of your Windows partition to something manageable
    2. Use the free VM image tool to make an image of your box
    3. Archive on some external hard drive or broken up rar’s across multiple DVDs
    4. Wipe your computer and put a new OS.
    5. Install VMPlayer.

    That way if you ever realize you forgot something, you can just load up the old image and copy it to your new computer. It saved my ass about 3 months ago when I gave up on Microsoft and went full time Ubuntu. Now I have a windows image for iTunes and syncing my iPhone.

  2. shnewt
    Posted November 27, 2008 at 13:00 | Permalink

    DOOOOO IT!

  3. Roger
    Posted November 27, 2008 at 18:04 | Permalink

    Dan,

    1) Already have a 2nd partition which I use as a scratch disk, swap file and music storage.
    2) Have Acronis True Image. Didn’t want to restore any images I have as I wanted a fresh start… but images still exist on my NAS just in case.
    3) I have a NAS server on my network already.
    4) Done and done.
    5) Will have to look for that.

  4. Tanya (aka NetChick)
    Posted December 3, 2008 at 13:09 | Permalink

    I just sold my fifth laptop last night to a friend, and did that. Wow, it’s kind of sad to junk a bunch of stuff that I’ve not looked at in over a year (my yardstick for what needs keeping)

    I miss you guys. Call me!

  5. Todd
    Posted December 4, 2008 at 9:27 | Permalink

    For someone who is not a computer guruu, your topic title makes you wonder if you should open it or not. LOL
    I thought with things being busy and Christmas coming fast I’d wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! All the best in 2009 and have a safe holiday season.
    Cheers

  6. Rotorboy
    Posted December 4, 2008 at 10:39 | Permalink

    Tanya, yeah it’s sad that we collect all that crap in the first place! I just dumped a box of old CDs and… wait for it… 3.5 inch floppy disks! (I can’t believe I’ve been carting those around all these years).

    Todd, in hindsight, I see my choice of wording could have been more accurate. But hey, you DID read on, didn’t you? ;)
    Have a great Christmas and New Year’s as well Todd!