Stupid, stupid question
 

So I have a bunch of new components coming in so that I can update my PC. MB, processor, ram, video card.
I'm going to have to reformat my HD, aren't I? I really don't want to, and if it comes down to that I'm going to take my 8 gig HD and make it my Windows drive and keep my 80 gig as is. Is there any way to avoid a reformat or new boot HD, and if I have to go with a new boot HD, can I restore my old system data(e.g., installed programs, video codecs, etc)?

I think it's entirely possible to change a bunch of new components in a system and not have to reformat, I've seen it done before, I think.

Supposedly you can. Ive heard of it being done.

That said, Im not sure I would. With that many things changing, Id think that it might introduce a good bit of instability.

Ironically, I too have new stuff coming. Was delivered this morning, actually :D

What OS do you have?

There are several options, but knowing the OS first will go a long way towards leaving out confusing things that don't pertain to your OS.

maaan... i went from a cyrix 200mhz to a amd k6-2 500mhz ... same motherboard and everything just different processors... and win98se worked alright for 2 days then it started going downhill untill after about a week it would bsod before windows was even done loading... a format fixed it all...


ever since then ive just made a habit of formating if ever replace the cpu or the mobo...

You reeeallly should format c: and do a total fresh OS install.

Pain in the ass, sure. But a good habit to have. :)

...besides, I don't know exactly why, but I've heard it's always a good idea whenever you change mobo/cpu.
Most anything else, you're ok and just need to update drivers...
but with the main puter running components, geek intuition says start fresh :)

(ps) 'tis not a stupid question at all.

What I do when faced with reformatting. I made a file called Crash&Burn. I have all of my drivers files, favorites list, email address book and applications I will need for a reinstall of the OS. I know this doesn't respond to your question directly, but this is the best way.

Your idea of using the 8gig drive would work, but I wouldn't recommend it. The 8 gig drive is really old and slow compared to the drives most people use today. Installing the OS on a different drive is the best. Choose a new drive then partition it into at least two parts. They don't have to be the same size. Install the OS and only put stuff you can reinstall on that drive letter, if you need to reformat in the future. Hope this helps

Well... get this--my new computer stuff just came in. I decided that since I already had everything backed up, I was gonna give it a shot.

Guess what? It worked. Things are up and running fine. Granted, Im going to reinstall anyways, but I wanted to see if it worked, and it did.

sailor, I am encouraged by your successful example!
hrdwareguy, it's win2k pro.
cJoe, yeah, I know about the OS partition -- I did it on my last HD. But I got tired of programs that force an install on the C: drive(GOD THAT MAKES ME SO CRAZY!! LAZY ASS PROGRAMMERS) and so i said fuck it, they can have it all.
My stuff should come in this weekend, but I can't put it in until next weekend because I've got a software project that has to be delivered for a meeting next Thursday, and I can't risk messing around with a bad MB or what have you until then. :(
In that time I'll start filling data cds with crucial info and mapping out my reinstall. Plus I have 23 gigs on the other(networked) machine into which to cram data. Still, I just reformatted a few months ago. I hate this computer.
/strongbad

Oooh... 2k might not like it. XP has all the fancy driver auto-detect and basic drivers built in. I just booted up, let it yell at me about the 50 new pieces of hardware it found, and then installed the drivers it didnt have defaults for. Worked fine. 2k doesnt have that--I think you are going to have issues. You can certainly give it a shot, its not going to hurt anything--just make sure you have everything backed up before you try it.

Yeah, I knew there was a way to do it. I think you have to use the Repair feature on your windows disc.

I didnt have to--XP detected everything and updated just fine. I dont know about 2000, but I dont think its gonna like it.

Im still going to reinstall soon just to make sure Im not going to get any issues from old drivers sitting around, but I was surprised at how well it worked.

Use Sysprep
 

Kadath,

Microsoft has a utility for Win2K and XP called sysprep. It is on your installation CD. Sysprep is a system preparation tool that is designed to make rollouts of machines easier for companies.

Here is a link to the Microsoft website regarding sysprep with Win2K.

You can sysprep your hard drive, toss it in the new system and then boot up. It should pop up and go through the hardware detection process. You can install any drivers for stuff Win2K doesn't recognize. You will also need to reenter your serial number.

I use sysprep with WinXP all the time for rolling out new systems at the office. I have used it to create a win2K image that has been rolled out once or twice as well. As usual, make a backup of all your important stuff first.

excellent, hrdwareguy! I really appreciate your help. Er, my Win2k disk is non-license -- it's enterprise. In other words, it's a legitimate disk, I get Windows updates and all, but I've never used a serial number and will never have to. Will sysprep choke on that?
Good news, though -- my office, through an oversight, is now forced to rush ship me a DVD-RW drive. That could make backup considerably easier.

Seriously, you get lots of slack in politics from me based on your help here :D

Sysprep should not have a problem with the enterprise version. As long as you did not upgrade to Win2K and it was a full install originally you should be set.

That being said, make sure you keep that Win2K CD handy incase you have to do a repair install just the same. Only time I have had to do a repair install is when I syspreped an upgraded version of WinXP. (shudder)