...In the "good ol' days" I seem to recall wiping and reinstalling XP about once a year to get a fresh start with only the latest drivers and currently favoured applications etc. Wipe drive, insert CD, enter key, install stuff, sorted. I haven't really done this for a while and I've seen lots of warnings and conditions suggesting this may be more arduous to do these days. I think I've only installed my Vista license once if that helps the process?
The question: Can I install vista on a fresh hard drive, copy across my files etc, and start installing stuff from scratch again without too much bother. Or, alternatively (and maybe more sensibly if feasible) is there a recommended way of "refreshing" it somehow to get rid of the detritus and avoid having to reinstall Office, Steam, Etc?
Thankyou in anticipation of your replies, wisecracking about vista, etc :flirty:
Best way to 'refresh' is to do as you've suggested.
Buy new HDD
Install OS to the new HDD
Install programs in new OS
Copy over stuff from old HDD you need.
I've just done just that (new OS is Windows 7 which by the way is much better than Vista IMHO)
As far as copying stuff documents and photos and things, all I had done is use Dropbox, chuck al files and folders you want to keep inside Dropbox folder, reinstall Dropbox in new OS and hey presto all files and folders are downloaded again :)
If you have your information backed up elsewhere (laptop for instance) then windows live sync is great. It's the updated version of Foldershare.
Remember that Steam and if you play it WOW do not need to be re-installed. You can just drag the whole steam folder onto another drive and drag it back when you've upgraded.
I have a 1 tb external drive and just dumped the Steam and WOW folders there. I guess you could even burn them to disc. Saves having to download masses of stuff again.
I've got my re-install routine down pretty slick but hopefully W7 won't need to be re-installed every year like previous versions.
Agreed with smilo.
Moved over to windows 7 really quickly.
Remember to simply copy the steam apps folder to a spare hdd as its quicker than using the slow steam backup facility.
Or to save alot of heart ache, buy a ide/ sata to usb cable unplug the old drive install OS on new drive then plug in old drive via usb and copy everything you need over.
To be honest i would jump on windows 7 rather than stick with vista if you can afford it as its awesome and if you do want to try it you will need to wipe your pc again anyway.
Vista seems to be working (...just) in general and, much as i would like w7 over vista, i can't quite justify it to myself to send more money microsoft's way.
Quote from: smilodon;296665Remember that Steam and if you play it WOW do not need to be re-installed. You can just drag the whole steam folder onto another drive and drag it back when you've upgraded.
I have a 1 tb external drive and just dumped the Steam and WOW folders there. I guess you could even burn them to disc. Saves having to download masses of stuff again.
I've got my re-install routine down pretty slick but hopefully W7 won't need to be re-installed every year like previous versions.
Sorry to hijack a thread but I wanted to confirm this - if I copy the entire Steam folder all Steam games will still work no probs? No registry settings that need refreshed or anything?
At the moment I'm facing a reinstall to move from Win7 RC to Win7 Pro and the fresh drive option is looking infinitely preferable right now. :g:
Quote from: b00n;296710Sorry to hijack a thread but I wanted to confirm this - if I copy the entire Steam folder all Steam games will still work no probs? No registry settings that need refreshed or anything?
At the moment I'm facing a reinstall to move from Win7 RC to Win7 Pro and the fresh drive option is looking infinitely preferable right now. :g:
Nope, simply copy the steam folder from one disk to another, download the steam installer and point it to where you dumped the files...Voila! :norty:
Wouldn't it be better to copy steam directory, install steam and then copy the old directory over>
Quote from: Sn00ks;296712Wouldn't it be better to copy steam directory, install steam and then copy the old directory over>
I think that is the way I did it first time round.
It did work, but all the games were listed as "updating" or something else (cant remember what it said). I had to wait for a steam update before they showed as 100% ready.
The games were playable though...it just didn't look right.
The only problem I have had with copying the entire Steam folder is with third party games (such as COD4) not retaining its CD-KEY. I don't remember what I did to get it to work, but I'm sure I did something smart.
I think if you just copy the steamapps folder steam has to download some metadata (such as keys etc) to make sure that they are up to date. Thats what I did recently when my old HDD had to be replaced, and it worked flawlesslyish, only had to run the pbsetup (or pbsvc) for COD4 in order to have the service reinstalled, and it was all peachy after that.
Anyway, as long as you back up your games, savefiles, CoD profiles (!!!!)/ documents etc, there is no danger in reinstalling windows. I have reinstalled windows so many times and have had to call the windows activation phone, only thing I've ever told them, is that I had to reinstall Windows due to it being crap, and they forward you to a automatic (somewhat angry) dude reading your activation key. Sometimes they just asks to verify that you only have it installed on one computer before forwarding your call, and sometimes you are forwarded automatically. So you are only allowed so many automatically activations before having to phone some local free phone number to talk to someone to get it activated. Thats at least how I have experienced it earlier.
I have my steam folder on another HDD. I reinstall steam into the same folder and every game is ready to play when I load steam.
I've copied games across a network into my steam folder from my brothers computer and restarted steam to save downloading. It's really simple. It doesn't clear the folder etc.
I've done it too many times to count. Save games for things like PopCap games and GTA IV etc are often kept in hidden folders in your my documents folder. These are what you need to watch out for if you don't want to lose your Zuma progress etc.