Re: Reformat harddrive then create and image of it

"Discoduck" <fornewsgroups@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On May 27, 6:28 pm, "Anna" <myn...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Discoduck" <fornewsgro...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

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On May 27, 5:32 pm, Discoduck <fornewsgro...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

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I read a terrific idea, online. That is after reformatting your hard
drive, reinstall XP, and after it is finished updating the operating
system, CREATE an IMAGE of your hard drive so that the next time you
do this, it sint NEARLY as long a process. Excellent idea.
But it did not elaborate on HOW to do this. How would you do this?

I should be a little more specific. I think it is easy to create an
image of the hard drive (to an external). But how would you mount
that image BACK onto your hard drive, given in theory the operating
system and the program used to create the image, will be wiped clean
through formatting?

Discoduck:
The disk-imaging program, e.g., Acronis True Image, allows one to create a
"Startup Disk" - in effect a bootable CD that contains the disk-imaging
program. So the user would use that media in the situation you referred
to.
Anna

I see.
So I would have to do something like this (assuming back up of data
already done)
1) Format hard drive
2) reinstall XP, driver and all updates (any software I choose (ie
office))
3) install True image
4) Create image using True Image (on DVD or to external).

The should do it, right? Then when I choose to reformat again, I can
simply:
1) reformat hard drive
2) insert bootable DVD (create by True image) or attach external hard
drive with back up image?

On track (ish)?

------------

If you use the NTFS file system, XP install will create and format such a
partition for you. No separate user interaction specifically formatting
such a partition is needed. Will do FAT32, but, limited to 32GB in size.

No formatting is needed. Its a waste of time. The restoration will wipe
the old partition, and create a new one ready to use.

The boot CD with the imaging software and the media with the image file are
both needed for restoration of the windows partiton.
--
Dave


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: 2nd Hard disk missing
    ... Simplest solution is to just delete the partition, ... repartition, and reformat. ... anything BUT partitioning and formatting. ... And for such small hard drives, it's a short, sweet, simple, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: New HD and with new WIN XP installation ?
    ... >program wanting to reformat the harddrive? ... >partitioning and formatting.. ... Just use the CD provided by the manufacturer to partition and format ... When you install XP, the CD should recognize the existent partitions ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Attempts to format G: hard drive partition fail
    ... If you choose the full format, ... and searched on "reformat" but the only thing I ... Because Disk Management utterly fails to format the ... partition also. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: What in the heck am I doing wrong? NTFS boot disk
    ... All partitioning formatting tools need to know correct LCHS geometry used by ... BIOS on target computer to map your disk. ... Also you can't partition removable disk from window you can use first ... > It is not possible to get an XPe Boot CD to format a CF disk and make it ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.embedded)
  • Re: external drive, partition not visible
    ... Management, ... partition, and then you should see it in My Computer. ... I know when formatting you lose whatever ... If your operating system is XP Media Center 2005 or Vista Home ...
    (alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt)