reformat, the lessons learned.

i reformatted my pc again. and looking back, i've actually learned a lot of lessons from tinkering with the computer:

1.) if it ain't broke, don't fix it. so true, my device drivers were all working fine but then i dropped by the windows update site which listed it had a newer version for my driver(my mouse in particular, i know, who slaps in a driver for his mouse? i do...). so i installed it and the next thing i know, i couldn't get past the loading screen.
solution: safe mode+system restore

2.) who guard the guards? i'm a security freak. i have a firewall, an antivirus program and an anti-spyware up all the time. but aside from that, i've got tons of other anti-spyware/system mechanics/registry editors/optimizers/root kit detectors that they have become the spyware and slowed down my system considerably when i run all of them.
solution: trust in the holy trinity(firewall, antivirus, antispyware)+safe web habits

3.) beauty is high-maintenance. in an effort to tweak my desktop and UI to the fullest, and at the same time easiest, extent, i have gone a little bit too far. far enough that system's overall performance has taken a hit. i have a 256mb graphics card and a full gig of RAM, both of which should be more than enough to run daily tasks smoothly, but it didn't, it lagged consistently especially when opening and closing windows, not to mention it would bring focus to other windows unexpectedly.
solution: stick to the basics(gah, dare i say it?)+trust microsoft's own "enhancers"

4.) too much is too much. let's face it, we want our machines to be all-in-ones. gad, i just realized that wanting that is like being a parent who wants an athletic, smart, popular, good-looking and over-acheiving kid. geez. i slapped on a lot of cards and components on my computer and it got unstable, caused by sometimes incompatible devices.
solution: give your kid a break... errr, disable unneeded and deprecated devices.

5.) one is more than enough. i used to have a lot of browsers. but then, i only really use ie.
solution: just ones.

6.) cherishing keepsakes pays off. i still have files which dates back to about 7 years ago... and its fun to look through them every once in a while. papers dating back to my 3rd year in high school is a source of laughs for me on those boring days.
solution: invest on hard drives

7.) reanimation is no easy feat. i backed up my hard main hard drives, which have all my programs, to the big one which i use as a file repository. now that i've got a clean disk, i want to restore some of those programs(mainly games, hehe) back so i can run them. i don't have the installer discs with me so that means i have to track down each program's files(and temporary files) and registry key entries(i can't just import my old registry, that'll just be a disaster), and copy those to my newly installed os. so far, one program has been reanimated. T_T
solution: have installer discs/have lots of patience

as a reward for reading through my list of reformatting woes, i present you with themes for your pc. i'm sticking to basics this time around so i won't be doing the thing i posted here. anyway, i found these two themes in the internet, they are from microsoft so all you gotta do is download then double-click them to install! enjoy!

Royal Theme- this is the media center's default glossy theme. when asked where to install it, just leave it at windows to install it in the default themes directory.
Black Royale Theme- black version of the media center theme. its actually a promo theme for zune but it just looks way cool.

and if those aren't enough, somehwere in the bowels of microsoft.com are hundreds of files which you can actually download for free and use! you just have to find the right way and be patient in navigating it. i got an egyptian and a dog theme there which are absolutely wonderful. i'd post the link but i forgot which page they came from. T_T