Can anyone tell me how to purge(clean out) a computer? I have an old Compaq that i want to use for my music. However, it runs like crap. Is it possible to clear it and start over. I dont need the internet on it, i can use it offline? I thought i'd download the programs i want, such as Audacity, Digital Music Mentor, or Band in a Box, on the computer i'm on now, save them to disk and then upload them to the old computer. Is this possible?
I dont have much money to spend on this, so the cheapest way would be great! Thanks for any replies, SweetBabyJames

i believe what you want to do is format and re-install Windows i'm assuming?
I are you trying to save any data from the computer? More information is necessary before we can help you properly.

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-William. § (marvin_gohan)

I;m not sure what i'm trying to do. It's a compac, about 6 yrs old w/ windows98. I want to redo the thing. It's not running right, so i thought if it was purged, i could redo everything. It wont accept my recovery disk. I click on run, but i dont know what to type in to make it run.
I guess i'll try to contact Compaq about it and see what they have to say. Thanks! I dont feel that i need the internet, if i can upload what i want from disks. The computer i'm on now is an E-Machine, and i have Audacity, DMM, and a few other things for recording my bass guitar. If i can download these programs from this comp. then i could upload to the Compaq. Am i making any sense? I hope so, as i'm really confused!

SweetBabyJames

when you say redo, do you want to have win98 still on it, or upgrade to some other OS?

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-William. § (marvin_gohan)

It does'nt matter, i just want the thing to return to it's original setup. I'm guessing windows 98 would suffice. I wonder if this big hammer i have would help at all! LOL I got the website for Compaq and followed instructions, but it still wont work! It tells me to start, insert recovery disk, turn off, restart and follow instructions. Did that, but no instructions appear. I used browse to find a way to start the recovery cd, b ut cant find anything that will start it. I'm beating my head against a brick wall here! I know that Best Buy can do this, but i dont have $350.00 to let them do it! Thats what they charged for our E-Machine, when we had problems. It seems the extended warrenty we bought, did'nt cover any of our problems! Yeah, right! I hope i'm not too much of a dunce for you to help, but i really am lost! Thanks Again, SweetBabyJames

p.s. I just want it for recording my bass on Audacity. Do i need to be online to do that?

Well I tell you the most cost effective way
Format .
Install a Linux OS like FEDORA , ( which is freely available ) . It is as much user friendly as Windows .
Copy All of Your Music Into your computer .

Download tools for your audio and video requirements . Many are available for free .

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About the recovery disk . Try running it when your computer is on . There should be an application named setup / autorun , something like those names .

I don't advise you use Linux unless you know what you're doing. Even though the interface is more user friendly now than it's ever been, it's still a long way from the comfort of Windows. It's great whilst you use applications with an installer, it's not quite so great when you're told you need to compile it first

It sounds as though you want to reinstall Windows and a few applications for music recording. First, back up anything you want to keep to a CD or other device before proceeding as you may lose all your data.

Next, try booting from the recovery CD. You may need to enter the BIOS to change your first boot device to the CD-ROM first - if so, you'll probably need to hit either F2, F8 or Del to enter setup. If you're lucky it will tell you on screen as soon as you boot up, if you're not so lucky, you'll have to try each key blindly. Once there, look for boot devices and set your CD-ROM as the primary boot device. Save the configuration and exit the BIOS. Now with your recovery CD in the drive, reboot your machine and pray that it comes up with something like a system restore program.

If it does, you may be able to restore your machine to factory settings - that means it will go back to the way it was when you bought it, quite possibly without any of your documents or applications. That is why you need to back up anything you want first.

If all goes well, you can simply download Audacity and suchlike on another machine, burn it to a CD and install it on your old PC. You do not need the Internet.

However, if your recovery CD is non-bootable then let us know and we will try and find out how to do a system restore on a Compaq using that disc.

Thanks for the reply, but nothing seems to help. Is it hard to replace the motherboard? Would that solve my problems? No matter what i do i get an error saying i've performed an illeagal operation. When i click ok, it shuts everything down. I cant get around that error message. The ok button is the only one that responds. Meanwhile, i'll keep plugging away at it. Who knows, maybe i'll luck out and find the right program to use the recovery disk. Thanks again, SweetBabyJames

if it's happening all the time in win98, unfortunatly it's probably done for, and you need to format/re-install.
Changing a mobo is not something i would suggest doing unless you have experience with computer hardware. I would be more willing to suggest you take out the drive and install it elsewhere to format and install windows if necessary.

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-William. § (marvin_gohan)

Thanks for the reply. I tend to agree with you that it's done for. I dont know how to take the drive out, so i guess i'll look into buying a cheap used computer. I'm not even sure if i still have the windows 98 cd. As a matter of fact, i dont know what the drive is! Thanks for your help. This seems like a pretty good site for puter dummies like myself. Thanks again!
SweetBabyJames