reinstalling XP

[Irv]

>-----Original Message-----
>due to injudicious downloads and careless mucking about
with my computer it
>now runs slowly and is becoming erratic with various
links being lost (My
>Pictures/My Computer/My Music etc). i have come to the
conclusion that the
>only way out of this predicament is to wipe everything
and reinstall XP. is
>there any way i can transfer all my files and stuff
somewhere on the hard
>disk and mark it some way that it won't be affected by a
reinstall or have i
>got to put all my stuff on to CDs. Any help would be
gratefully accepted
>
>paul
>
>There has been many times I have had to reinstall. I
have never found a way to keep my programs. I have
reduced the need to do so when the computer starts acting
up by installing a good virus detection software. It has
stopped many viruses from infecting my programs from e-
mails and other downloaded programs and has been well
worth the forty dollars
>
>

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Here's a way to keep your programs and be able to start clean.

Do a clean install of XP, that means not over a previous install but a
freshly formatted partition, ideally, you should first delete the partition
then recreate it and then format, all of which can be done from within XP
setup. Install whatever necessary drivers for your hardware, then install
your applications to the same partition. Once your most used applications
are installed, use imaging software, Drive Image from PowerQuest (now owned
by Symantec) www.powerquest.com, Norton Ghost, www.symantec.com or some
other imaging software to create an image of your setup and save that image
to another partition or, if you have a DVD burner, save it to DVD as such
disks might be able to hold an entire image depending upon how much space
your apps and OS combined consume. NOTE: check manufacturer's web sites for
versions compatible with XP.

These apps usually have some sort of boot disk that you can use to
initialize the application in the event you need to restore the image or,
assuming your hard drive hasn't failed just your setup, open the image app
on your hard drive and restore this clean image. The copy on DVD should be
for backup in case you lose your hard drive but ideally, you might want to
create a partition on which to store an image for quick retrieval and
restore. Also, while some of the apps have the ability to restore from a CD
or DVD, the method is still problematic.

In any event, an image coupled with a good backup strategy for your data can
get you up and running very quickly after some mishap that might require a
format and clean install.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

"Irv" > wrote in message
...
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >due to injudicious downloads and careless mucking about
> with my computer it
> >now runs slowly and is becoming erratic with various
> links being lost (My
> >Pictures/My Computer/My Music etc). i have come to the
> conclusion that the
> >only way out of this predicament is to wipe everything
> and reinstall XP. is
> >there any way i can transfer all my files and stuff
> somewhere on the hard
> >disk and mark it some way that it won't be affected by a
> reinstall or have i
> >got to put all my stuff on to CDs. Any help would be
> gratefully accepted
> >
> >paul
> >
> >There has been many times I have had to reinstall. I
> have never found a way to keep my programs. I have
> reduced the need to do so when the computer starts acting
> up by installing a good virus detection software. It has
> stopped many viruses from infecting my programs from e-
> mails and other downloaded programs and has been well
> worth the forty dollars
> >
> >