G
gary.hendricks.user
Here is an article I published on my website about reinstalling Windows
while preserving your data. I hope it'll be useful to some of you in
this forum.
How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Data
by Gary Hendricks
At some point during the course of your computer's use, you will find
yourself in the unenviable position of having to reinstall Windows.
There are many reasons for this. Perhaps important system files got
corrupted or disk errors or viruses caused your system to become
unstable.
This is all a result of wear and tear on your PC. When that time comes,
you will have to not only know how to reinstall windows, but how to
reinstall windows without losing data. Here we refer to a fresh install
of Windows and not simply an attempt to repair a few files.
1. Your Vendor's Restore CD
The first step in knowing how to reinstall windows is to locate your
vendor's restore CD-otherwise known appropriately enough as a
rescue or boot disk. Windows comes with its own rescue CD as well. If
that's the only one you have at your disposal then locate your
operating system's instructions below.
Rescue CDs are not all alike. Some give you rescue functions as well as
important software drivers for your computer. Others are more basic,
only allowing you the ability to reformat your hard drive. Don't
reformat your hard drive without backing up your personal files to
another medium first! Your personal files are those located under 'My
Documents' in Windows. The exact location of your personal files and
folders varies from one operating system to another.
In Windows XP, for example, you will backup everything in C:\Documents
and Settings. In Windows 98 and ME, you will backup C:\My Documents.
More instructions follow below for your particular system. If you have
any other folders where you've stored personal stuff back those up as
well.
2. Windows 98 and ME CDs
With Windows 98 and ME you don't want to just reinstall windows
without backing up important system information. This information can
be found in your Windows folders.
First create a new folder on your C: drive and name it oldWindows. Then
use Windows explorer to navigate to your Windows folder. Once there,
locate the following subfolders: All Users, Application Data, Desktop,
Favorites, Local Settings, Profiles, SendTo, and Start Menu. Copy these
folders to the oldWindows folder you created.
Now it's time to reboot. Restart Windows with your boot disk Upon
startup select Start computer with CD-ROM support. Drivers will begin
loading so go ahead and insert your Windows CD-ROM.
To reinstall windows properly you will need to delete your directory
tree so type c:\windows\command\deltree /y c:\windows and press the
Enter key. After that you need to invoke the Windows setup installation
procedure located on your Windows CD. Type your CD drive letter and
then type setup.
Next get into the DOS prompt from Windows and type
xcopy c:\oldWindows\*.* c:\windows /s /h /r /c.
This will restore all important system information.
3. Windows 2000 and XP CDs
If you have Windows 2000 and XP you need to know how to reinstall
windows properly as well. Insert your Windows CD and boot your
computer. Upon startup you will see Press any key to boot from CD.
After clicking you will come to the welcome screen. Press Enter, then
press Escape to start a restore. From the menu options select C as your
current partition and then l to delete the Windows folder. Enter temp
as your user name when prompted. Reboot and you will be logged in as
temp.
Next you will restore your personal files. Windows 2000 users should
login as temp, then Administrator and then back to temp again. Then
navigate to C:\Documents and Settings and you will see an Administrator
folder and one with Administrator: computername.
xcopy administrator\*.* administrator.computername /s /h /r /c,
substituting for computername your folder that was appended to
Administrator earlier. Your personal files will be restored.
4. For Both Windows XP and 2000
Windows XP and 2000 users need one extra step to know how to reinstall
windows correctly. Create a new folder on your C: drive and label it
oldData. Then go to My Documents and Settings and copy all of the
folders for each username to oldData.
In Control Panel go to User Accounts and create a new account for each
of these users-use their names as spelled out under their Documents
and Settings folders. If you're using XP ensure that at least one
account has Administrator privileges.
For each user on your computer, log off and log in with that user's
name. Then login as Temp and drop down into the DOS command prompt
interpreter. Now type
xcopy c:\oldData\*.* "c:\documents and settings" /s /h /r /c
Then press Enter. Go ahead and confirm that you want to overwrite
files. When you're done, log off and then login as each user. Each
user's Documents and Settings should be restored.
5. Finishing Up
After you install windows you need to install other software too, like
drivers and Windows Updates from Microsoft's web site. Check for any
graphics drivers that you may need to install from a vendor CD.
Look for all of your old personal files and make sure that they are all
there. If not, check the C:\oldData folder and move the files to the
correct location. Once you are absolutely sure that you have everything
you can delete both the oldData folder and the Administrator folder.
Conclusion
It may have come as a surprise to you to learn that you can reinstall
windows without having to wipe out your hard drive. With a fresh
install of Windows you can restore to your computer the speed and
efficiency which it had when you first bought it.
A fresh install will do wonders for your computer's performance and
will be better for your system than a simple repair. In order to save
your personal files you simply need to create temporary folders as we
outlined in this article and restore them back into the new
installation.
===============================
Gary Hendricks
http://www.build-your-own-computers/home
===============================
while preserving your data. I hope it'll be useful to some of you in
this forum.
How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Data
by Gary Hendricks
At some point during the course of your computer's use, you will find
yourself in the unenviable position of having to reinstall Windows.
There are many reasons for this. Perhaps important system files got
corrupted or disk errors or viruses caused your system to become
unstable.
This is all a result of wear and tear on your PC. When that time comes,
you will have to not only know how to reinstall windows, but how to
reinstall windows without losing data. Here we refer to a fresh install
of Windows and not simply an attempt to repair a few files.
1. Your Vendor's Restore CD
The first step in knowing how to reinstall windows is to locate your
vendor's restore CD-otherwise known appropriately enough as a
rescue or boot disk. Windows comes with its own rescue CD as well. If
that's the only one you have at your disposal then locate your
operating system's instructions below.
Rescue CDs are not all alike. Some give you rescue functions as well as
important software drivers for your computer. Others are more basic,
only allowing you the ability to reformat your hard drive. Don't
reformat your hard drive without backing up your personal files to
another medium first! Your personal files are those located under 'My
Documents' in Windows. The exact location of your personal files and
folders varies from one operating system to another.
In Windows XP, for example, you will backup everything in C:\Documents
and Settings. In Windows 98 and ME, you will backup C:\My Documents.
More instructions follow below for your particular system. If you have
any other folders where you've stored personal stuff back those up as
well.
2. Windows 98 and ME CDs
With Windows 98 and ME you don't want to just reinstall windows
without backing up important system information. This information can
be found in your Windows folders.
First create a new folder on your C: drive and name it oldWindows. Then
use Windows explorer to navigate to your Windows folder. Once there,
locate the following subfolders: All Users, Application Data, Desktop,
Favorites, Local Settings, Profiles, SendTo, and Start Menu. Copy these
folders to the oldWindows folder you created.
Now it's time to reboot. Restart Windows with your boot disk Upon
startup select Start computer with CD-ROM support. Drivers will begin
loading so go ahead and insert your Windows CD-ROM.
To reinstall windows properly you will need to delete your directory
tree so type c:\windows\command\deltree /y c:\windows and press the
Enter key. After that you need to invoke the Windows setup installation
procedure located on your Windows CD. Type your CD drive letter and
then type setup.
Next get into the DOS prompt from Windows and type
xcopy c:\oldWindows\*.* c:\windows /s /h /r /c.
This will restore all important system information.
3. Windows 2000 and XP CDs
If you have Windows 2000 and XP you need to know how to reinstall
windows properly as well. Insert your Windows CD and boot your
computer. Upon startup you will see Press any key to boot from CD.
After clicking you will come to the welcome screen. Press Enter, then
press Escape to start a restore. From the menu options select C as your
current partition and then l to delete the Windows folder. Enter temp
as your user name when prompted. Reboot and you will be logged in as
temp.
Next you will restore your personal files. Windows 2000 users should
login as temp, then Administrator and then back to temp again. Then
navigate to C:\Documents and Settings and you will see an Administrator
folder and one with Administrator: computername.
xcopy administrator\*.* administrator.computername /s /h /r /c,
substituting for computername your folder that was appended to
Administrator earlier. Your personal files will be restored.
4. For Both Windows XP and 2000
Windows XP and 2000 users need one extra step to know how to reinstall
windows correctly. Create a new folder on your C: drive and label it
oldData. Then go to My Documents and Settings and copy all of the
folders for each username to oldData.
In Control Panel go to User Accounts and create a new account for each
of these users-use their names as spelled out under their Documents
and Settings folders. If you're using XP ensure that at least one
account has Administrator privileges.
For each user on your computer, log off and log in with that user's
name. Then login as Temp and drop down into the DOS command prompt
interpreter. Now type
xcopy c:\oldData\*.* "c:\documents and settings" /s /h /r /c
Then press Enter. Go ahead and confirm that you want to overwrite
files. When you're done, log off and then login as each user. Each
user's Documents and Settings should be restored.
5. Finishing Up
After you install windows you need to install other software too, like
drivers and Windows Updates from Microsoft's web site. Check for any
graphics drivers that you may need to install from a vendor CD.
Look for all of your old personal files and make sure that they are all
there. If not, check the C:\oldData folder and move the files to the
correct location. Once you are absolutely sure that you have everything
you can delete both the oldData folder and the Administrator folder.
Conclusion
It may have come as a surprise to you to learn that you can reinstall
windows without having to wipe out your hard drive. With a fresh
install of Windows you can restore to your computer the speed and
efficiency which it had when you first bought it.
A fresh install will do wonders for your computer's performance and
will be better for your system than a simple repair. In order to save
your personal files you simply need to create temporary folders as we
outlined in this article and restore them back into the new
installation.
===============================
Gary Hendricks
http://www.build-your-own-computers/home
===============================