How to speed up the process of doing a "Full Installation"

Usually, doing an "Upgrade" insatallation is quick and easy (a few minutes
to do all the things necessary after Windows installs) and is the way to go.
If "Upgrade" doesn't do it, it is necessary to do a "Full Installation".
This can be disasterous because of all the work it destroys. I've got the
process of doing a "Full Installation" and recovering lost information down
to less than three hours.

The secret to rapid "Full Installation" is to install things like edited
documents and source documents on a different partition than the location of
the windows installation. If Windows is installed on drive C:, then you
should store all documents that should not be trashed during a "Full
Installation" on Drive D:.

Examples of information that should be stored on drive D:

1) All human operator generated source documents.

2) The holding directory for the email programs. In Outlook
Express this directory may be relocated by going to
"ToolsOptionsMaintenanceStore Folder".

3) The "Favorites" list. To change this go to
"My ComputerSpecial Folders" in TweakUI.

4) Data files, for all programs that change their data files as
you work. For example, on installation both Quicken and
Turbotax place their data files in the Windows directory
and therefore in the Windows partition. Both can be
changed from the Files menu.

In addition to this, I have stored copies of all of my application source
CDs in separate subdirectories on drive E:. To reinstall my application
programs I therefore go to Drive E: and separately install each and every
one. This can take several hours. To speed things up I don't wait for the
current installation to complete before starting the next. I generally have
two or three installations going on simultaneously.

I generally do all installations in parallel with downloading upgrades for
Windows. For this purpose click the "Window Update" icon at the top of the
start menu. And when the system finishes one download or installation
before the others, remember to wait before clicking to restart the machine.

Don J wrote:
Usually, doing an "Upgrade" insatallation is quick and easy (a few
minutes to do all the things necessary after Windows installs) and
is the way to go. If "Upgrade" doesn't do it, it is necessary to do
a "Full Installation". This can be disasterous because of all the
work it destroys. I've got the process of doing a "Full
Installation" and recovering lost information down to less than
three hours.
The secret to rapid "Full Installation" is to install things like
edited documents and source documents on a different partition than
the location of the windows installation. If Windows is installed
on drive C:, then you should store all documents that should not be
trashed during a "Full Installation" on Drive D:.

Examples of information that should be stored on drive D:

1) All human operator generated source documents.

2) The holding directory for the email programs. In Outlook
Express this directory may be relocated by going to
"ToolsOptionsMaintenanceStore Folder".

3) The "Favorites" list. To change this go to
"My ComputerSpecial Folders" in TweakUI.

4) Data files, for all programs that change their data files as
you work. For example, on installation both Quicken and
Turbotax place their data files in the Windows directory
and therefore in the Windows partition. Both can be
changed from the Files menu.

In addition to this, I have stored copies of all of my application
source CDs in separate subdirectories on drive E:. To reinstall my
application programs I therefore go to Drive E: and separately
install each and every one. This can take several hours. To speed
things up I don't wait for the current installation to complete
before starting the next. I generally have two or three
installations going on simultaneously.
I generally do all installations in parallel with downloading
upgrades for Windows. For this purpose click the "Window Update"
icon at the top of the start menu. And when the system finishes
one download or installation before the others, remember to wait
before clicking to restart the machine.

??

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Don J" wrote in message
. ..
Usually, doing an "Upgrade" insatallation is quick and easy (a few
minutes to do all the things necessary after Windows installs) and is
the way to go.

Very, very wrong. That is the lazy idiot's way to go. Fresh installs
are far preferrable since you are not carrying forward antiquated or
obsolete registry entries, obsolete or incompatible programs with the
new version of the OS, or other pollution in the registry and drives.
Save your data files. Save your configuration data. Do a fresh
install. Then restore your data, if needed.

Upgrades are performed by dummies who end up asking later about
resolving problems due to the upgrade. Unless you really are hard
pressed for time, always do a full fresh install. Upgrades are like
squirting tire-flat spray into a flat ti a temporary fix in an
emergency that has later consequences and costs.

If "Upgrade" doesn't do it, it is necessary to do a "Full
Installation". This can be disasterous because of all the work it
destroys.

It is the OS' fault that *you* don't save backups? Yeah, right. Must
be the hard drive's manufacturer's fault, too, when their hard drive
fails and you lose all your data that you were too lazy to backup.

I've got the process of doing a "Full Installation" and recovering
lost information down to less than three hours.

So you really sit at the computer that whole time? Geez, go do your
laundry in the meantime. Do something productive. Stop wasting your
life sitting in a chair with your arms folded watching the monitor. Do
you also sit in front of the oven watching it bake your meal?

The secret to rapid "Full Installation" is to install things like
edited documents and source documents on a different partition than
the location of the windows installation.

You should be doing that not because it makes a full install go faster.
You should do that for data protection. You WILL need to repair or even
reinstall Windows sometime later. How soon depends on how stressed is
the state of the Windows install, like how many programming languages
you install, drivers, and other software that continues to pollute the
system partition, if you edit the registry or, worse yet, if you use
registry cleaners, and so on. Your data should never be in the same
partition as where is the OS despite Microsoft doing it that way by
default. I realize that Microsoft assumes that users will save backups
but often the reaction you get from users when asking where are they
backups is the same as deer caught in headlights.

If Windows is installed on drive C:, then you should store all
documents that should not be trashed during a "Full Installation" on
Drive D:.

That's okay but better yet is to use a 2nd drive and put your data
there. That does NOT preclude the necessity to back it up!

In addition to this, I have stored copies of all of my application
source CDs in separate subdirectories on drive E:. To reinstall my
application programs I therefore go to Drive E: and separately install
each and every one. This can take several hours.

Many applications will not run unless they are read from a CD image.
Copying the files and directories may not work, sometimes simply because
the absolute pathing that is expected by the install script won't match
up with how you saved the files and directories on the hard drive. Save
the CD as an .iso image and use Daemon-Tools virtual CD drives to load
those .iso images and install from there.

If the software is copy protected, like using bad spots on the CD used
as a fingerprint, it will never install from a copy on the hard drive or
from an .iso image. So forget about using quicker media for game
installs or some high-end software.

To speed things up I don't wait for the current installation to
complete before starting the next. I generally have two or three
installations going on simultaneously.

MSIexec, the Windows installer, can only handle one install/uninstall at
a time. Sometimes a reboot is required and MSIexec will refuse to
perform the next install until after the reboot. MSIexec sees the
pending or current install and will refuse to do another. Only if you
are NOT using MSIexec can you perform multiple installs, but I would
hardly call unzipping an archive file into a target directory and then
having to manually create shortcuts in the Start menu or on the desktop
an "install" of that product. That's just an extraction process.

I generally do all installations in parallel with downloading upgrades
for Windows.

Which means if some of those applications are Microsoft's software that
you won't get updates for them until later, so you might as well as do
the updates after the application installs since that's when you'll have
to poll for the updates, anyway. Microsoft has rolled up several
product updates into their Windows Update process. If the product isn't
installed yet, you won't get updates for it.

Vanguard wrote:


Very, very wrong. That is the lazy idiot's way to go. Fresh installs
are far preferrable since you are not carrying forward antiquated or
obsolete registry entries, obsolete or incompatible programs with the
new version of the OS, or other pollution in the registry and drives.
Save your data files. Save your configuration data. Do a fresh
install. Then restore your data, if needed.

Upgrades are performed by dummies who end up asking later about
resolving problems due to the upgrade. Unless you really are hard
pressed for time, always do a full fresh install. Upgrades are like
squirting tire-flat spray into a flat ti a temporary fix in an
emergency that has later consequences and costs.



Could you possibly be more wrong?

A properly prepared and maintained PC can almost always be
successfully upgraded by a knowledgeable and competent individual. I've
lost count of the systems I've seen that have been upgraded from Win95
to Win98 to Win2K to WinXP (usually with incremental hardware upgrades
over the same time period), without the need for a clean installation,
and that are still operating without any problems attributable to upgrades.

Granted, many people like yourself will blindly recommend that one
always perform a clean installation, rather than upgrade over an earlier
OS. For the most part, I feel that these people, while usually
well-meaning, are living in the past, and are either basing their
recommendation on their experiences with older operating systems, or are
simply inexperienced and uninformed.

Of course, there are times when an in-place upgrade is
contra-indicated:

1) When the underlying hardware isn't certified as being fully
compatible with the newer OS, and/or updated device drivers are not
available from the device's manufacturer. Of course, this condition also
causes problems with clean installations.

2) When the original OS is corrupt, damaged, and/or virus/malware
infested. I've also seen simple, straight-forward upgrades from WinXP
Home to WinXP Pro fail because the computer owner had let the system
become malware-infested. Upgrading over a problematic OS isn't normally
a wise course to establishing a stable installation.

3) When the new OS isn't designed to properly, correctly, and safely
perform an upgrade.




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

I'm not talking about doing an upgrade of a previous installation to another
operating system. I'm talking about doing a reinstallation of the previous
OS. This should be obvious from context.

Don J

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
Vanguard wrote:


Very, very wrong. That is the lazy idiot's way to go. Fresh installs
are far preferrable since you are not carrying forward antiquated or
obsolete registry entries, obsolete or incompatible programs with the new
version of the OS, or other pollution in the registry and drives. Save
your data files. Save your configuration data. Do a fresh install.
Then restore your data, if needed.

Upgrades are performed by dummies who end up asking later about resolving
problems due to the upgrade. Unless you really are hard pressed for
time, always do a full fresh install. Upgrades are like squirting
tire-flat spray into a flat ti a temporary fix in an emergency that
has later consequences and costs.



Could you possibly be more wrong?

A properly prepared and maintained PC can almost always be
successfully upgraded by a knowledgeable and competent individual. I've
lost count of the systems I've seen that have been upgraded from Win95 to
Win98 to Win2K to WinXP (usually with incremental hardware upgrades over
the same time period), without the need for a clean installation, and that
are still operating without any problems attributable to upgrades.

Granted, many people like yourself will blindly recommend that one always
perform a clean installation, rather than upgrade over an earlier OS. For
the most part, I feel that these people, while usually well-meaning, are
living in the past, and are either basing their recommendation on their
experiences with older operating systems, or are simply inexperienced and
uninformed.

Of course, there are times when an in-place upgrade is
contra-indicated:

1) When the underlying hardware isn't certified as being fully compatible
with the newer OS, and/or updated device drivers are not available from
the device's manufacturer. Of course, this condition also causes problems
with clean installations.

2) When the original OS is corrupt, damaged, and/or virus/malware
infested. I've also seen simple, straight-forward upgrades from WinXP
Home to WinXP Pro fail because the computer owner had let the system
become malware-infested. Upgrading over a problematic OS isn't normally a
wise course to establishing a stable installation.

3) When the new OS isn't designed to properly, correctly, and safely
perform an upgrade.




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand
Russell

Sorry for the comments. At the time I wrote it I was thinking you were
referring to my post and not to Vanguard's.

Don J

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don J" wrote in message
...
I'm not talking about doing an upgrade of a previous installation to
another operating system. I'm talking about doing a reinstallation of the
previous OS. This should be obvious from context.

Don J

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bruce Chambers" wrote in message
...
Vanguard wrote:


Very, very wrong. That is the lazy idiot's way to go. Fresh installs
are far preferrable since you are not carrying forward antiquated or
obsolete registry entries, obsolete or incompatible programs with the
new version of the OS, or other pollution in the registry and drives.
Save your data files. Save your configuration data. Do a fresh
install. Then restore your data, if needed.

Upgrades are performed by dummies who end up asking later about
resolving problems due to the upgrade. Unless you really are hard
pressed for time, always do a full fresh install. Upgrades are like
squirting tire-flat spray into a flat ti a temporary fix in an
emergency that has later consequences and costs.



Could you possibly be more wrong?

A properly prepared and maintained PC can almost always be
successfully upgraded by a knowledgeable and competent individual. I've
lost count of the systems I've seen that have been upgraded from Win95 to
Win98 to Win2K to WinXP (usually with incremental hardware upgrades over
the same time period), without the need for a clean installation, and
that are still operating without any problems attributable to upgrades.

Granted, many people like yourself will blindly recommend that one always
perform a clean installation, rather than upgrade over an earlier OS.
For the most part, I feel that these people, while usually well-meaning,
are living in the past, and are either basing their recommendation on
their experiences with older operating systems, or are simply
inexperienced and uninformed.

Of course, there are times when an in-place upgrade is
contra-indicated:

1) When the underlying hardware isn't certified as being fully
compatible with the newer OS, and/or updated device drivers are not
available from the device's manufacturer. Of course, this condition also
causes problems with clean installations.

2) When the original OS is corrupt, damaged, and/or virus/malware
infested. I've also seen simple, straight-forward upgrades from WinXP
Home to WinXP Pro fail because the computer owner had let the system
become malware-infested. Upgrading over a problematic OS isn't normally
a wise course to establishing a stable installation.

3) When the new OS isn't designed to properly, correctly, and safely
perform an upgrade.




--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand
Russell

On Mon, 28 May 2007 13:03:57 -0500, "Vanguard"
wrote:

"Don J" wrote in message
...
Usually, doing an "Upgrade" insatallation is quick and easy (a few
minutes to do all the things necessary after Windows installs) and is
the way to go.

Very, very wrong. That is the lazy idiot's way to go. Fresh installs
are far preferrable since you are not carrying forward antiquated or
obsolete registry entries, obsolete or incompatible programs with the
new version of the OS, or other pollution in the registry and drives.
Save your data files. Save your configuration data. Do a fresh
install. Then restore your data, if needed.

Upgrades are performed by dummies who end up asking later about
resolving problems due to the upgrade. Unless you really are hard
pressed for time, always do a full fresh install. Upgrades are like
squirting tire-flat spray into a flat ti a temporary fix in an
emergency that has later consequences and costs.


Sorry to disagree, but I do, and strongly.

There was a time when "never upgrade; always install cleanly" was good
advice, but not any more. Modern versions of Windows replace almost
everything when you upgrade, and in most cases, upgrades work very
well.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind and
reinstall cleanly if problems develop.

The one time I recommend against doing an upgrade installation is when
the current installation is experiencing problems. Unfortunately some
people do an upgrade because they think it may solve their problems,
but ion fact it's more likely to exacerbate them.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

I am sorry I seemed to have asked the wrong question.I did not mean for the
ridicule I have read here to happen.I just read that if you have downloaded
programs when you uninstall them the leave obsolete regostry entries which
can slow your computer down.
When My we bought the computer from future shop they downloaded windows
xp,but did not give us a copy of it nor did they give us a copy of any other
program we had put on the computer.That is why I do not have a copy of the
windows program to use as a backup.when I go to all programs ect.I do not see
back up or backup wizard.
So How can I clean up my registry without harming it in the meantome Thank
You all for any help. charley
--
charley


"Don J" wrote:

Usually, doing an "Upgrade" insatallation is quick and easy (a few minutes
to do all the things necessary after Windows installs) and is the way to go.
If "Upgrade" doesn't do it, it is necessary to do a "Full Installation".
This can be disasterous because of all the work it destroys. I've got the
process of doing a "Full Installation" and recovering lost information down
to less than three hours.

The secret to rapid "Full Installation" is to install things like edited
documents and source documents on a different partition than the location of
the windows installation. If Windows is installed on drive C:, then you
should store all documents that should not be trashed during a "Full
Installation" on Drive D:.

Examples of information that should be stored on drive D:

1) All human operator generated source documents.

2) The holding directory for the email programs. In Outlook
Express this directory may be relocated by going to
"ToolsOptionsMaintenanceStore Folder".

3) The "Favorites" list. To change this go to
"My ComputerSpecial Folders" in TweakUI.

4) Data files, for all programs that change their data files as
you work. For example, on installation both Quicken and
Turbotax place their data files in the Windows directory
and therefore in the Windows partition. Both can be
changed from the Files menu.

In addition to this, I have stored copies of all of my application source
CDs in separate subdirectories on drive E:. To reinstall my application
programs I therefore go to Drive E: and separately install each and every
one. This can take several hours. To speed things up I don't wait for the
current installation to complete before starting the next. I generally have
two or three installations going on simultaneously.

I generally do all installations in parallel with downloading upgrades for
Windows. For this purpose click the "Window Update" icon at the top of the
start menu. And when the system finishes one download or installation
before the others, remember to wait before clicking to restart the machine.

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 22:56:02 -0700, charley
wrote:

I am sorry I seemed to have asked the wrong question.I did not mean for the
ridicule I have read here to happen.I just read that if you have downloaded
programs when you uninstall them the leave obsolete regostry entries


Often, but not always, true.


which
can slow your computer down.



But this is almost never true. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.



When My we bought the computer from future shop they downloaded windows
xp,


You mean "installed" not "downloaded." Windows is commercial software,
not legally available for download anywhere.


but did not give us a copy of it nor did they give us a copy of any other
program we had put on the computer.


Then it would appear that they cheated you. Go back and tell them that
if they don't provide the CDs for the software that you paid for, you
will contact the authorities and have them prosecuted to the full
extent of the law.


That is why I do not have a copy of the
windows program to use as a backup.when I go to all programs ect.I do not see
back up or backup wizard.


So How can I clean up my registry without harming it in the meantome Thank
You all for any help.


You can *not "clean up" the registry without incurring the severe risk
that you will seriously damage your Windows installation.

I strongly recommend *against* the routine use of registry cleaners.
Routine cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave
the registry alone and don't use any registry cleaner.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Thank You Very Much.That is about the clearest information I have ever
recieved.Now if I could just learn to spell.
again thank you. charley
--
charley


"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 22:56:02 -0700, charley
wrote:

I am sorry I seemed to have asked the wrong question.I did not mean for the
ridicule I have read here to happen.I just read that if you have downloaded
programs when you uninstall them the leave obsolete regostry entries


Often, but not always, true.


which
can slow your computer down.



But this is almost never true. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.



When My we bought the computer from future shop they downloaded windows
xp,


You mean "installed" not "downloaded." Windows is commercial software,
not legally available for download anywhere.


but did not give us a copy of it nor did they give us a copy of any other
program we had put on the computer.


Then it would appear that they cheated you. Go back and tell them that
if they don't provide the CDs for the software that you paid for, you
will contact the authorities and have them prosecuted to the full
extent of the law.


That is why I do not have a copy of the
windows program to use as a backup.when I go to all programs ect.I do not see
back up or backup wizard.


So How can I clean up my registry without harming it in the meantome Thank
You all for any help.


You can *not "clean up" the registry without incurring the severe risk
that you will seriously damage your Windows installation.

I strongly recommend *against* the routine use of registry cleaners.
Routine cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave
the registry alone and don't use any registry cleaner.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 17:32:01 -0700, charley
wrote:

Thank You Very Much.


You're welcome. Glad to help.


That is about the clearest information I have ever
recieved.


And thank *you* for the kind words.


Now if I could just learn to spell.


LOL!


again thank you. charley

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 22:56:02 -0700, charley
wrote:


When My we bought the computer from future shop they downloaded windows
xp,but did not give us a copy of it nor did they give us a copy of any other
program we had put on the computer.That is why I do not have a copy of the
windows program to use as a backup.when I go to all programs ect.I do not see
back up or backup wizard.

Well, you were screwed. Go back there and ask for a windows CD.
You'll probably have to pay something for it, if they'll even help you
at all.

So How can I clean up my registry without harming it in the meantome Thank
You all for any help. charley

There are variouls registry cleaner program around. GIYF.
--
Top 10 Conservative Idiots:
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/top10