0
Can you change the operating system without reformatting your computer?
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Not really. You can sort of change your OS without reformatting by following these steps.
You need to defrag and split your Hard Drive into two partitions, so find a defragging tool that will move windows files to the front of your hard drive.
After you have split your Hard Drive into two partitions you need to get a boot loader such as grub or lilo (this will overwrite your windows boot loader so if you ever uninstall the boot loader you will need to fix the windows boot loader).
I believe grub comes prepackaged with Linux if you wanted to go that route.
Then you just install the new OS on your new partition and you don't lose any information from your old OS.
It's not exactly the simplest method and if you just want to get rid of all the viruses on your PC, then just reformat. It will save you a lot of time and hassle and it would be faster just to get all those files back (plus you can store the irreplaceable files on a CD or external hard drive).
This method is called dual booting if you wanted to research more.
Next Answer
If you have another compatible operating system on another hard drive, you can replace the existing one and use the operating system on the second drive
If your hardware allows it:
- You can have two hard drives installed on the same machine and select which to boot.
- You can boot the computer from a Live CD that has another operating system on it.
- You can boot from a USB devce with another operating system.
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
What is open and close operating system?
A closed operating system is that does not allow you to have root access to the file system (ex. delete files or change files related to the graphical interface or how your computer does things)An example of this type of operating would be iOS which runs on iPod touches, iPhones, Apple TV, and iPad. An open operating system is the exact opposite of a closed operating system and is how all operating systems on a computer work which includes Mac OSX, Windows 7,XP, Vista, and Linux.
What is tha advantage for an operating system of using a virtual machine?
An advantage of using a virtual machine is you can run multiple operating systems under the umbrella of one operating system. Without a virtual machine you have to reboot every time you want to want to change operating systems but with a VM you can simply switch between them.
How change the language of the operating system of Acer aspire NAV50 notebook?
You will have to go into the system settings via control panel or right click on my computer and pick properties. You should be able to find it from there.
What is a disk operating system?
AnswerAn operating system (OS) is software that controls the internals of a computer. The first large computers did not have operating systems or programming languages. You entered insructions through lights on the main console. The first operating systems were on punched cards, which you read into computer memory. They would then control instructions entered on decks of punched cards (a "computer program"). When you turned off the computer, the memory would NOT be cleared, so the next time you turned on the computer, the operating system would still be there. At this time, computers consisted of a "central processor" (the equivalent of a mother board today) that took up a room, punched cards input and output, and printers. There were no magnetic devices such as tapes or hard or floppy disk. The problem with this was that it required that everything from your operating system to your program be entered in "machine" language - binary codes that told the processor what to do (move something, compare something, add, subtract etc.). The next step was to create an operating system that was "flexible" and easily updated. So the "TOS", or Tape Operating System was created. This consisted of adding a tape drive to the computer complex, and storing the "OS" card deck on tape. About this time, they changed over to "volatile" memory that was cleared when you powered down the computer, so the OS had to be re-loaded every time when you turned it back on.In this way, if you wanted to change operating systems (go from a financial operating system that handled money to a scientific OS that handled spiral decay of satellites), you just stored that OS on a tape and mounted the tape you wanted, which you then loaded into memory. It was at this point that the "general purpose" computer was born. Up until then, each computer was dedicated to a task such as financial, or scientific or military.The computer then evolved into "magnetic" systems - tape, disk, cylinders, platters, CRAM (Card Random Access Memory) - there were many different kinds of storage that could be used for input and output. The next logical step was to take the TOS and put it out on disk (or even magnetic cards), so you didn't have to mount a tape to load or change an operating system. This was DOS (Disk Operating System). DOS was originally on mainframe computers.At the same time mainframe computers were maturing, so was the "hobby" computer. It followed the same path as mainfame, only slower, so it went through a "console lights" phase where you could only do something through the lights and/or switches, into an "operating system" on tape and finally into a DOS (of which there were several flavors). Today, most operating systems are DOS, but they might be stored on media other than disk, such as Thumb Drives, which are really solid state chips and not disk drives. The PC "BIOS", the Basic Input/Output Operating System, is an example of a DOS on a chip that is used to initialize your computer so it can read/write from all the devices that it consists of.
Can you change an operating system of mobile phones?
you can update blackberry OS
What is it called when you change the appearance of a document?
Reformatting
What is it called when you change the wording on a slide in PowerPoint?
Reformatting
How do you change computer hardware id?
Reinstall your operating system. You can't set it, but it will change.
How can I change my background computer wallpaper?
Great question. Personalization of your computer is highly recommended to enhance your experience working with the device. However, you have not stated the type of computer nor the operating system- without this information, it is impossible to answer this question.
Can you use your computer without an operating system?
You can change BIOS settings, pre-configure hard drives for future use (even this will require some kind of OS) and test equipment. But that's basically it.
Explain terminoligy used in computer defragmenter?
The more you change things on your computer the more fragmentation of your computer memory you are making. here are some computer operating systems that will automatically reduce the amount of fragmentation you will have. Most computers will still have some fragmentation of files on the hard disk. You have, as part of the operating system of your computer the ability to 'tidy up', or remove fragmentation mostly running the operating system defrag program. This will mean your computer will put everything you use most at the easiest to access end of your memory, this means that the computer works as fast as it can
Will it work without Any problems?
Will I have to change transfer cases will it screw up the computer
Can you change a Mac to a PC?
A PC is a Personal Computer. A Mac is a personal computer. A Mac is a PC. A Mac with an Intel processor can run the Windows operating system (or Linux or many others) if needed.
What is open and close operating system?
A closed operating system is that does not allow you to have root access to the file system (ex. delete files or change files related to the graphical interface or how your computer does things)An example of this type of operating would be iOS which runs on iPod touches, iPhones, Apple TV, and iPad. An open operating system is the exact opposite of a closed operating system and is how all operating systems on a computer work which includes Mac OSX, Windows 7,XP, Vista, and Linux.
Can you operate a computer with out the computer software?
Yes! The purpose of the OS is to make it easy for you to run programs, load new programs and change between a variety of programs. Embedded programmers run small programs without operating systems on microcontrollers; they do it all the time; this is a fun area but it can be challenging to learn. For certain embedded applications an operating system represents a huge and unnecessary overhead. On your PC, you actually run several layers of Operating System. The first is called BIOS (Built In Operating System), on the motherboard. When the computer first comes up it looks to the BIOS to determine where to find the hard drives, CDs or other bootable media (nowadays over the network or even an OS on a USB stick) that contain the next layer of operating system. You can reconfigure the BIOS, or you can overwrite it entirely; this would make it feasible to run only your own code on a computer without any "operating system" at all. If you wish to have multiple operating systems on a computer, or even multiple versions of the same OS, they can be co-located and referred to by a boot loader (such as GRUB or LILO). Windows has a boot loader too, but it's harder to reconfigure to create a non-Windows boot choice. (old answer below which outright stunk and didn't answer the question at all...) Think of a computer's Operating System as a car's engine (lousy analogy). You can turn a computer on without an Operating System, but it will just sit there. If you purchase an OS (Windows XP for example), once you power the computer on, insert the install disk (dated) into your CD drive and the disk/install should take off automatically (hardly!). Some computers are sold without an Operating System already installed. If that is the case, add the purchase of an OS to the cost of your system (gee the most frequent choices are all free). Many desktops/laptops are sold with an OS already loaded. You'll just have to compare the cost difference.
Can you change my operating system from my pre-loaded Windows 8?
If your computer was supplied with Windows 8, and you 'roll back' the operating system to Windows 7, you will void your warranty. Computer manufacturers have already stated that they will not repair any Windows 8 computer under warranty that's been 'rolled back'. They will charge you for any repairs - even if the computer is still under guarantee !
What is the command code to reinstall windows 7 on your computer?
well there isn't really a command code but in task management there is a shortcut to change operating system.
