Can I save my working win XP somewhere and then reinstall it from there?

[DJW]

Can the installed Windows XP pro on my bootable hard drive be
archived and compressed to fit on a DVD or to another hard drive. Is
there a way to archive it to a disc and then reconstruct it back to a
wiped clean hard drive So it will be bootable and work? In other words
will it let me have all my drivers and thing installed over the years
be ready to go after a reinstall of the OS via that working OS not
from the windows installer discs?

 

[Char Jackson]

Can the installed Windows XP pro on my bootable hard drive be
archived and compressed to fit on a DVD or to another hard drive. Is
there a way to archive it to a disc and then reconstruct it back to a
wiped clean hard drive So it will be bootable and work? In other words
will it let me have all my drivers and thing installed over the years
be ready to go after a reinstall of the OS via that working OS not
from the windows installer discs?

A disk imaging program will do that. Macrium Reflect is a free product
that works well. Acronis True Image is a retail product that also
works well.

Check out <http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx>

I always create images onto another hard drive rather than split them
across multiple DVD's, so I can't vouch for that aspect.

 

[Char Jackson]

A disk imaging program will do that. Macrium Reflect is a free product
that works well. Acronis True Image is a retail product that also
works well.

Check out <http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx>

I always create images onto another hard drive rather than split them
across multiple DVD's, so I can't vouch for that aspect.

I hate following up to my own post, but I should have mentioned that
an image is a (possibly compressed) archive of your drive and has to
be restored to a drive before that drive can be used. A clone, on the
other hand, is a live copy of a disk where the cloned disk can simply
be plugged in and it works straight away. The programs mentioned above
can do both, plus more.

 

[BillW50]

In

I hate following up to my own post, but I should have mentioned that
an image is a (possibly compressed) archive of your drive and has to
be restored to a drive before that drive can be used. A clone, on the
other hand, is a live copy of a disk where the cloned disk can simply
be plugged in and it works straight away. The programs mentioned above
can do both, plus more.

Lots of software does the same things.