How to avoid a complete fresh reinstall of Windows

[DirtyRatStudios]

Seeing the various messages about PCs freezing up and Windows having to be reinstalled, I wonder why more people don't use Norton Ghost or the free equivalents?

Make an image of your PC when it's running well, then you can restore it in a few minutes if Windows messes up. This software has saved me weeks of reinstall time over the last ten years.

I partition my main drive as c, d and e. As much software as possible is installed on partition d, which keeps c small. When I make a ghost image I can write it to one of the two other partitions: c goes on d or e, d goes on c or e.

If the worst happens and you are unable to boot windows then you can use the recovery disc or just do a basic installation of windows and Ghost and then restore your saved image over it.

I haven't tried it, but this free equivalent seems well regarded:

http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

[abostonboy]

For me, Norton is usually 1/2 my problem. I would rather have a virus than Norton.

[rawTOP]

Avoid reinstalls of Windows... Use a Mac!

:D

[DirtyRatStudios]

For me, Norton is usually 1/2 my problem. I would rather have a virus than Norton.

Aren't you referring to Norton Anti-Virus, which is completely different software to Ghost?

I use Norton Ghost 2003 and have never had a single issue with it ever.

[DirtyRatStudios]

Avoid reinstalls of Windows... Use a Mac!

:D

Unfortunately a MAC lacks all the free video software that I use. The same applies to Linux.

[Nicedreams]

Well, my windows install lasted almost 5 years. I'm actually almost glad it happened to me, now its all fast and like I have a new comp again. And I lost no data or settings in my programs. Woohoo. Just a few days of stress and thinking I lost everything to my last backup which was 45 days ago. Ugh. I now have my computer backing up every day.

Jimmy

[DirtyRatStudios]

Well, my windows install lasted almost 5 years. I'm actually almost glad it happened to me, now its all fast and like I have a new comp again.

Well you could have it fast like that all the time if you used Ghost ;-) Just restore the image every couple of months.

If I get a new PC I install Windows, make an image, then install all my software and make another. Then now and again I make another image. That way I can choose which one I want to go back to. It takes ten minutes.

[InsaneSimon]

When I used to work at school (work for free :D) we used Norton Ghost to speed up OS + software installations. We had 8-9 HDs with different kind of setup for every lab.

To be honest I've never liked this system. In fact, as usual, I was right. We noticed that the systems with an installation from Ghost HD had a shorter life than system with a regular installation. In this case life means the time before a system becomes heavy and unstable.

If you're using Ghost don't try to upgrade your hardware. Windows is a bitch. We had to do about 300 new installations in ONE DAY due to a big computer update.

[Nicedreams]

I used Ghost a few years ago and did not like it. I'm sticking to using windows backup.

Jimmy

[DirtyRatStudios]

I don't see why an installation from an image would have a shorter life? It completely replaces the whole partition with a mirror image of whatever was saved?

If you're installing new hardware such as a motherboard then yes you may end up having to do a completely fresh reinstall of Windows. But that would be the case anyway.

The point is, using Ghost, it takes ten minutes to put back a mirror image of a Windows installion. That could be an image of a brand new Windows install or a mature installation. GayDemon mentioned it took him four days to get his PC back to normal after a Windows problem. Four days versus ten minutes... Even if you end up putting back the Ghost image every three months, it is still a massive time-saving.

I've been working this way for years.

[RottenRay]

Folks, if you run Windows, there is no way you can avoid reinstalling it from time to time - unless you never install new software, never install a new card or two...

Best thing to do is install Win on a drive you can dedicate for use only for Windows. Whether it's a separate physical drive, or just a partition.

Keep (or move) all your resources onto a separate drive - your Outlook files, et cetera.

That lets you format or repair your C:\ drive without worry.


I've used this scheme since 2002, and I format C:\ quarterly just to make sure nothing is lurking that might discover and distribute my banking info or email addresses.



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