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any ideas?

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exceptional

Technical User
Dec 30, 2002
2
US
hi, i have a problem, and i was wondering if anyone had any ideas. i format my hard drive practicly everytime i encounter a problem, and its really starting to bug me. i am building a new system, and am getting a 40 gig hard drive, and i am interested in new ways to install os's and applications, while being able to keep the system up for a while. i also like to keep many programs, music, games and other things on my hard drive that take a long time to reinstall everytime i format. i am planning on getting another 40 gig back up drive, but if anyone had any ideas that would be great.
~mike
 
You don't need to format it every time. Once is enough.
If you want to reload the OS, use deltree to remove the old directories.
If you reload the OS from the hard drive it loads faster.
Making the hard drive into two partitions and putting the load stuff on the second drive will allow you to reload without having to transfer the load stuff again.
Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
 
wow, thats a great idea, just a question tho, does that erase anything besides windows info? and will all my apps and games and ect. still work after? also, putting the load info on a seperate hdd, how do i specificly do it?
~mike
 
exceptional,
Creating another partition and separating data from the OS would just be the first step. Any time you "reload" the OS from scratch, the apps/games have to be reinstalled, because you've got a new registry.

The way I would do it is:

1) Install Windows from scratch.
2) Use Partition Magic, or something similar to create another partition.
3) Create a folder called Program Files on your new partition.
4) As you reload each app/game, choose D:\Program Files instead of C:\Program Files
5) After you've added ones that you always want to have, make a backup (image) of your C: drive.

Now, anytime you want to format C:, go right ahead. Then you can use your image to restore it. Keep in mind that whenever you install a new app or game, you'll want to re-image to stay up-to-date - perhaps after every 4 or 5 installations...


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
 
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