codefromthe70s.org — This site has a very useful tutorial if you have an old and slow XP machine with hundreds of programs and you want to re-install. This site will show you how to save your old partition in a virtual machine, and have a nice, new install of Windows.
May 21, 2006 View in Crawl 4
ddpruittMay 22, 2006
That f**king rocks!You know, this would also be a good way to verify that all your backups actually work.Or, I follow this to CMA. Create a base XP install, back it up and restore it to a VM. Then, anytime I need a new install I restore the base. Any time I want to add a core program to the base I can.Sweet. Hard drives! Must get more Hard drives!
jsp317May 22, 2006
i know allot a mack user's are gonna start bitching. bring your mack put it up against my PC it's no acer that beat the mac book pro. acer has moved up in the PC world but it is no where near the best. my PC will out benchmark any mack. you don't believe it just bring it. ill smack that mack then you will wonder why you paid so much for less. HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW. WHO'S YOUR DADDY?
juntoMay 22, 2006
That is a really good idea! I currently have exactly that problem, where I need to reinstall but the thought of doing it scares the crap out of me. I have one 40GB disk, with 2 partitions. One system partition for Windows on C: and a Data partition on D: where the bulk of my programs get installed and I keep music and photos. I've heard a good way to do it three partitions (System, Apps, Data) but I've been thinking about a different format:1. System2. Applications3. PageFile4. Data5. The re-install Windows Partition (like Metabolife suggests)Questions:1. Can you force Program Files to D:Program Files (not all installation programs offer you the option and are forced to c: - registry fix?)2. Can you force My Documents to another folder (answered yes by someone else here)3. When you backup, using True Image, does it copy all the bloated registry and system folders? Also does it just copy the files, or the disk clusters? I don't want the base disk data, just the files.4. I have a monstrous MFT with more orphans than Iraq. Formatting will re-initialize it, but can you choose where on the disk it goes after reformatting?5. Once you have re-installed Windows how do you tie your old program files to the new registry? Does True Image do it by default?Ideally they need a re-install feature with Windows that allows you to basically keep all of your programs installed whilst also allowing you to format the drive cleanly. Suggestions on a postcard! What do people think of the 5 partitions idea?
somerandomnerdMay 22, 2006
Extra marks for the usage of capitals, punctuation and spelling of "mack." You truly are teh leat.
jdonnerMay 22, 2006
"1. System2. Applications3. PageFile4. Data5. The re-install Windows Partition (like Metabolife suggests)"#2, the application partition is useless, since the registry entries will always be stored in the system partition.#3. PageFile; that's not needed (the gain in performance is MINIMAL). The reason why some recommend it is because the page file is changing size by default, so it will get easily fragmented. Set the page file to a size like 2GBmin/2GB max (size depends on memory use) and you don't need a dumb pagefile partition. What is really good however is to put the page file on a seperate drive."5. The re-install Windows Partition (like Metabolife suggests)"You know what? Most wanna be computer "experts" don't back up this partition, so if they lose their partition or drive they have to start all over.
cyberdactylMay 23, 2006
Hehe
tritMay 24, 2006
Good idea. You don't need to have viruses and spyware on your system for it to slow down. Any Windows user should know that reformatting is just a fact of life as XP causes more and more problems to itself the longer it's installed/used.
jsp317Jun 14, 2006
that is not true. i have xp loaded on all my machines. the only time i formatted was when i loaded it the first time. now i do know people that have to wipe there PC all the time but its because they install everything and click on anything. they don't keep there anti virus up to date. they have so much s**t in there start up no wonder its slow. soon as you turn it on (yahoo) (Man) and many more. no wonder its slow. any software you install wants to load at start up. its like they think you cant live with out it. BS i know where it is if i want to use it. as far as xp goes i think its the best OS out there. with a little know how not much. you can have a better experience. i have 3 PCs that have been running xp for 3 years now. no slow down yet. i have two12 year old boys plus my wife. each have there own PC. the boys play games of course. they do the LAN plus Internet. my wife looks up news plus girl stuff. there is one thing i should tell i built all 3. there 3 years old still holding there own. amd 2600+ 1 gig of ram nvida 5700 ultra. two 80 gig hard drives. keep them lean and mean. i may have done a few upgrades but i didn't have to format. now my new PC i built about 6 months ago. it just to sweet. amd64bit 3500+ 2gigs of ram. i want go in to all the details but it hasn't slowed down yet. people make it sound like windows sucks. windows is the most popular OS around hands down. why apps and games. i love xp its solid I'm looking at vista with my eyes wide open. i want be the first to jump but i don't think I'm gonna wait long.