[Leonardo]

I was playing with an old Compaq P4.... and Accidentaly I erase the fat partition that compaq used to install a fresh copy of windows.

Right now the pc has a fresh copy of windows, with all the updates a copuple of programs installed... that's it.

Is there an easy/free way to backup the whole OS. So if ever need a clean install I can use that instead of my long gone "compaq partition"

[michaelplogue]

Windows has it's own backup utility, where (in theory) you can burn everything to a CD/DVD.

To start Backup, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.

[Mihai]

where (in theory)

Which in the same league of theories as worm holes, backwards time travel and parallel universes.

[Leonardo]

where (in theory)

Which in the same league of theories as worm holes, backwards time travel and parallel universes.

meaning... does it work... or not?

[ivox3]

Sure it works, ....but it's not as nice as actually copying a partition of a newly installed OS to a separate drive.

For that I believe you'll need a separate app .... like one of these:

http://www.duxcw.com/digest/Howto/hd/cpyhd/index.html



They're cheap Leo, ....and not a bad investment.


EDIT: Here are some free ones .....

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best ... -free.html

[michaelplogue]

where (in theory)

Which in the same league of theories as worm holes, backwards time travel and parallel universes.

meaning... does it work... or not?

To be honest, I've never actually tried it for a whole drive - just specific folders.

[mtripoli]

Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/). You can backup any way that you like. In particular, it allows you to make an exact copy of a drive, the right way. You create a boot CD for True Image. You restart and use the software to create a copy. It is very powerful software. Be leary of any kind of software like this that says it runs in Windows - it just can't...

[dzowada]

Maybe its not to late, you can usualy recover data from formated or deleted partitions with a recovery program.

GetDataBack saved my rear end a couple of times.
www.runtime.org

A quick Google search will show other options.

Dan