Clean Install on Windows XP

On 12/13/2010 09:16 PM, Peter Foldes wrote:
> "Alias" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ie5pdi$gg7$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On 12/13/2010 07:19 PM, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>>> On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:35:39 +0000, choro<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>>
>
>>>>> Not true. If XP and the programs are on the C partition and the
>>>>> data is
>>>>> on the D partition, installing XP on the C partition will not wipe
>>>>> the D
>>>>> partition clean. That said, backing up data is always the prudent
>>>>> thing
>>>>> to do
>
>
>> NO, you didn't.
>
> Alias
>
> LOL. It was Ken. You are far from using words like "prudent thing to do"
> He wrote that before and yes, Ken wrote that paragraph and not for the
> first time either

Must be something wrong with your newsreader. I am fully aware of what
"prudent" means have used it plenty of times.

--
Alias

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence

"Alias" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ie5v3t$jbk$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Must be something wrong with your newsreader. I am fully aware of what
> "prudent" means have used it plenty of times.
>
> --
> Alias

The word comes from Old French prudence (13th century), from Latin prudentia
(foresight, sagacity), a contraction of providentia, foresight. It is often
associated with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. In this case, the virtue is
the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a
general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and
place. Although prudence itself does not perform any actions, and is
concerned solely with knowledge, all virtues had to be regulated by it.
Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as opposed to reckless or cowardly,
for instance, is an act of prudence, and for this reason it is classified as
a cardinal (pivotal) virtue.

Hmm in here in the 21 century we use Info!

On 13/12/2010 18:19, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:35:39 +0000, choro<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On 13/12/2010 12:23, Alias wrote:
>>> On 12/13/2010 01:21 PM, choro wrote:
>>>> Oh, my God! You did what? In Windows a clean install wipes the slate
>>>> clean, personal documents and all. Nothing remains!
>>>>
>>>> choro
>>>
>>> Not true. If XP and the programs are on the C partition and the data is
>>> on the D partition, installing XP on the C partition will not wipe the D
>>> partition clean. That said, backing up data is always the prudent thing
>>> to do.
>>
>> But of course! I would have thought that would be taken for granted!
>
>
> Note that although your attribution was to Alias, *I* wrote the
> paragraph above you quoted.
>
> My view is that next to nothing on forums or newsgroups should be
> taken for granted. Some people here know a lot, others know next to
> nothing, so telling them the obvious things is often very valuable to
> them.
>
>
>> But
>> how many computer users configure their their computers to save user
>> documents either to a separate disk or partition.
>
>
> Some, but as you suggest, most do not. Most do not have a separate
> disk or partition.
>
>
>> And as far as backing up user files is concerned, it is NOT good enough
>> back up user files to another partition on the same disk but to a second
>> hard drive or a partition on a second hard disk.
>
>
> I am very much against backing up to a second internal drive because
> it leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of the original and
> backup to many of the most common dangers: severe power glitches,
> nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, user errors, even theft of
> the computer.
>
> However, in this case, if the backup is only meant to be kept for the
> duration of the clean installation (which I do *not* recommend), it
> would be OK.
>
>
>> And better still also
>> save them to an external hard drive too.
>
>
> I completely agree, except for the word "also" in that sentence.
>
>
>
>> Just think what would happen if user files are saved onto a different
>> partition on the same hard disk and the HD gives up the ghost! You've
>> lost everything then unless you can afford to have your stuff
>> professionally recovered from the failed HD's platter. And that would be
>> a very, very expensive operation indeed.
>
>
> Yes. And also note that professional recovery may or may not work. It
> is far from being always successful.
>
> You might want to read my thoughts on backup in this article I've
> written: http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314

Had a look at that web page of yours. Nice. Well done! Actually I
personally use the xcopy command to make incremental backups of my user
files. I find it extremely handy. xxcopy is a more advanced version of
xcopy but more complex.

xcopy can be used to copy all files in a particular directory as well as
its sub-directories OR it can with a slight modification of the
switches, be used to make incremental backups or rather copies of the
user files. And the good thing is that it actually copies the files
rather than doing a one-file backup of the whole directory and its
sub-directories.

Recently built myself another desktop with the W7 O/S. I am happy to see
W7 continue supporting those lovely and simple DOS commands.

But one thing I didn't mention is the importance of periodically copying
all user files also onto CD or DVD. External hard drives can also be
prone to going kaput for all sorts of reasons.
--
choro
*****

In article <ie522m$d4h$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Alias <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 12/13/2010 12:43 PM, John wrote:
> > Would doing a clean install touch personal data on Windows? I am not
> > sure and have given out technical advice to others using the mac defs.
> > On a Mac a clean install would just create a new system folder but would
> > not touch personal documents. I told a user having problems to do a
> > clean install and not to backup her documents. Perhaps I gave you left
> > field advice.
> >
> >
> > John
>
> A clean install will delete *everything* you have on your computer right
> now unless you have your data on a separate partition. In any even, back
> up is a computer user's best friend and you should back up your
> important data regularly as your hard drive will die some day. All your
> programs will have to be reinstalled.

thanks
--
Are there errors in the Bible? Is Jesus Christ God?
After death whats on the other side? If you want to
learn, get answers, and be able to defend the faith,
CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info

In article <ie5t0o$aat$(E-Mail Removed)>,
"MyNews" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> John
> Get a News 130 GB HDD if you have a 130 gb go bigger!
> And Make Two partition's
> First one partition for your XP, in NTFS format
> The Sec. one 10Gb partition in Fat32 it for your Back up file!
>
> Copy entire hard drives only those areas partitions on the destination
> drive.
> Remove the Old HDD and put it in the New HDD Box and put it away for safe
> Keeping
> Boot the new Hdd
> backup her documents On D:>
> And do a clean install OF that XP
> is the right way of do it ........
>
>

Thanks
--
Are there errors in the Bible? Is Jesus Christ God?
After death whats on the other side? If you want to
learn, get answers, and be able to defend the faith,
CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info

"John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:jwolf6589-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Would doing a clean install touch personal data on Windows? I am not
> sure and have given out technical advice to others using the mac defs.
> On a Mac a clean install would just create a new system folder but would
> not touch personal documents. I told a user having problems to do a
> clean install and not to backup her documents. Perhaps I gave you left
> field advice.
>
>
> John
>


Yep

a clean install will wipre out *everyting* on the drive
you probably meant "repair install"

Google for help if you need instructions on how to perform one

We Know you need to read all the thread!

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:43:05 +0000, choro <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 13/12/2010 18:19, Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> > On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:35:39 +0000, choro<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >

> > You might want to read my thoughts on backup in this article I've
> > written: http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
>
> Had a look at that web page of yours. Nice. Well done!


Thanks for the kind words.



> But one thing I didn't mention is the importance of periodically copying
> all user files also onto CD or DVD. External hard drives can also be
> prone to going kaput for all sorts of reasons.


Yes. I don't go into details about that in my article, but I do say
"Even better than a single external drive is having two or more such
drives, and using them alternately. With a single drive, every time
you do a full backup, you also destroy your only backup by overwriting
it. That leaves you vulnerable to a problem occurring while the backup
is in progress. Alternating between two backup drives overcomes that
problem. And you can go back one or more generations of data if you
need to restore. Not every home user needs that extra layer of
protection (and extra cost), but almost every business does."


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Performing a clean install will wipe everything. Quickly, tell your friend to backup her documents.

I know you've already received your replies, but I'll go ahead anyway. If you do a clean install with Windows, it will wipe everything completely. Keep in mind, that's a good thing: unlike Macs, if you have a troublesome file (virus, spyware, malware, etc), you can just backup your data and do a clean wipe, effectively destroying said troublesome file. With that being said, if a user keeps their data on a separate partition (or separate drive for that matter) from their OS partition, then doing a clean install won't harm the files. But, for the average computer user, they probably don't even know what a partition is, so this is unlikely. Always, no matter the circumstance, whether you're using a Mac, PC, or GNU/Linux, back up your data to an external drive...critical errors and the sort have a funny thing about them in that they seem to appear at the most inconvenient of times. :-)