I had a copy of WinXP Pro on CD with auth # I bought from a clone pc shop several years ago. It registered online with MS and all was fine. But a few years later MS instituted a new verification system and their update software insisted this was a phony copy, would not update, and installed nagging screens. I read that this verification patch could not be uninstalled, but probing around a little bit in the registry and cutting out some references, cleaning the startup procedure and removing some files from the C drive I got rid of it. When SP3 was in final beta it was available for direct d/l and install so I updated my installation with it, as it did not verify. During the time I was operating that system I never had a program refuse to install.
But apart from the that, the way to prepare for reinstall is to make a backup copy of your drive, and for safety one of your windows and program files as installed. I've used windows backup, but prefer Norton Ghost. After every major software install I Ghost again. Should you ever need to restore to a point in the past just use Ghost to replace the partition and it's contents. There you are. there have been some times when I went in the Ghost backup file and extracted just a portion, which can be done. I've also used plain old WinZip to copy directories, groups of directories, or drives. Worked for me, too. _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
