Reinstalling Windows

Introduction

2009-06-07T09:38:00.004+01:00

If you’ve had your computer for some time, you may notice that it becomes sluggish and less responsive. Good maintenance will stave this off, but even with the best care in the world a PC will eventually pick up enough glitches for your productivity to drop. You might also run into more severe problems after installing or removing programs or hardware that require remedial action. When all else fails, you’ll need to restore your PC to its factory settings using a restore disc. However, if you really want to seize control of your technology, then you’ll probably want to reinstall Windows.

Reinstalling Windows from scratch is a sure way to set yourself apart from people who are content to let others decide what goes on your computer and what doesn’t. It puts ultimate control into your hands and enables you to set up your system how you want to, without unnecessary extras that vendors might want you to have. You can also learn a bit about how your PC functions along the way. Like changing a tyre on your car, it’s an essential fix that can mean the difference between waiting on an expert to sort you out and getting back up and running quickly.

The whole process
This blog will take you through the whole process, from backing up your data so you don’t lose anything, though various clever ways to make installing Windows easier and less stressful onto what essential post installation tasks will prevent you dealing with glitches in the first days after your reinstall. We’ll recommend ways to make your system more stable, like creating a partitioned drive so that your data is kept separate from your Windows files, so it doesn’t get wiped when you format your Windows partition. We’ll also recommend various ways to back up your data so that it’s easily accessible for you to restore afterwards.

Many computers don’t come with a Windows CD, but we’ve tracked down a way that you can generate your own installation CD from a restore disc. We’ll also show you how to slipstream Service Packs into your installation files, saving valuable time after the install. For the very technical, there’s also a way to automate the process so that you don’t have to sit over your computer as you reinstall Windows. Having successfully reinstalled Windows, we’ll take you through activation, updating and validating your installation leaving you with a rock solid PC that’s good as, or even better than, new.

Validate Windows

2008-07-13T20:59:00.000+01:00

Before you can use additional Microsoft programs like Windows Defender, you’ll need to validate Windows.

1
Genuine Advantage
Browse to www.microsoft.com/genuine/. This page describes the benefits of Windows validation, including the availability of new free software and additional updates and functions for Windows XP. You can also initiate the validation process here.

2
Validate Now
Click Validate Windows. This initiates the download and installation of the Windows Genuine Advantage validation tool. You may need to OK the download due to your browser’s security arrangements.

3
Confirmation
Once the software has installed and run, you should receive a confirmation message. In some cases, you may need to provide additional information, including the Windows key from your certificate of authenticity, which you can find on your PC case or with your installation media.

Restoring your data

2008-07-13T20:48:00.000+01:00

Whether you need to recover a whole drive or just some of your files, Drive Image XML can help.

If your reinstallation fails, you may not be able to boot into Windows, you’ll need to restore your drive image to get your computer back up and running. Now’s the time to dust off the recovery disc that we made during backing up using PE Builder. Boot from this disc and then launch Drive Image XML. You can now opt to Restore and select the drive that you want to restore, and click Next. Browse to the backup image files and complete the wizard.

If you just need to restore individual files after a successful reinstallation, you should be able to launch Drive Image XML in Windows. You can use the program to recover individual files from your backup. Once launched, choose Browse. You then need to specify the image file that you saved before. This may take a little while to load, so be patient. Once it has loaded, you can browse through its contents in exactly the same way as if you were using Windows Explorer. When you find the file that you want to recover, right click it and choose Extract.

Even though Drive Image XML provides a restore option within the program, you can’t use it to restore your Windows partition from within Windows. You can use it to restore other partitions, but for any major recovery, you’ll need to use the Bart PE disc that you made before.

You can browse your drive image and restore individual files by selecting them and clicking Extract.

After the Installation

2008-07-13T20:17:00.000+01:00

Now Windows XP is on your computer, you’ll need update it and set it up the way you want.

Once all the files have been installed on your PC, you need to supply some additional information. You’ll be asked to supply account names for each of the people who will use your computer. Windows will also check to see if you’re already connected to the internet via a router or local area network. If you are, you’ll be offered the chance to activate Windows now and register with Microsoft. Activation is obligatory in the first 30 days after installation but registration is optional. See below for details. Finally, you’re taken on a tour of Windows, which you can comfortably skip if you have any experience of using it.

Need a refresher on how to use Windows? You can always take the tour after reinstalling.

You’ve now got a functional copy of Windows up and running, but it probably won’t be perfect. You’ll still need to install any device drivers that weren’t automatically applied by Windows itself. You’ll also need to ensure that you have a functioning antivirus and spyware protection and you’ll need to download and apply any Windows updates that have been released since your install disc was created.

Windows XP is good at finding drivers but it’s always a good idea to have your existing drivers backed up in an accessible place. To see what drivers are correctly installed, choose Start and right click My Computer, selecting Properties. Move to the Hardware tab and click Device manager. Any device listed with a yellow exclamation mark on them indicates a problem, which at this stage usually means the driver isn’t installed. Right click the device and choose Update driver. This launches The Hardware update Wizard. If you used Driver Guide Toolkit to back them up, you should be able to point the hardware wizard to the folder that you backed all these up to. However, you may still need to go online to pick up one or two of them.

Getting online is therefore a priority as missing drivers and your Windows updates can be picked up from the web. If you don’t have internet access you won’t be able to set up most maintenance tasks. If you’re on dial up, choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > Communications and New Connection Wizard and enter your ISP details. If you have a CD from your ISP, this may be able to automatically set this up for you, although you’ll almost certainly have to put up with branding in Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. If you use a broadband modem, use the CD supplied by your ISP or the modem manufacturer to install it.

Product Activation is an initiative by Microsoft to prevent casual copying; the practice whereby Windows CDs are shared by friends or family. This undercuts Microsoft’s profits and forces the price of its software upwards. Activation is quick and easy. It involves your PC making a quick connection to Microsoft. It simply creates a code that identifies your hardware and links your product key to it. If your machine is not online, or your modem isn’t working properly, it may mean a brief free phone call to Microsoft. Have your product key on hand and be ready to provide it to the automated system. Don’t worry about multiple Product Activation if you are reinstalling Windows XP on the same computer. If you have previously activated Windows XP on this computer the activation process will confirm that you are using the same copy of Windows XP with the same hardware.

You’ll need to activate Windows XP within 30 days of installing it.

Once online, you can pick up and Windows Updates that you need. To simplify the process use AutoPatcher, which you can get from www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=486480. See the walkthrough for more details.

Once your drivers and updates are in place, you can reinstall your software. Start by ensuring that your antivirus and firewall are in place quickly; other programs can follow. Update these as soon as they are installed. Follow this with Ad-Aware SE, Spybot or Windows Defender to make sure that your system stays free of malware.

Use Device Manager to find out which of your devices need driver upgrades

Finally, restore your data or point My Documents to its new location. Somewhere on a separate drive to Windows is ideal. Right click My Documents on the Start Menu and choose Properties. Click Move and browse to the new location.

Now you can reinstall your remaining programs. Restore your backed up email using the Outlook Express Backup Wizard or Outlook’s Import feature. You will also need to enter your email account details into Outlook as these won’t have survived the reinstall. You now have a nice new shiny version of Windows that should be more responsive.

You’ll find that some Microsoft add-ons and updates will require you to validate Windows before you can use them. Microsoft is determined to ensure that its genuine customers enjoy tangible benefits compared to people using illegal copies of Windows. To this end, it has launched the Windows Genuine Advantage programme. This requires you to pass a simple Windows validation test before you can download additional Windows components and free programs developed by Microsoft. Critical updates are still provided to all without Windows Validation, as Microsoft believes that these are vital in the battle against global viruses.

Once you’ve validated your copy of Windows XP a validation key is stored on your PC, so that you can quickly access all the downloads and features that are reserved for Genuine Windows customers. Should your computer fail Windows validation, head to www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ww/windows/default.mspx for more information about how to recognise genuine Microsoft software and what to do if you think you may have been sold an illegal copy.

Fully Update
Applying updates to a new installation can be fiddly, but Autopatcher takes the strain.

1
Use AutoPatcher
Download AutoPatcher from www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=486480. Install it and browse to its executable file. Each time you launch it, you need to agree to its license. It then scans your system and identifies what’s installed and what isn’t.

2
Available updates
All available updates and system tweaks are presented to you in a list. Select one and click Module Details to find out more. Check each of the boxes next to components that you want to install. Click Update.

3
All in one
AutoPatcher now updates your system. Depending on how many updates you’ve selected and how big each of them is, the rest of the process may take a few minutes or an hour or two. The speed of your connection will also affect this time. Click Finish when you’re done.

Reinstalling Step by Step

2008-07-12T21:54:00.000+01:00

This is it! The main process of installation shown step by step

1
Boot from CD
Place your Windows XP CD into your drive before restarting your computer. If booting from CD is enabled in the BIOS, you’ll be prompted to press any key to boot from the CD. You only have a few seconds to do this, so be quick.

2
Accept the License
Having confirmed that you want to start installing Windows XP, you’ll see the full text of the End User License. Read through it, and press F8 to show that you acceptance its terms.

3
Choose a partition
The set-up program interrogates your hard disk(s) and reports the current partitions. You may have two if you had a dual boot system. You can create or delete partitions here, but the process is destructive, unlike GParted. Choose the one you want to house XP and press Enter.

4
Format Options
Now you are presented with a number of format options. Unless you have a very good reason to choose otherwise, the best option for stability and good performance is Format the partition using the NTFS file system. Choose it and press Enter.

5
Are you sure?
To double check your option, setup describes the partition you chose to format. Press F to continue. Your drive will now be wiped and you’ll start the installation of Windows XP.

6
Copy Installation Files
Once your hard drive has been formatted, all installation files are copied from the CD to the drive. This takes some time, but it means that later parts of the installation go more quickly. Your computer restarts. You see the familiar Windows XP splash screen before the installation proper takes place.

7
Regional Settings
Part way through the installation you’ll be asked to confirm the regional settings. Click Customize and set the location to the correct country and time setting. Also click Details to select the language and keyboard settings so that your keys match the characters on screen.

8
Product Key
Once you’ve entered your product key, you’ll be asked for a name for your PC. This will identify it on your home network, if you have one. The name can be up to 15 characters long. Enter your name and, optionally, that of your company. This will appear on your software declaring that it is licensed for your use

9
Networking
Finally, you’re asked to provide network details. Accept the default of Typical settings and click Next. Unless you’re on a corporate network, you don’t need to provide domain information. If you have a name for the workgroup for your home network you can supply it here.

Booting from CD

2008-07-12T21:43:00.000+01:00

You may need to enable your CD drive as a boot device in your PC’s BIOS.

For several of the tasks related to reinstalling Windows XP, you’ll need to be able to start your computer from a boot CD. Most PCs are set up to boot from CD, if there’s a bootable one in the drive by default, but sometimes this setting is overridden in the BIOS. If this is the case, your computer will continue to boot from its hard drive, starting up in Windows. To change this, you’ll need to alter your BIOS settings.

Start your computer, pressing Del repeatedly to enter the BIOS. BIOSes vary, so watch for notices during boot if this key doesn’t give you access. Once in the BIOS, search for the boot options. Modify your boot sequence so that your CD ROM drive is the first or second boot device. It must take a higher position than your hard drive or the CD will never be able to intervene during boot. Once your boot priority is set, choose to save your changes and exit. You can normally do this by pressing F10 or another designated key. When you confirm your choice your PC will restart.

If your PC won’t boot from CD, you may need to alter the BIOS settings.

The reinstall process

2008-07-12T21:25:00.000+01:00

Now the show starts in earnest.

Assuming that you haven’t set up an unattended installation, there are three main sections of the Windows installation during which input from you is needed. The first comes before any Windows files have been transferred to your hard drive. It’s concerned with setting up partitions, formatting and copying the main files to hard disk for speedier access. After a reboot, Windows begins installing. You’ll be asked to provide personal details, location and language information and your networking preferences as well as the product key during this phase. Much of the time is taken with extracting and copying files, so having a cup of tea on standby is a good idea. The final phase involves checking connectivity, product activation and registration and setting up users. Once that’s completed, you’ll have a working copy of Windows on your PC, but you’ll still need to sort out some device drivers, modify display settings and install all your software.

It’s possible to start an installation of Windows by launching the Windows CD from within Windows itself. This was really designed for upgrading from an older version of Windows and it’s not recommended because it basically installs a copy of Windows on top of itself. It will restore deleted or corrupt files, but it won’t rid you of the junk data and other problems that probably necessitated the reinstall in the first place. It’s much better to wipe the slate clean, format your Windows partition and start with a brand new fresh copy of Windows.

You can launch the installation from within Windows, but this is only recommended for upgrades.

To start the installation, you need to boot from your Windows XP CD. You may need to enable CD booting in the BIOS to achieve this. See the boxout to find out how. The set-up program interrogates your hard disk(s) and reports the current partitions. You can create or delete partitions here, but eventually you need to choose the one you want to house XP and press Enter. You are presented with a number of format options. The best option for stability and performance is Format the partition using the NTFS file system. Setup describes the partition you chose to format. Press [F] to continue. Your drive will be wiped and you’ll start the installation of Windows XP. All installation files are now copied from the CD to the drive. This takes some time, but it means that later parts of the installation go more quickly. When it’s complete, reboot your PC

When you’ve confirmed regional settings, you will need to provide your name and company. The latter field you can leave empty if this is a home PC. You can use typical network settings in practically all circumstances unless you’re an industry professional or power user, in which case you’ll know what you’re doing. Using typical settings your PC can still log onto a domain or join a workgroup, which is the most common setup for home networks. If this is your only computer, having the network settings in place won’t affect its function. If you plan to set up a simple home network later the default settings will suffice.

During your installation, you’ll be asked for the product key. This is the code that you’ll find on the back of your Windows XP folder or on the CD case if you’re installing an older version of Windows. Enter this carefully as it uniquely identifies your copy of Windows. The product key forms part of the Windows XP product activation code, along with information generated from parts of your computer hardware. If your installation is an upgrade version of Windows, you’ll need to prove that you own the earlier version of Windows that you’re upgrading from. You may be prompted to insert a CD or browse to installation files of the earlier version.

You’ll find your product key on your CD box or stuck to the outside of your computer.

During the last stages of installation for Windows XP, you’ll be asked for an administrator password. This protects the main PC settings. If you share your PC, you may want to keep this secure if you don’t want other people altering key system settings.

It’s rare for an installation to completely fail, but if it does, Windows creates text log files for you to investigate the cause. Assuming you are able to access the hard drive, check through the Windows directory for Setuplog.txt and Setupapi.log. You can open these using any text editor, like notepad. You may need to save the files to a floppy disk and take them to another computer to view them. Look for components that did not install correctly. These will give you a clue as to where the installation failed and how you can ensure it doesn’t happen next time you try. Get to a PC that’s got a working internet connection and go to http://support.microsoft.com. Browse the Microsoft knowledge base for the version of Windows that you are installing and enter any error message you found into the search bar.

Use the installation log files to help you trace any faults in the install process.

The most common problems with installing Windows relate to lost data or the inability to get devices up and running again due to not backing up correctly. If you have a drive image taken, this shouldn’t be a problem and on the next spread we’ll see how you can restore it.

No Windows CD?

2008-07-12T20:47:00.000+01:00

Did your computer come with just a recovery disc? Make your own installation CD

Download the BCD full package from Nu2 productions website. You’ll find the file at www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=bcd111.zip. Make a new folder on your C drive at C:\BCD and extract the contents of the zip file here. Now go to http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?wnaspi32 and download the Nero Aspi Library - this enables BCD to burn your Windows CD. Save the file wnaspi32.dll to a new folder called bin within the BCD directory, i.e. C:\BCD\bin\wnaspi32.dll. Download the small wxp10.zip file from www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=wxp10.zip and extract it to C:\BCD.

You now need to find the i386 folder that contains your Windows installation files. This may be on your recovery disc or somewhere on your hard drive. Copy it to c:\bcd\cds\wxphome\files\ if you’re using Windows XP Home Edition and c:\bcd\cds\wxppro\files\ if using the professional edition.

You’re now ready to burn your disc. Put a blank CD into your drive and launch a command prompt by choosing Start > Run and typing cmd into the Open bar. Click OK. At the Command prompt type cd c:\bcd and press enter. The next command depends on whether you have Home or Professional edition. For Home, type bcd wxphome and for pro type bcd wxppro. Press enter and wait for your disc to be burnt.

Test your new install CD by restarting your computer and booting from it. If it has been made correctly, the CD should be bootable. Stop the installation before it makes changes to your system. To create an install disc including drivers and applications see www.supportpcs.co.uk/installcd/winxp.html.

Copy your windows files to C:\BCD\cds\wxphome\files or C:\BCD\cds\wxppro\files depending on the flavour of Windows XP you have.

Slipstreaming, the easy way

2008-07-11T21:14:00.000+01:00

Autostreamer provides a simpler method of creating a slipstreamed install disc.

Remember that if your Windows CD is less than a couple of years old, you won’t have to worry about slipstreaming because SP-2 will already be included on the disc. But you can opt to include SP-3 via slipstreaming. However, if your computer was installed before the service pack was released, you’ll save some time by slipstreaming. Launch AutoStreamer, and choose I want to use my original Windows CD. Select I want to manually customize my installation and click Next. Your XP CD should be automatically identified, so click the magnifying glass icon next to the Service Pack file box and browse to the SP2 file on your hard drive.

AutoStreamer will take a minute or two to recognise the SP2 file. When it’s done click Next. You’ll be asked to specify where to save the resulting ISO image - which will be around 550MB in size - on your hard disk. Give your ISO file a memorable name like xphome_sp2.iso. Click Next and AutoStreamer copies your XP files to the $AutoStreamer$ folder on your C drive. It then slipstreams SP2 into these files and then pause so you can create the winnt.sif file.

AutoStreamer provides a simpler way to slipstream service packs into your Windows CD.

Modify Your Install CD

2008-07-11T21:09:00.000+01:00

You can make installing Windows much easier by customising your Windows CD

In some cases, a full reinstallation simply isn’t possible because you don’t have the Windows CD. Many mass produced PCs don’t come with an installation CD containing a full copy of Windows. The hard drives on identical PCs are simply cloned. They include a partition that contains an image of the C drive, from which you can restore your version of Windows. In some respects this is easier than reinstalling from scratch, because you don’t have to track down all your drivers. However, not having a Windows CD does have disadvantages, especially if you don’t have all the Windows components installed, because you can’t add new ones without a Windows CD.

A recovery disc enables you to return your computer to the state that it was in when it shipped from the manufacturer. This includes any extras that were bundled in. Some of these may be useful, but many are included as a hook to get you to subscribe to a set of updates or to ally you to a particular brand of software. Some of these aren’t very helpful. It’s possible to create your own disc using your recovery files and some other clever software. The boxout explains how to achieve this and tells you where you can get the other software from.

The Windows end user licence agreement does permit you to store a copy of the software on a storage device, which is what your new install CD will be. This means that it’s OK to make an install CD for reinstalling Windows on the same computer, but doing so to install it on a different PC is a big no-no. Microsoft would spot multiple activations on different hardware and you could end up without a working copy of Windows as a result.

If your PC is fairly old and you have a Windows installation CD, it may not include the Service Pack 2 files. Service Pack 2 was a major update to Windows XP released in 2004 which updated security and provided some additional features. You can install Windows using your existing CD and then apply SP-2 along with all the other Windows Updates after the install, but, even with a fast broadband connection, this can take some time, as the files involved are large. To make sure that you don’t need to download SP-2 more than once, you could opt to slipstream it into your Windows installation CD. This creates a new install disc that includes your old Windows installation files and the service pack. You can do this manually or by using a program called AutoStreamer, which you can download from http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=223562.

If you want to try the manual method, you’ll need to copy your Windows XP install files. To do this you’ll need to use a program called ISO Buster, which you can get from www.smart-projects.net/isobuster . This enables you to extract the files from your CD directly to a folder on your hard drive. The trial version is enough for what we want to do. When you install it , opt to use Free functions only. Now Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD drive. When it auto starts, opt to exit the Welcome screen. Now open your C drive, right click anywhere and choose New, Folder. Call it winxpcd Now choose Start, All Programs, Smart Projects, ISO Buster, ISO Buster. Select your Windows CD in your CD drive. Expand the file tree until you can see the ISO image, which should be called WXPVOL_EN. Select it and then select all the files in the right hand pane. Right click your selected files and choose Extract Objects and browse to the winxpcd folder that you created earlier. Click OK and wait as the CD files are extracted and saved to your hard drive.

Use ISO Buster to extract your Windows installation files from your Windows CD

Once ISO Buster has extracted your CD files, you’ll also need to get it to recover the boot CD image file. Open the disc in ISO Buster and select Bootable CD. Now double click Microsoft Corporation.img in the right hand pane and opt to extract it to the root of your C drive, C:\. Without the Microsoft Corporation.img file you won’t manage to recreate a fully bootable Windows CD.

To make your slipstreamed CD bootable, you need to include the Microsoft Corporation.img file

To combine the service pack files with those of your Windows CD, you need to use a command line instruction which takes the form [filepath and name of service pack file] -s:[location of Windows XP CD folder]. Hence, if you put the SP-2 network installation file in the root of your C drive and rename it sp2.exe and place the Windows XP CD files in a folder at C:\winxpcd, the command should read c:\sp2.exe -s:c:\winxpcd. Putting the relevant files close to or in the root of your C drive reduces the complexity of the command that you have to type. You can always move or delete the files once you’ve successfully written your new Windows CD.

By slipstreaming Sp-2 into your installation files, you can save time after the install.

A further tweak you can make to your Windows CD is setting up an unattended installation. This stops you from having to make the various selections during an installation; you can just leave your computer to get on with it. To do this, you need to download the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Deployment Tools from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3E90DC91-AC56-4665-949B-BEDA3080E0F6&displaylang=en. Open the Downloaded CAB file and extract these two files to your desktop: ref.chm and setupmgr.exe. Follow the walkthrough to complete the process.

Automated Installation
Use Set up manager to create an answers file to automatically install Windows XP.

1
Double click setupmgr.exe to launch the wizard. Choose Create New, followed by Unattended setup. You may need to choose your version of Windows XP as Professional edition is the default setting. Opt for a Fully automated installation and click Next.

2
In the Distribution Share screen, choose Set up from a CD. Now work your way through the installation questions as if you were installing Windows XP. Review your choices and click Finish. Save the resulting file to the desktop and call it Winnt. Exit Setup Manager. You now have two files Winnt.sif and winnt.bat on the desktop.

3
Open winnt.sif in Notepad and scroll down to the section marked [data]. Change the value of Autopartition from 1 to 0, so it reads Autopartition=0 and resave the file. You can now incorporate these files into the root of a new Windows XP CD. To install Windows, run winnt.bat on the CD from a command prompt.

More Backup

2008-06-15T21:52:00.000+01:00

Partition your drive and take an image

We can’t overstate the value of your data. In most cases it’s worth more than your computer itself. Once you wipe your C drive there’s no going back, so it’s worth double checking that you have everything you need backed up.

If you only have one hard drive, you can improve the backup capabilities of your computer by partitioning it. You can do this with GParted, a non-destructive partitioning utility which you can get from http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php. This is an ISO image of a live CD which you can use to boot your PC so you can do the partitioning outside Windows itself. The walkthrough shows how to resize an existing partition and make a new one for back ups.

Partition using GParted
Change a single partition system into one with two separate logical drives using GParted.

1
Boot from CD
Once you’ve burnt the GParted ISO file to a CD and set your computer to boot from the CD drive, restart your PC with the disc in place and press enter at the Boot prompt. You will need to specify the language used, screen resolution and colour depth before the program launches.

2
Resize partition
Select your existing partition and choose Partition, Resize/Move. Click and drag the partition to the new size that you want, bearing in mind that yellow area denotes used space. You can’t make a partition smaller than the data it contains. Click Resize to return to the main screen.

3
Create a new partition
Select the unpartitioned area and choose Partition, New. Opt to create an extended partition to include the rest of the disk space. Click Add. Now select this partition, choose Partition, New and opt for an NTFS logical partition to fill this space. Choose Edit, Apply to complete all your operations.

Drive backup
A full backup of your Windows drive or partition is always a good idea. Use a drive imaging program Drive Image XML to create one. See the walkthrough for details. The box out demonstrates how to make a recovery disc which you can use should you need to completely restore one of your images. If you have multiple hard drives or partitions, you’ll find that taking an image of your drive shouldn’t take much longer than half an hour or so. A backup to CD or DVD is handy, although it may take a little longer, especially if you need to change discs often.

Create a drive image
Use Drive Image XML to back up your Windows XP drive.

1
Start Drive Image XML
Browse to http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm , scroll down and download DriveImage XML V1.18. The executable installation file is 1.6MB in size. Install and launch Drive Image XML. Once in the program, choose Backup.

2
Select a drive
Select the drive you want to back up, which in most cases will be drive C. Click Next to launch the backup wizard. Select the location where you want to save your backup files to. This should be a separate partition. Choose Split large files to ensure that no file is larger than a CDR.

3
Back it up
Click Next. The program ruins in the background, imaging your hard drive. It provides an estimate of when it will be complete. The final backup files include an XML file and one or more data files. You can opt to burn these to CD or DVD to keep them safe.

Make a recovery disc
This builds a basic Bart PE recovery disc for restoring drive images.

Start by downloading PEBuilder from www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=pebuilder3110a.exe. Install the program in the usual way. Put your Windows XP CD into your CD drive, browse to My Computer, right click this drive and choose Explore. Copy the i386 folder to the root of your C drive. PEBuilder will use these files to create the basic disc. If you want to make a full functioning rescue disc that includes your drivers, service packs and other useful tools, you can find full instructions at www.supportpcs.co.uk/bartpe.

You also need the drive image software to restore a backup. Browse to www.runtime.org/peb.htm and select the DriveImage XML V1.18 plugin. Save the CAB file to a useful location.

Launch PEBuilder and set the source path to C:\. For the Media output, select Burn to CD/DVD and opt to auto erase RW. Click Plugins > Add and browse to the CAB file that you downloaded for Drive Image XML. Click Open, followed by Close. To create your BartPE recovery disc, click Build. This generates the CD image and then burns it to your disc. Test this disc by restarting your PC and booting from it. You should now be able to use the preinstallation environment and launch Drive Image XML.

Use PEBuilder to make a recovery disc so you can restore your backup images.

Backup and Prepare

2008-06-07T09:54:00.000+01:00

When reinstalling Windows, Preparation goes a long way.

Just like painting a room, the success or failure of reinstalling Windows XP depends on the preparation you put in. If you have properly backed up your settings and ensured you know where all your driver discs are, you’ll avoid headaches later on. There are several other tricks to employ to ensure that you lose none of your important data. Ensure that you either have your ISP's installation disc or you have a note of the telephone number and your account details, because getting online will be a priority once you’ve reinstalled. It’s all too easy to overlook the importance of your email messages, within which we often temporarily store quite a lot of data, so make sure you back these up too.

The easiest way to back up Outlook Express is by using a nifty bit of third party software. Try out the Outlook Express backup wizard. Outlook-Express-Backup.Com - download a handy utility to backup your Outlook Express emails and settings. Should you want to use the program for longer, the charge is $39.95 (around £21). See the annotation to find out its features. If you don’t fancy spending money on backing up Outlook Express email and you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, there is another way. First make hidden files visible by Choosing Start, My Computer, Tools, Folder Options, View, Show hidden files and folders.

Now click OK and browse to C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Identities\[security identifier]. [username] is your Windows XP account name and [security identifier] is a string of numbers and letters in curly brackets. Copy the Inbox file to a different location.

At a glance:
Outlook Express Backup Wizard

1 Identities
Outlook Express can handle multiple identities within the same Windows account. If there is more than one set up, select the one you want to back up here.
2 Items
The important box to tick here is Email/News messages. These are what you will want to archive. Other items here belong in a backup.
3 Backup Wizard
Once installed, the Outlook Express Backup Wizard can be launched from the Start menu. Work through it just like any other wizard.
4 Backup Items
Here you can optionally back up your account configuration, address book, rules, blocked senders and signatures.
5 Save Archive
Click Next here to move on and specify the file name and location for your archive. You may want to subsequently burn this file to CD.

Drive Backup
A full backup of your Windows drive or partition is always a good idea. Use a drive imaging program like Norton Ghost for an exact copy of things as they are. If you have multiple hard drives or partitions, you’ll find that taking an image of your drive shouldn’t take much longer than half an hour or so. A backup to CD or DVD is handy, although it may take a little longer, especially if you need to change discs often.

In some cases, a full reinstallation simply isn’t possible because you don’t have the Windows CD. Many mass produced PCs don’t come with an installation CD containing a full copy of Windows. The hard drives on identical PCs are simply cloned. They include a partition that contains an image of the C drive, from which you can restore your version of Windows. In some respects this is easier than reinstalling from scratch, because you don’t have to track down all your drivers. However, not having a Windows CD does have disadvantages, especially if you don’t have all the Windows components installed, because you can’t add new ones without a Windows CD. If you want to reinstall Windows from a restore disc, check out the guide here.

Once you wipe your C drive there’s no going back, so it’s worth double checking that you have everything you need backed up elsewhere. Backing up your documents should be no more complicated than burning a copy of the contents of your My Documents folder to CD. However, if you haven’t already done so, consider moving My Documents to a different drive or partition to your Windows drive. Select Start and then right click My Documents, choosing Properties. Press the Move button and browse to the new drive. Sitting away from the Windows drive, your documents will survive a format and reinstall, although it would be a good idea to have a separate backup, just in case.

Don’t forget your Internet Explorer Favourites. To back them up, choose File, Import and Export, click Next and select Export Favourites. Now select your main Favourites folder and provide a backup location. Click Next and Finish. Keen gamers will want to make sure their saved games files survive a reinstall or clean up session. The best way to accomplish this is to move your saved game files into My Documents before backing that folder up.

Backing up Drivers
DriverMax makes short work of storing your drivers

So much for your important files. However drivers are just as important to preserve. Tracking down the right driver for an obscure piece of equipment can be a long and tedious job, so make a backup. Install DriverMax from Innovative Solutions. This is a free program, but it comes as a 30 day trial, after which you’ll need to go through the free registration process. This is simply a matter of providing a valid email address and you’ll get a registration code sent to this address. When you launch the program click Export Drivers, followed by Next. Driver Max then examines your system and locates all the drivers present. To back them up click Select all, followed by Next. Now provide a folder location for the backed up driver files and click Next once more. Depending on how many devices you have, they should be backed up in a matter of minutes.

Reinstall Windows

2005-07-11T21:04:00.000+01:00

Time to grasp the Nettle. Use our hints and tips to smooth your way through the process.

Don’t try to install Windows on top of itself. While it works, the only way you’ll be sure to get a stable system that behaves in a predictable manner is to format your Windows partition and start afresh. For Windows 9x and ME this will mean rebooting using a Windows start up disk. Once at the Dos Prompt, type Format C: (Where C is the Windows partition). When the format is complete, run the setup file from your Windows Setup folder in your still intact data partition. For Windows XP, boot from the installation CD.

Batch 98

When you come to install, using batch 98, you’ll need to start your computer using a Windows startup disk. Then change dive to your data partition’s drive letter, in most cases D by typing D: or similar. Change directory to the Windows setup folder, using cd\window~1, as DOS will truncate your directory name. If this doesn’t work use DIR to see a list of your directories. Once in your Windows Setup directory type setup.exe msbatch.inf. This will start the installation, using the batch file

Regional settings

Don’t forget to set your regional settings and keyboard layout. If you get these wrong, you can end up with keys that don’t bring up the characters they should (often “ and @ are reversed, if you’ve selected a US keyboard). These aren’t set to UK English and English (British) by default, so avoid working in dollars instead of pounds and set them appropriately. If you are using Batch 98, check these settings have been picked up properly.

Copy setup files to hard drive

Windows XP will let you copy all the setup files to your hard drive. Tick the right box to ensure this happens, as it will speed up the installation no end. You can achieve the same speed increase by copying the setup files for other versions of Windows before the installation, as we described earlier.

Download updates for XP

Windows XP will connect to the Internet and download updated setup files during installation. This can take some time, but it is well worth the effort, as your installation will have the most up to date, signed drivers available.

Make a Start Up Disk

If you are lacking a start up disk to perform a clean Windows 98 or ME installation, don’t despair. Pop a formatted disk into your floppy drive and go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Choose the Startup Disk tab and click on Create Disk.

Enable boot from CD in BIOS

When starting afresh with a Windows XP CD, make sure you can boot from CD. Enter your computer’s BIOS (Basic Input Output Settings) by pressing Esc, or the key combination your computer uses during boot. You can see the key(s) needed during start up. Once in your BIOS, look for the boot sequence entry. Ideally, this should be set to try the floppy drive first, then the CD drive and finally your hard disk. Exit, saving your changes.

First XP Install?

If you’re taking the opportunity to install Windows XP as part of your perfect PC set up and you previously ran an older version of Windows, be aware that you may run into hardware difficulties. Devices that worked well under Windows 9x may not function properly under Windows XP. The XP setup program will try to install all of your devices, using the most appropriate driver available to it. In some, albeit rare cases, the driver used may not be suitable, and you’ll need to alter it after installation (see Manually Installing Drivers). In even rarer cases, the incompatible hardware may cause the setup program to crash. This has happened in the case of some video cards. If it does, replace the device and try again. You can find a list of compatible hardware at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/default.asp.

Run Upgrade advisor

The easiest way to check your system over for Windows XP compatibility is to run Upgrade advisor. Insert your windows XP CD and when it auto runs, choose Check System Compatibility. The program will connect to the internet to get the most up to date information, then it interrogates your computer, checking hardware, software and disk space. It gives a detailed report when it’s finished, which you can print out, giving you a checklist of blocking issues or things you need to do to ensure a smooth installation.

Check the logs

If the worst happens, and your installation fails, Windows creates text files that log the installation. Assuming you are able to access the hard drive, using DOS or another version of Windows, check through the Windows directory for Setuplog.txt and Setupapi.log. You can open these using any text editor, like notepad. You may need to save the files to a floppy disk and take them to another computer to view them. Look for components that did not install correctly. These will give you a clue as to where the installation failed and how you can ensure it doesn’t happen next time you try.

File system for Windows XP

The Windows XP setup program lets you choose whether to use the FAT32 or NTFS filing system for your Windows XP partition. For benefits of NTFS, see Partitions and Chewing The FAT on page XX. If Windows XP is your only operating system, its best to choose to format your Windows partition using the NTFS system. If you are setting up a dual booting system with both Windows XP and an earlier Windows, choose FAT32, if you want to be able to see your Windows XP partition from you other Windows. NTFS partitions cannot be read by Windows 9x and ME.

Dual booting

Which brings us to the option of dual booting. Windows XP will happily install itself alongside another version of Windows, giving you the option to choose which OS you boot into at start up. If this is the way you’d like to go, make sure you set up some space on your hard drive when you partition it, so you have partitions for your older Windows and for XP as well as your data partition. Also, if you want to install both Windows XP and 9x/ME as clean installations, make sure you install Windows 9x/ME first. Windows XP makes installing a dual boot easy. It is not easy to set up dual booting when you install an older version of Windows. However, Acronis OS selector can save the day if you have got your set up wrong. Simply re-install Acronis and it should sort you out.

Unforeseen problems

If you’ve still run into difficulty with your installation, get yourself to a PC that’s got a working internet connection and go to http://support.microsoft.com. This is the Microsoft knowledge base, which allows you to search through all known problems and their solutions. Select the version of Windows that you are installing and enter the error message into the search bar. If you don’t have an error message or didn’t make a note of it, try to summarise the problem into a few key words.

Installing Drivers Manually

Windows XP installs most drivers automatically, but here’s what to do if things don’t work out.

Go to Control Panel, Printers and other hardware and choose Add Hardware from the See Also pane. Answer yes to Is the hardware connected? Click Next.

Windows XP then lists the detected hardware on your computer. If your hardware is not listed, you need to get Windows XP to detect it. Try reconnecting your device.

Any listed components that do not have drivers installed will have yellow exclamation marks by them. Double click the device in question. Click Finish to start the hardware troubleshooter.

Put your driver CD into its drive and click Next to get Windows to automatically search for the driver. If the search fails, click Back and browse to your driver’s location.

If your driver is in your drivers folder on your data partition, enter its path here. Windows will warn you if the driver is unsigned. Once found, Windows will install your driver.

If it still can’t find a suitable driver, Windows XP will connect to the Windows Update Website to search. If this search fails, you’ll need to go to your manufacturer’s website and manually download it before repeating the process.

Ghost your perfect PC Setup

2005-01-01T19:40:00.002Z

Take a snapshot of your PC now you’ve got it just the way you like it

Having reinstalled Windows, restored your programs and tweaked your settings so everything is just so, we now need to find a way of keeping things this way. Ideally, you need a snapshot of your hard drive as it is now, so you can get it back to this state at a later date. Both Windows ME and XP sport the System Restore facility, which allows you to roll your system back in time to a point when it was functioning well. This is invaluable, but won’t replace the need for a backup image of your Windows partition. If system Restore were to fail, it’s useful to have another option. Also, System Restore enables you to undo any restore operation, which, while handy, does mean that rather a lot of data needs to be stored as both backup and prior-to-backup images need a home somewhere. That place is your hard drive, and it could get a little inconvenient if space is at a premium.

Having said that, there’s no point in ignoring a useful feature, so set a restore point once you’ve got your system as stable as you can. To set a restore point, launch System Restore, via the Help and support centre in Windows XP (Accessories, System tools in ME) and choose to Create a restore point. This will set a marker at this date and time and let system restore return here in future. Going back to a previous restore point is easy. Just choose Restore my computer to an earlier time, then select the restore point from the dates that appear in bold on the calendar that is shown.

However, System Restore won’t bring Windows back from the grave. For this job, you need to be able to take a complete copy of your Windows partition. Acronis OS selector lets you copy complete partitions. You will need some free, un-partitioned drive space for this to work. The copy is seen by windows as a new drive, so put it after your data partition. See our walkthrough below on how to achieve this copy. Restoring Windows will involve deleting your windows partition in Acronis OS selector and then copying your backup partition to the old Windows partition’s location.

Acronis has its disadvantages, however. Your back up takes up exactly the same amount of space as your original Windows Partition. To compress your image, use Norton Ghost 2002. This excellent program is widely available. Like Acronis, it runs from its own boot disk, but it allows compressed images and will support burning images to CD rewriters. This is a boon, as your back up is then protected against hard drive failure.

Back it up

Use Acronis OS selector to back up your Windows Partition

Boot into Acronis OS selector. Choose Disk Administrator. Now select your Windows partition and click on the Copy Partition Icon. Select some free disk space to copy this to.

Click OK. Ensure the file system is correct and click OK again. You will be returned to the Disk Administrator Screen. Click on the checked flag icon to commit the operation.

Your Windows partition is copied. This creates a new partition that is visible by Windows which changes your drive letters. Try to place your partition after your data partition.