Re-Installing Windows XP with Downloaded Updates

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Rubinstein
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Bill Rubinstein

I like to frequently re-format my hard drive and re-
install windows and my programs. I find it to be a good
way to clean up my system. I have downloaded 150 mbyte
of microsoft updates and don't want to have to re-
download them.(I'm Still on a dial-up) Where are they
stored on my harddrive and can I back them up for re-
installation.

Thanks,
Bill
 
I like to frequently re-format my hard drive and re-
install windows and my programs. I find it to be a good
way to clean up my system. I have downloaded 150 mbyte
of microsoft updates and don't want to have to re-
download them.(I'm Still on a dial-up) Where are they
stored on my harddrive and can I back them up for re-
installation.
Click to expand...

Are you also into pain? Most users want to avoid re-formatting and
re-installing Windows.

Anyway, to answer you question - unless you downloaded the original
updates from the MS corporate site (not the normal updates site) and
stored the downloads separately, they are not placed on the HDD and
can't be backed up. You have to download everything again including
Service Pack 1.

Have fun.
 
I download critical/security updates from the Windows Update *Catalog*
separately, one by one, on to the Desktop. The textbox in the dialog box
handling the transfer would not accept file names longer than 50 characters
for folders in the default destination, the My Documents 'cabinet', so, each
and every update is downloaded to a separate folder created for the Desktop
afresh, automatically when the destination is specified (after clicking
[Browse]). After checking the update scan to note down which updates I
require, every needed update is downloaded and appears on the Desktop in
separate folder. Then I copy these onto a CD. This sounds tedious, but you
only do it once.

The only fly in the ointment is that the update installation history log
does not record the eventual installation of the individual updates from the
folders on the Desktop; this route of getting the updates into my OS
bypasses this 'checksum'. Still, I record my separate installation on the
System Restore record, where each operation is preceded by a new restore
point naming the update code number. Admittedly this record is not
permanent!

I have been using this system for the last two months with success. Like
you, Bill, I like to do a clean install of WinXP now and again. It has a
cathartic effect on me.
 
This sounds like a very good idea. This obviates the difficulty of not
having a properly recorded installation log too. I must try that for my
next update. Thanks, Alex.

--
Bee
[I have found my Shangri-La, at the moment, in ntlworld.]

---
Bill said:
I like to frequently re-format my hard drive and re-
install windows and my programs. I find it to be a good
way to clean up my system. I have downloaded 150 mbyte
of microsoft updates and don't want to have to re-
download them.(I'm Still on a dial-up) Where are they
stored on my harddrive and can I back them up for re-
installation.
Click to expand...

The downloaded .exe files that were run to install would be put in the
Temporary Internet Files folder. *If* they are still there, you can
copy them away - but they probably will not last there very long before
dropping out.

Why BTW do you *frequently* reformat? It should *not* be necessary, and
certainly not as a sort of routine
 
For the benefit of those who want to download the various XP updates
from the MS corporate site for later installation, what is the URL? My
XP system has a dial-up connection, while my Win98 computer at work
has broadband. It would be convenient to download the updates using
broadband, burn to a CD, and take the CD home. Thanks.

John W.
 
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