Hi everybody.
I thinking of doing a clean install (again) because bugs annoy me (probably
half or so are caused by me fiddling with stuff!). Last time I think I just
set it to one partition and re-installed windows but is it important to have
another partition? Also, is there any way of getting around having to
re-install everything again once the (old!) windows has been put back on from
the recovery disk?

Hi Brian,

I've set up my computer so that I make full copies of Documents & settings
and System & System32 directories onto DVD's so that I have them available
if I have to reinstall Windows XP.

I also set up my main drive into 3 partitions the "C":\ has on it only
WindowsXP and the other two partitions have programs and data.

If I have to reinstall windows only the C:\ or "System drive" have their
contents deleted and windows reinstalled. This is of course a "new" windows
which has no information of other software on it. Then by copying/restoring
the documents and settings directory and the system/system32 directories
back onto the system drive I get back my connections to the programs and
data on the other partitions.

That's the hard way of course. You might also make backups of the system
drive using a 3rd party program such as ghost or acronis. I have used both
and find they work well. You will of course have to make the emergency start
up disks they ask for.

So there are several ways to save your machine when it starts to go bad.

Good luck, regards.



"Brian" <Brian@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F6ADEA80-0CEF-4D19-96F8-5ED09B3933AD@microsoft.com...

Brian wrote:

Brian, having one partition for the OS and programs and a separate
partition for data only is of value. Then you don't loose data if the
OS needs to be installed, and makes backup of data easier.

Programs will need to be reinstalled if you do a clean install. Not
sure what the recovery disk you have does. It most likely installs the
OS from and image that's on the recovery disk which would necessitate
reinstallation of programs from their original media. Best bet is to
contact tech support for the system to find out for sure.

--
Rock
MS MVP Windows - Shell/User