New computer, seeking advice!

Inuyasha said:

Last thing - and possibly one of the more important ones - my technician told me that if i were to format my PC, and i'd have at that point over 200GB taken (out of the 500 i have ), the computer will erase some of MY files as well.
If that is true - that's completely stupid. Is it ? And if so what should i do? (have one partition)

It is true.

If you format your C partition, EVERYTHING on it will be erased, including your personal files.

You can avoid that by making a second partition and putting your personal files on that new partition. If you were to then format C, your personal files would not be affected.

I would certainly recommend creating a data partition as a great way of keeping your personal data separate from your operating system.

Partition or Volume - Create New

If ever you have to re-install Windows you can do so without worrying about losing any of your important files such as photos, music, videos and personal docs.

Not only that, you can create a system image of your Windows partition for backup purposes, and then create another backup of your data partition with incremental backups thereafter.

Heyyou said:

Inuyasha said:

Hi people,

i recently bought a new computer with an installed Win7HomePremium. It is fairly good and these are a few of the properties:

Intel i3 540
4GB memory
32bit OS

(if u need more ask)



One more question that i believe , out of anyone, you can help with: By default, the folders are presented in list-like formation and it's kinda tiring going over every folder and ordering them differently. Can I do anything to make all of the folders sort in a different way?

Last thing - and possibly one of the more important ones - my technician told me that if i were to format my PC, and i'd have at that point over 200GB taken (out of the 500 i have ), the computer will erase some of MY files as well.
If that is true - that's completely stupid. Is it ? And if so what should i do? (have one partition)

BTW I often see all kinds of short versions of words here, like BSOD, SSD, UAC and what not. It would be very nice of you, considering many of the readers don't know these terms, to simply write the full word. It doesn't take much time .

THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!!!

Hi, to answer your question about listing folders in a different way. In your Documents Folder on the title bar far over to the right, you will see an icon cosisting of 3 small squares followed by 6 dashes, followed by a downward arrow to a drop down list of all the ways you can display your folders. No, I meant making ALL of the folders automatically sort in one way and not a single folder at a time, guess that cant be dont...

As far as formatting, I wouldn't get into doing that if you don't absolutely have to. I have never had to format to solve a problem, although I'm not saying to never format.

I'm with you with all the abbreviations. You really have to keep up as to what some of them mean.

Finally, I think your Avast! is just fine. :)

seavixen32 said:

I would certainly recommend creating a data partition as a great way of keeping your personal data separate from your operating system.

Partition or Volume - Create New

If ever you have to re-install Windows you can do so without worrying about losing any of your important files such as photos, music, videos and personal docs.

Not only that, you can create a system image of your Windows partition for backup purposes, and then create another backup of your data partition with incremental backups thereafter.

Why didn't the lab that made my PC put another partition? not very smart by them.
And what about Norton Ghost? I had that on my previous computer (not that I myself ever knew how to use it or make images), is that good ?

The lab did nothing wrong. Most PCs do not have a separate data partition, even though many on this forum do.

You can get along fine without one---just keep your personal data backed up. You should be doing that regardless of how many partitions you have.

Haven't heard much about Ghost in recent years and I'm not sure it works with Windows 7. The similar imaging programs most favored on this forum are Acronis, Macrium Reflect, or Windows own built-in imaging.

ignatzatsonic said:

The lab did nothing wrong. Most PCs do not have a separate data partition, even though many on this forum do.

You can get along fine without one---just keep your personal data backed up. You should be doing that regardless of how many partitions you have. How can i do that?

Haven't heard much about Ghost in recent years and I'm not sure it works with Windows 7. The similar imaging programs most favored on this forum are Acronis, Macrium Reflect, or Windows own built-in imaging.

By the WAY, is it a good thing if i were to download (in addition to the progs i have like WinDfnder, avast, CCleaner) the program known as "Malwarebytes"
Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download

and in any case please tell me which program to run and how often (by saying that i mean the above programs and any other cleaning / defragment tools u may suggest, such as Advance system Care or anything else)... thx.
I'm getting quite confused , there's so much info and i didn't know that computer is so much maintanence. it's quite annoying, everything u buy, u also have to protect, clean and perfect every day.... why cant it be a good product that u buy and it works for a lot of time ... geess XD excuse me for childish complaining but it just seems like im gonna become the computer's slave....

Another thing is whether or not should i keep the computer on for several days? I don't normally download torrents so theres no basic need but it's kind of like an Ages-old question that haven't been given a clear answer to me. [in what cases should i do so , if at all]

Malware Bytes is highly regarded. With the free version, you generally run it when you suspect you may have a problem. No harm done in running it periodically (weekly say) otherwise.

Defrag runs weekly by default. That is fine. Leave it alone.

CCleaner run periodically--weekly or monthly is fine.

Your antivirus should be running constantly.

I wouldn't run a PC for several days unless I was using it throughout that period. I'd shut it down if I wasn't going to be using it for more than an hour or two.

The first step in backing up your data is determining where it resides. Do you know where all of your data is--which folders??

If so, you can do a basic backup by simply using the mouse to drag those folders (copy them) to another drive. If you don't have one, get one.

There are numerous programs that will help to automate the backup process--but you first need to determine where your data is and get another drive to hold the backups.

ignatzatsonic said:

Malware Bytes is highly regarded. With the free version, you generally run it when you suspect you may have a problem. No harm done in running it periodically (weekly say) otherwise.

Defrag runs weekly by default. That is fine. Leave it alone.

CCleaner run periodically--weekly or monthly is fine.

Your antivirus should be running constantly.

I wouldn't run a PC for several days unless I was using it throughout that period. I'd shut it down if I wasn't going to be using it for more than an hour or two.

The first step in backing up your data is determining where it resides. Do you know where all of your data is--which folders??

If so, you can do a basic backup by simply using the mouse to drag those folders (copy them) to another drive. If you don't have one, get one.

There are numerous programs that will help to automate the backup process--but you first need to determine where your data is and get another drive to hold the backups.


so are u saying i should have at least 2 HDDs on any computer?
And if so why isn't it good enough to have 2 partiions?

BTW the malwarebytes free version seems to be for a TRIAL PERDIOD, it means that at some point i wont be able to use it?

2 HDDs are much preferrred. Even if you have a second partition on your main drive, if that drive fails you will lose both partititions and everything on them. Drives do fail, it's just a question of when.

Obviously, if your data is of little importance, then you don't need 2 drives. One can be external.

Malware Bytes free version is NOT a trial.