[Nila_Ally0712]

I have an HP Mini 2140 laptop with Windows XP 2002. I am wanting to do a factory reset to completely erase all the junk files that have accumulated over the last few years. Since I don't know how to do this, I need help! My other concern is I have had AVG and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware programs installed by a computer repair lady. I would like to keep these programs, so do I just save the EXE file to my flash drive then copy them back to my laptop after the reset? Or is there another way to do this? Thank you so much for your help in advance!!

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Just do the Factory restore then download and install AVG and Malware Bytes once it is finished. Then do all windows updates so you get to Service Pack 3 and the 115+ updates on top of it before doing anything else.

If you have any data you don't want to lose, back it up to a flash drive, external hard driver or CD/DVD.

[Ztruker]

Just do the Factory restore then download and install AVG and Malware Bytes once it is finished. Then do all windows updates so you get to Service Pack 3 and the 115+ updates on top of it before doing anything else.

If you have any data you don't want to lose, back it up to a flash drive, external hard driver or CD/DVD.

[Nila_Ally0712]

That answers my question about the programs. But how do I do the Restore? I've tried the F11 while powering on about fifty times and it doesn't work. I have the 'Application and Driver Recovery DVD' that came with the purchase of the laptop but the laptop doesn't have a disk drive. I've also tried the System Restore but it only goes back to four months ago.

[Ztruker]

None of the manuals I find at the HP web site mention using F11 for recovery so I don't think your Mini has that capability. Unless you have a Windows XP Recovery CD from the manufacturer or a Windows XP Installation CD then there is nothing you can do.

Your best bet would be to install a program like Revo Uninstaller and use it to uninstall any software you don't want. It does more cleanup than a normal uninstall via Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs. It also create a System Restore point before uninstalling.

Alternatively you can look at places like Ebay to a XP Recovery disc for your computer or a XP install CD.

Since the mini has no optical drive, you would need to use an external USB CD drive or make a bootable flash drive to install from. There are tutorials available on the web that tell you how to do this.

This is one of the big disadvantages of a mini or any small form factor computer that does not have an optical drive.