I have been having some problems with my computer. It is going on 5 years old, which I built. The only real upgrades I made to it have been a new graphics card, which I didn't even really need. I was having problems with an old monitor and thought it was the graphics card. It was really just the monitor itself.

Since I installed the card, I have been getting some BSOD memory dumps and other issues that I don't know how to resolve. I also have a weird issue where the bottom half of my desktop is like a separate layer. For example, if I click and drag from the top half to the bottom half, the blue drag box stops. You can actually see where it cuts off. If I use the Windows 7 minimize bar at the bottom right of my screen, it's not there, so it's as if there is a ghost window open that I can't see -- although I still see my background image.

Yesterday I bought a 1TB External HD so I can backup everything that I want to keep like ebooks, my resumes, pictures, and other important files.

1. Is reformatting likely to correct the issues? Like, getting rid of any bad programs, corrupted files, etc.? Along with the graphical issues? I guess I'm looking for a fresh start and to get rid of 5 years of clutter.

2. I need Microsoft Office. If I just send the Office folder to my External HD, will I be able to transfer the programs back once the reformat is finished? Or am I going to have to buy MS Office again and do a fresh install? I used my mom's copy so I don't have one of my own.

Thanks!

1. - No way to tell from here tbh.

2. - You can always ask your mother for the key and download the .iso to install.

I guess I'm just wondering if starting new is going to get rid of the clutter and may clear up any issues with something corrupt inside of my computer. For example, if I have conflicting driver issues, will it clear that up? I have never done a reformat from the Windows disk.

My mom's copy of MS Office was a 3-time use, I think. I'm pretty sure that has already been used as my sister used it also. OpenOffice is not an option.

I copied the Office folder to the hard drive, but it only took a second to transfer. It loads from the HD when I click the file name, but I don't know if that is because it's reading some other files that are on the C: drive.

Formatting will get rid of everything you have on your disk.

Well, there's other ways of getting MS Office but they're not legal, so I can't advice on that here.

The MS Office installation is over 1GB if you have all the tools (excel,pp,word,etc). And at least ~800MB.

Seems like it's not going to work then. A little more digging and I found that you can't just transfer the program over and then back. I guess I'm going to have to wait and see if I can get the key from my mom, although I don't know if it's going to work anymore. I may have to end up buying it outright.

I think you can use it unregistered for 30days If I'm not mistaken. So you can sort it in the meantime

Just download Magical Jelly Bean keyfinder and it will tell you your Office key. You shouldn't have any problems activating after you reinstall. If it won't activate online all it takes is a phone call and it almost always activates at that point.

If you are reformatting I suggest you create two partitions. One for your OS and programs, the other one for your data (documents, pics, music, vids etc).