Backing up

[integra]

My computer has gone a bit mad lately and i'm thinking of reformatting and reinstalling XP again. Just wondering if there's a way to backup all by software before I do it?

I don't want to accidentally backup errors, viruses, windows settings etc.. Just my software and photos etc..

Thanks.

[doctorgonzo]

If you format and reinstall Windows, you are going to have to reinstall all your software too. DLLs have to be put in the right place, registry values have to be added, and so forth. I don't know how you would be able to figure out what registry values and files go with what program and back it up, so it is just easier to reinstall everything. Backing up data is easy, backing up software in the way you want to do is not.

What you may want to do for future use is reinstall Windows, reinstall all your software, get all the Windows updates, and then before you do anything else Ghost the drive(s). That way, in the future you will be able to restore that image to your PC with Windows and all your software correctly installed and configured, without having to worry about virii or other nasty stuff.

[scracker]

I think if you use Windows XP Pro, you can find the Backup feature in System Tools useful.