System backup

[P.Morcombe]

Hi,

I have Windows XP Home edition and have downloaded
hundreds of Megabytes of patches very laboriously as there
are no fast internet connections where I live. In the
event of my system being trashed so that the built in
recovery does not work, I will have to reinstall from my
original windows XP disk. While that is no problem,
downloading all the patches again over my slow dial up
modem will be a huge chore.

Is there a simple way to back up the patches locally so
they will survive if my C: drive gets trashed?

 

[Chris Lanier]

You will have to redownload the patch's. you can't back them up from your
system with them being already installed.

You can use the Windows Catalog to download and save them to CD's or to
another hard drive.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp?corporate=true

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have Windows XP Home edition and have downloaded
hundreds of Megabytes of patches very laboriously as there
are no fast internet connections where I live. In the
event of my system being trashed so that the built in
recovery does not work, I will have to reinstall from my
original windows XP disk. While that is no problem,
downloading all the patches again over my slow dial up
modem will be a huge chore.

Is there a simple way to back up the patches locally so
they will survive if my C: drive gets trashed?

When you download a patch, the downloaded .exe file is put in Temporary
internet files. For convenience first empty that (Control Panel -
Internet Options - click Delete files). Then when the download is at
the ready to install, accept agreement point, go there again, click
Settings, View Files and copy the file out to a safe place


And it is worth spending the $10 on a CD of SP1a, which will get you
much of the way - at
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/default..asp
and down at the bottom is the link to order it.