OK, so you need to start afresh with a reformat and reinstall. Maybe you got a stubborn rootkit, your hard drive failed, you want to install a new version of Windows. Whatever the reason, you've got all your data backed up and you're ready to roll.
Or are you? You know all your passwords? Got all the hardware drivers? If you are a computer 'tinkerer', do you know the model of that NIC you picked up at the computer fair last year? Sure you can get the tools out, open the case and check (for the hardware, at least) but why not make things easy with a little preparation?
One of my favourite applications is Belarc Advisor - run this one now and save (or print out) the report. You get details of hardware, attached peripherals, memory configuration, Windows updates, software keys - in fact nearly everything you wish you had checked before you reformatted.
In say nearly everything because there are some software keys Belarc does not, for some reason, pick up. So I recently found another utilility - SIW (System Info for Windows) - that may extract a few more keys. It also provides more technical information on your hardware, peripherals and network. Again, I recommend you save or print the reports from this application before the 'I wish ...' stage.
Both these utilities are free. Both will prove their worth the next time you have a major problem.
So what are you waiting for?!!
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