I have an older laptop and i want to erase all that is on it to be able to use it for a home recording platform. Are there any programs that are crucial to the functionality that i should not erase?

be sure not to delete any operating system system files unless you plan to reinstall the os. in that case i would recommend reformatting the drive and reinstalling the os. after the new operating system is installed, get online and run all the updates and such, then install only the software you need.