[Slinky Ferret]

Ok you are obviously not a geek like me but before I reinstall windows I ensure I at least have all the drivers I require. If not the latest at least the old ones on cd. You simply just burn it all on cd or put it on another hard drive partition.

You only really need to install critical updates. Make sure you also have a firewall and anti virus. But that should go without saying. Don't forget to defrag your hard drives at least once a month.