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Thread: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

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    Arrow Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Some people format as often as every few months... but after formatting you have to set up all your options again, reinstall all your software etc..
    is this normal procedure? or do regular formatters save their options/configuration somehow?

    i need to do a format just for freshing up sake
    i have all my data on seperate partitions, but i know i will need to reinstall everything and setup options
    is this the way to do it? or am i missing something that regular formatters do to make life easier?

    thanks =)

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Personally, I just make sure I have the network drivers for the motherboard. Then just install things as the needed. Much easier than trying to work out the bits of prgrams that need saved (as windows conveniently scatters them to the four corners of your hard drive ).

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    you mean disk imaging?

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    If you image the disk, you are making a v=bit by bit copy. If you then re-format (which bis actually creating anew file system) and then clone the image back, you are in exactly the same state as you werebefore!

    The only way I can think of doing it is to back up the registry, re-install, then reload the registry, but it would be a bit hit and miss, and assumes that ll the applications are on a separate partition, whi=ch you leave untouched.

    Why do you want to re-format the disk anyway?
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    i see.. i might consider some imagin in the future. I hear alot of people using norton ghost, any comments about that?

    I was really careless with this install and didnt really "care" for the stuff that i was installing etc, because i knew i was going to format soon (from vista business to ultimate)
    so now before i format i thougth id see if there was anythign to make things easier =)

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Not used Norton ghost. Simplest way is with a Linux live CD.

    Acronis true image seems to be highly thought of by some He4xus users. I have used Caspar XP in the past.
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    peterb, I've been using Acronis (the free version that works with Maxtor/Seagate HDs), but it's a pain always needing the Maxtor HD.
    Tried XXclone - does it but won't boot.

    How does one use a Linux live distro (I have some)? Also have Gparted.
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    You need a little bit of Linux knowledge but

    Connect the source and target drives to the computer

    Boot off the CD (I use Knoppix for this)

    Identify the source and taget drives - if they are connected to the primary and secondary channels of an IDE interface, they will be hda and hdb. If they are SATA drives, they will probably be sd* where x is a drive letter - probably a and b.

    Make sure you have identified them correctly!!!!

    Open a terminal window as root (with the # prompt)

    type the following command

    dd if=dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

    (if means input file - in Linux, everything is a file! - of means output file)

    Go and have (several) cups of coffee - depending on how big the drive is. Do not get teh order the wrong way round!

    You can also use the dd command to erase a disk

    dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda (for example) This will write zeros to every location on hda.

    For a full explanation of the dd command, google man dd - but you don't need all the options or capabilities for these jobs.

    (dd only writes to 'visible' areas of the disk - it won't write to host protected areas for example)
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    once you get your fresh start definatly use imaging software.
    i reccomend image for windows
    link

    acronis never made a succesfull image on my computers and always reported corropt at the end plus its a bugger to fully uninstall.
    use gparted to format
    link
    before you format write down the partition sizes.
    then once you boot in to gparted you can look at the partition sizes and work out which one you want to format.
    much eaiser this way.
    Last edited by lodore; 22-05-2008 at 09:12 PM.

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Quote Originally Posted by SCOTTBALL View Post
    Some people format as often as every few months... but after formatting you have to set up all your options again, reinstall all your software etc..
    is this normal procedure? or do regular formatters save their options/configuration somehow?

    i need to do a format just for freshing up sake
    i have all my data on seperate partitions, but i know i will need to reinstall everything and setup options
    is this the way to do it? or am i missing something that regular formatters do to make life easier?

    thanks =)
    Normally the reason I format is to get a fresh new install so the whole point for me is to loose your registry data and windows settings so you can set it up again better

    I also use DBAN to format because its very effective and highly secure

    Normally if there is a problem I have a restore point where I know everything was working well and quite often that works. Otherwise if a true freshen up is required DBAN and new install for the best results

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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    You need a little bit of Linux knowledge but

    Connect the source and target drives to the computer

    Boot off the CD (I use Knoppix for this)

    Identify the source and taget drives - if they are connected to the primary and secondary channels of an IDE interface, they will be hda and hdb. If they are SATA drives, they will probably be sd* where x is a drive letter - probably a and b.

    Make sure you have identified them correctly!!!!

    <snip>
    Right, thanks for this - I'll print it out (not best to leave it on the 'pooter!).

    xxClone has the same requirement - identifying the drives and partitions correctly. At least Acronis just does it, although I had to be sure which HD was which. Acronis gives the make of the HD but XP doesn't directly, so the couple of GB difference was the main clue.
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Quote Originally Posted by lodore View Post
    before you format write down the partition sizes.
    then once you boot in to gparted you can look at the partition sizes and work out which one you want to format.
    much eaiser this way.
    Yes, agreed - trouble is that having used Acronis to copy 'as is' the partitions are the same size!
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    The problem for me with images is whenever i start fresh I always put the newest drivers on, so really the only thing I'd want imaged would be the operating system sans drivers. Kind of makes it redundant.

    ATM I install my programs on a seperate partition for organisation's sake... in the future I'm sure I'll be able to install a new OS and it will detect the applications. For the time being though I'm not convinced for single PCs images are worth it. If you had a network, of course, then it becomes easy to get it to a basic standard. But everytime you reformat your PC you'll probably want to change something...
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    I'd agree with dreaming on that. The only time I have imaged a drive is when I have upgraded to a bigger one, so imaging everything across and then using a partition editor to claim back the unallocated space on the new, bigger, drive.
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    My main reason for cloning drives is in case I make a mjor mistake.
    After some trouble with a firewall I cloned the disk before trying again - it would have been a lot quicker if there'd been a similar problem.
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    Re: Formatting.. hassle-free methods?

    Cloning can be useful in an emergency. If you have a whole day to download new drivers and set everything up, then it would be the preferable, 'cleaner', option to go for. But if you had an imminent deadline creeping up, and something were to happen that requires a system reinstall, a year old image can be useful (short of having access to another PC).

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