Reinstall Of Windows Xp...advice Please

[NeverSure]

Not if you lose a HDD and can't get to the internet until you install your motherboard and LAN drivers on a new one. It's just so easy to burn them once you have the backup.

I actually create a new image of my %system% drive every night with the scheduler

If you restore from an image, then the drivers are included in the image, and you can update drivers afterwards. And if you're backing up to HD you can just backup the latest drivers in a folder on your backup disk. So again your elaborate backup to CD and label and file is probably wasted effort as I noted above, esp if you have the orignal CDs that came w/ the m'board etc.

Most people have access to another computer or a live CD that will permit access to the 'net.

OK, you do it your way and I'll do it mine. I like a nice, neat envelope with all of the software that's on each computer in it, but then I have lots of computers in here. I really need to be organized. I got that way from managing a large enterprise.

Not everyone makes a regular image - more likely most don't.

Many don't have a separate hard disk. An image of my %system% drive is running almost 100 gig. As it runs each night, it adds to it. It's incremental.

I play around with my boxes so much that I'm forever formatting a HDD and putting it another computer.

Sometimes the original drivers don't work that well, so job 1 with a new motherboard and other hardware is to update the drivers. I want a backup of the latest drivers.

I've had an image be corrupt (and so have restore points on more than one occasion) and had to abandon it and do a clean install.

When it comes to backups, I can never have too much or too many, and burning a CD and dropping it into that envelope is just too easy.

You do your thing and I'll do mine, and peace to you.

Cheers.

[NeverSure]

But those are partitions. Here's a look at the three different physical hard disks, two with two partitions, and one with four partitions, giving me eight hard drives.

No, you don't have 8 hard drives. Sorry.

Patitioning is mostly a useless overcomplication and gives the illusion of security as above. You can look up a previous discussion on this forum about it. I'm not getting into another discussion here.

OK, let's go to school. Everyone's an expert on here, it seems. BTW, I never said it gave more security. Somewhere I said that having 3 physical hard disks and back up to both of them was more secure. If a hard disk goes down, so do all of its partitions.

1. A physical hard disk is hardware. You can hold it in your hand, put screws into it, hook data and power cables to it... But it isn't a drive until you put software on it by formatting it, giving it a file system, and giving it a drive letter which is software, written by the operating system and included utilities.

2. A hard disk is hardware and a hard drive is software.

3. I can put up to 24 software hard drives in up to 24 separate partitions (which are also software) on one physical hard disk.

4. The first three drives can be primary hard drives, but any others after that must be logical hard drives.

5. Now, look at this screen shot of the 8 partitions again. Even Microsoft is calling all 8 of them hard drives (8.) (Upper left, blue font.)

6. School is dismissed.

NeverSure, MCSE/MCSA Comptia A+, Network+, IT Project+, retired senior VP, IT.

Edited December 30, 2012 by NeverSure

[JSixpack]

1. A physical hard disk is hardware. You can hold it in your hand, put screws into it, hook data and power cables to it... But it isn't a drive until you put software on it by formatting it,

Wrong. Notice that the 'teacher' has--unconsciously of course--changed the terminology from "hard drive" to "drive," which almost gave you case, but then

2. A hard disk is hardware and a hard drive is software.

Duh. No. Here's the standard definition found in countless sources

http://www.pcmag.com...&i=44088,00.asp

"Hard" is defined for you too. No need to change to some imprecise idiosyncratic definition of your own.

3. I can put up to 24 software hard drives in up to 24 separate partitions (which are also software) on one physical hard disk.

No such thing as "software hard drive." Note your contradiction and confusion of "soft" and "hard." Now, just cause you convinced your girlfriend that soft is really hard, too . . .

Better learn to use terms consistently and precisely, "teach."

4. The first three drives can be primary hard drives, but any others after that must be logical hard drives.

Logical drives, you idiot. Not logical hard drives!

So you had 3 hard disks/hard drives, 8 partitions, and thought because you had 8 drive letters you had 8 hard drives.

"Teach" dismissed for incompetence and Khao San Road certficates.

[MichaelJohn]

Download all the XP drivers on to a USB stick. After installation of XP, if you install the Network driver first then go on the Internet and do updates chances are most of the updates will download and install themselves. You will then only need the ones that have a problem in Device Manager.

[Stradavarius37]

With all due respect - why are you screwing around with ancient software? Time for an upgrade. It's almost 2013, not 2001....

I have 9 computers right here in my home office. One is my main squeeze desktop, two are laptops, and 6 are what I call my "lab" which includes a Server and all 6 are connected with just one monitor, one keyboard, and one mouse using a KVM switch. This is where I test things, and I have an image for each in case I blow it up screwing around. My main squeeze an my laptops have Win 7 Ultimate, but the rest are all XP pro except the server. Are you asking me to go buy the latest version of Server, and 8 new copies of Windows 8 today, or is it OK with you if I not spend a couple of grand? XP is going to be in operation for a long, long time.

Go to Pantip - buy some Windows 7 bootlegs, join the 21st century.

[NeverSure]

Go to Pantip - buy some Windows 7 bootlegs, join the 21st century.

I'm not a thief. Windows 7? How yesterday. It's Windows 8, Rip Van Winkle.

[Stradavarius37]

Go to Pantip - buy some Windows 7 bootlegs, join the 21st century.

I'm not a thief. Windows 7? How yesterday. It's Windows 8, Rip Van Winkle.

Baby steps for you - since you are still using a Model T...

[NeverSure]

Go to Pantip - buy some Windows 7 bootlegs, join the 21st century.

I'm not a thief. Windows 7? How yesterday. It's Windows 8, Rip Van Winkle.

Baby steps for you - since you are still using a Model T...

At least I'm not a thief. As a matter of fact I would drive a model T rather than steal a new car.

[Stradavarius37]

Go to Pantip - buy some Windows 7 bootlegs, join the 21st century.

I'm not a thief. Windows 7? How yesterday. It's Windows 8, Rip Van Winkle.

Baby steps for you - since you are still using a Model T...

At least I'm not a thief. As a matter of fact I would drive a model T rather than steal a new car.

Wow - I feel really bad now....thanks for the life lesson, random anonymous internet guy !

[Jiu-Jitsu]

The simple solution would be to use a standard Samsung XP recovery disc. But a simple check would need to be run beforehand.