What will be left after I format Windows XP and what will be deleted?

Question

I just need confirmation of the following things

-when I format XP, things such as music, pictures, video, and things I downloaded to my computer(non-default) will be deleted

-does that (above) include thing such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Paint, Wordpad, Norton (Antivirus) or default games (ex. pinball, Hearts, Spider Solitaire)

-will I need to create a backup for those above if they can't be saved

-only things that I created a backup for will be saved


Thank you for the help!

Answer 1

When you reformat a hard drive, everything is wiped.



Anything that you load on your computer after the day you buy it, would be something that you will have to reload after you reformat. If it's software, you'll need to reload that particular software. If it's some kind of screensaver, or pictures, videos, music, and etc, they also will need to be recopied in after you reformat. Videos, music, pictures, things like that should be backed up to somewhere before reformating. Any files you created in wordpad, notepad, or Microsoft Works or Microsoft Office, all need to be backed up somewhere.



Internet explorer, wordpad, paint, default games, are part of XP and will reload when XP is loaded.



Antiviral software (like norton) is software that (as stated above) has to be reloaded.



Printer software/drivers would need to be reloaded also.



Just remember: anything you have loaded on your computer has to be reloaded or recopied. Software can be reloaded, but files (word, pictures, etc) need to be copied in so need to be backed up first.

Answer 2

Yes, when you re-format your hard drive *everything* will be wiped off. When you re-install XP certain things are included with it, including: Internet Explorer, Paint, Wordpad and default games (e.g. pinball, Hearts, Spider Solitaire).



If you've got Norton on CD (and the all-important product key) you can re-install it. Naturally, the first thing you'll do after re-installing Windows is protect your pc before you conect to the net.



Obviously, save to CD (or whatever) anything you want to keep. You can re-install Firefox easily enough off the net.

Answer 3

u cant format window xp... u can only format a hard drive or ur "computer"... u use ur windows xp to formate ur hard drive... is that wht u mean??



anyway.. if u format, u'll end up having a pc jus like a new one out of the shop... all the extra programs u installed will be deleted... like ur faviurites, programs such as office, norton,... but internet explorer, paint, wordpad, games wont be deleted because they come with windows xp CD... mozilla will be deleted though...

Answer 4

Absolutely everything is deleted after a format. You will need to have a backup if you wish to do this, unless you don't want any of your files, applications, settings, etc.

Answer 5

Everything will be wiped clean. Period. You will have lost everything on the drive, including Windows, which would need to be reinstalled. If you do not have these discs. then you will not be able to use the computer anymore, until you get them.

Answer 6

Everything including Windows XP operating system will be deleted. You will have to reinstall it and anything else you want on your computer.

Answer 7

Ironically this just happened to me. Thank God for Mozy backup.