Before you think about reformatting, you’ll want to back up your data. That includes personal files, photographs, music and e-mail.

You probably have a lot of software installed on your computer. Hopefully, you have all the installation discs. Or, maybe you can download some of the programs from the Internet. Either way, you should take an inventory of your software.

I recommend running Belarc Advisor. It will run a list of all the software installed on the machine. That will help you make sure you don’t overlook anything. It will also list the product keys for most of your software. This is helpful if you’ve lost your key for Windows or Microsoft Office.

After you run Belarc, print out the list. Use it to pull out your software discs. You should probably also pull out installation discs for your hardware.

You may need to deauthorize some software programs. Otherwise, you might not be able to activate the software easily after you reinstall Windows. For example, some versions of Dreamweaver are like this.

And don’t forget about iTunes. The software itself doesn’t need to be authorized. But purchased music does. iTunes purchases can only be authorized on five machines. So deauthorize your music before you reformat your hard drive.

Open iTunes and click Store>>Deauthorize Computer. Enter your ID and password. Click Deauthorize.

Once you’re done, you’re ready to reinstall Windows. Insert your Windows CD and reboot your computer. The prompts will walk you through the installation process.

Some manufacturers don’t include installation CDs. Instead, they put a recovery program on your machine. You can use that to reformat and reinstall Windows.

After you reinstall Windows, you’re ready to start reinstalling your programs. You may need to download some from the Internet. Protect your computer with a good anti-virus program before you visit any sites.