Copying internal harddrive to external harddrive(except for windows folder) then formatting internal hard drive then reinstalling windows xppro. finally copying files back to harddrive, thereby preserving all applications., but now with a new copy of Windows XP. Can this be done?
I have a 1 TB external drive. I have Acuris 2009, but even having read the instructions on site, I'm not sure they apply to what I want to do.
I hope I have been clear and exact in describing what I want to do. I don't want to have to go to all the trouble of reinstalling my all my software.
All the methods I have see so far seem to copy an image of the disk to the external drive then copying it back, but this simply puts the OS back on without reinstalling it. Thnks to any and all who can help me!
Annas
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I agree with "dbrunton"
You cannot do it the way you want to.
Just backup your important documents and then reinstall the system, then reinstall the programs.
I just did my system 2 days ago, and it took 5hrs from start to finsh.
I also have a ballbuster long install applications as well.
Good Luck
Carrzkiss
As already noted, NO, it won't work.
If your goal is to reinstall XP but not reinstall your applications, the best option is as follows ...
(1) Buy a copy of PC Mover [http://www.newegg.com/Pro
(2) Install it on your "old" system and "move" all the applications you want to keep to an external hard drive (you have various options as to how to move ... network; serial cable; external drive; etc. -- you want to choose the external drive).
(3) Disconnect the external drive; now wipe the system and reinstall XP.
(4) Now install PC Mover on the "new" system ... and restore the applications from the external drive.
Unless you have some very old or very unusual software it should work fine. It works with MOST software ... but there are exceptions. Personally, I have yet to find a program it can't move -- but there are a few.
When you have everything working again 100% you should clone your C: drive so you can quickly get back to that 100% position in the future.
http://www.xxclone.
Acronis (or any other imaging utility) will image the drive -- and you can then restore that to the same or any other drive. It's a good idea to image your system once it's fully installed, configured, all programs installed, etc. ==> BUT restoring an image restores everything to the exact state it was in when you made the image. Think of an image as a "picture" -- and a restore simply restores that exact picture.
... in other words, NO, it does not do what you've asked here. It won't let you re-install the OS and then just recapture the previously installed applications. For that, you'll either need to actually reinstall the programs; or use a utility like PC Mover to "move" the applications from the "old" system to the "new" system [actually the same PC in this case, but with a newly installed OS].
But as I just noted, once you have reconfigured your system with a clean install (and either moved the applictions with PC Mover or re-installed them all if you decide to do that instead) THEN it's a good idea to make an Image of the system and save that image (on another hard drive; a set of DVDs; etc.). Then you can always restore it to that state by simply restoring from the image ... which takes 2-3 minutes of your time (to start the restore) and typically 10-20 minutes of the computers time (for the actual restore operation).
Go to MY computer
right click on desired drive to be copied > properties > tools tab > backup
back up wizard will start
click next > backup files and click next
click let me choose what to back up and click next
now select the desired folder and click next
provide the path of external hard drive where you want to save and click next
finish
now you can format your hard disk and then you have to re install windows......good luck
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: dbruntonPosted on 2009-10-04 at 16:14:51ID: 25491505
>> Can this be done?
No. You'll lose all of the registry information regarding the applications. This will include serial numbers, registration and file associations. Plus the applications themselves may have dropped files within the Windows folder.
When you go and start the applications there is a very good chance that they won't start.
>> All the methods I have see so far seem to copy an image of the disk to the external drive then copying it back, but this simply puts the OS back on without reinstalling it.
And that is what is meant to happen. Everything is the same except you have a bigger hard disk.