Why You Should Reinstall Win95

The unfortunate nature of Win95 is that, like every cute but untrainable pet, it does not clean up after itself. Each program you run, even once, leaves behind little traces on your hard disk and Win95 Registry. The result, less hard disk space, and a slower system overall.

It is best to reinstall Win95 every year or so, or half yearly if you have the stomach for it, since the whole process takes up at least an entire afternoon.

While, admittedly, the idea of reinstallation is not dissimilar to performing open heart surgery on yourself, we list for you the hassle-free (virtually), step-by-step process.

And if you decide not to risk your sanity by reinstallation, skip to Phase II, where we show you the steps to a smoother, cooler, system.

Phase I - A New Win95, A New You

1. Create a Startup Disk

Follow the on-screen instructions.

2. Test Your Startup Disk

Shut down your computer normally. Switch off your computer. Insert your new Startup Disk into your disk drive, which we shall assume to be ‘A:’. Switch on your computer.

After the usual wait, you should have a ‘A:\’ on your screen. Type ‘D:\’ (or whatever your CD-ROM drive is) and then type ‘dir’, a list of files should be shown.

Now that you know you can boot-up your computer and access your CD-ROM, the fun begins. Write protect your Startup Disk (flick the little tab in the lower right corner) and switch on your computer normally.

3. Back-Up Your Data

Make back-ups of everything that cannot be replaced. Use a Zip drive if you can get your hands on one. If not, at least copy everything onto diskettes. You do not really have to, it just depends on how much faith you have in your computer, ultimately.

Also, if you have an Internet connection;

Copy down all the numbers here as well as the dial-in number to your ISP.

4. Uninstall Everything

Back in your Control Panel, uninstall all your programs one by one. Make a list if you must and have all the original installation disks ready for reinstallation later. If you did not keep the original files for your downloaded software, it is best to make a list, since you have to hunt them down on the net again. (We did tell you to back up your data, didn’t we?)

5. The Real Fun Part

Switch on your computer using your Start-Up Disk. If you still have data on your hard disk, type ‘deltree c:\windows’ and ‘deltree c:\program files’, which will wipe out those two folders. If you backed-up your data, just type ‘Format C:’ and answer yes. Formatting your drive makes for a cleaner reinstallation.

6. In Goes Win95

Put your Win95 CD into the CD-ROM drive, and type ‘D:’ or whatever your CD-ROM drive is, and then type ‘setup’. Follow the on-screen instructions. It is best to select a custom installation, and choose the features you are used to, and install only those.

7. Configuring Win95

If everything is correct so far, you no longer need your Startup disk and should be able to switch on your computer to Win95.

Open your Control Panel, and play around with all the options, returning everything to the way you think your computer ought to be.

8. Get OnLine

Create a new connection for your ISP.

9. Install Your Software

Install all your software normally, and that’s it for Phase I.

Phase II - The Care and Feeding of Your Computer

Here we cover the things you should have done a long time ago, if only someone had told you.

1. Update Your Windows

Log on and open your browser. If you reinstalled and are a diehard Netscape user, you have to download Netscape again, go to http://netscape.com.

Log on to http://microsoft.com.

After it loads, look for the magic word ‘Search’ and click. Do a Search for ‘Windows Update’ and download the Service Pack, Power Toys and improved Media Player. Follow the instructions on installation.

2. IE4 and Active Desktop

If you are using Internet Explorer, you might as well update it as well, especially with the new Active Desktop and new Taskbar and Windows Explorer features. Even if you are a Netscape user, or if you have never seen this before, give it a try.

First, while at the Microsoft website, download Internet Explorer 4.0.

Follow the instructions.

3. Read the textfiles

In your Windows folder, usually C:\Windows, there is an assortment of .txt files. Open Windows Explorer, go to your Windows folder, right-click, and sort by type. You should read readme.txt and tips.txt.

4. Clean Your Hard Disk

You should do the following about once a fortnight, or more often if you are a heavy user.

If you do not have Disk Defragmenter installed, you can install it under Windows Setup > Disk Tools.

Norton Disk Doctor and Norton Defragmenter, part of Norton Utilities, are highly recommended as better versions of both programs.

So there you go. A smoother, cooler, machine. That wasn’t too hard, was it?

And by the way, if everything didn’t go as planned, it is about time to send your computer to the shop anyway, so don’t blame us.