Reinstalling Windows XP (clean) and keeping files

[^sebb(lucas)]

how can you reinstall windows xp (home or pro) with a clean install and
still keep your files? is there some sort of DOS program available to
downmload that burns all of your files to cds through DOS? i tried
REPAIRING windows xp and it just brings up a window (when i try
loigging in to my account) saying: "windows has to be activated before
logging on." so i click on ok then it brings me to that stupid window
and it says "WINDOWS XP HAS ALREADY BEEN ACTIVATED." so i click on OK
and it logs me off again! so its basically just going around in a
stupid circle. is there a solution? will reinstaling a clean install of
windows save your files? (of course i have windows xp on my machine.. i
just wanna save meh files through a dos burning tool or
something....)??????? please hellpppp i reallly need help..

-sebb

 

[philo]

how can you reinstall windows xp (home or pro) with a clean install and
still keep your files? is there some sort of DOS program available to
downmload that burns all of your files to cds through DOS? i

if XP is installed on an NTFS partition there is no way you can recover
anything from dos.
best to put the drive in another machine and backup your data

however...to answer your question...
if you reinstall XP...you can do so *without* formatting
by simply opting to install in a folder other than the original windows
folder.

your data should still be there...but you will habe to reinstall your apps

 

[BobS]

how can you reinstall windows xp (home or pro) with a clean install and
still keep your files? is there some sort of DOS program available to
downmload that burns all of your files to cds through DOS? i tried
REPAIRING windows xp and it just brings up a window (when i try
loigging in to my account) saying: "windows has to be activated before
logging on." so i click on ok then it brings me to that stupid window
and it says "WINDOWS XP HAS ALREADY BEEN ACTIVATED." so i click on OK
and it logs me off again! so its basically just going around in a
stupid circle. is there a solution? will reinstaling a clean install of
windows save your files? (of course i have windows xp on my machine.. i
just wanna save meh files through a dos burning tool or
something....)??????? please hellpppp i reallly need help..

-sebb

seeb,

There a number of commercial, shareware and free DOS programs that you can
use to read a NTFS formatted drive and recover any important files that you
may want to save such as this site
http://www.fileheaven.com/Active@-NTFS-Reader-for-DOS/download/10619.htm

Just do a search in Google for "DOS NTFS" (no quotes) and you'll get all
kinds of hits.

But......... You may be overlooking the obvious but did you try and boot
into Safe Mode (F8 key) ? If you can get into Safe Mode, you can recover
your files and maybe even clear the problem.

Also, there are downloads you can get free that are called "Live
Distributions" and you make a bootable CD with the downloaded files.
Depending on which you choose, it can be from brain-dead simple to
brain-surgery type of complicated to build a bootable CD with Linux.

Bob S.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Why are you reinstalling in the first place? A repair installation will not
remove bugs and crap from third party software that are causing problems
with the system.

You might also try the steps here:
http://www.rickrogers.org/fixes.htm#Activation

There are some tools that can be used to copy files from the drive, but
there could be other issues to contend with if you go in that direction.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org