Hello SimHQ, can anyone help me? I'm not experienced in OS installation...

My graphics card died last November, and in the course of replacing it I've also needed to replace the mainboard, CPU, and PSU, and find a soundcard with a gameport. And reinstall WinXP.

I copied to an external hard drive, the entire HDD which WinXP was installed on. I'm about to reformat and partition that drive and make a fresh WinXP install. Is there any way of avoiding needing to reinstall all the applications? Is it possible to recreate registry entries or copy them from the old WinXP installation?

I can't boot WinXP, because I've already replaced the mainboard/CPU - right now I'm using Linux from a liveCD.

Also is it possible to partition a drive as part of the WinXP installation - or do I need to do it some other way? Can Linux create NTFS partitions, or can I just create a partition in any format and then reformat it as NTFS using WinXP? I'm going to keep the OS in its own exclusive partition and keep all other data seperate, from now on - how much space should I set aside for WinXP? I'm installing onto a 60GB drive which I plan to partition.

Thanks!

The smallest partition I would install XP to is 20Gb. I know some games don't require registry entries to work. That's the killer on what you are wanting to do.

Like all the different versions of Il2, Forgotten Battles and the like. Just burn the folder or copy the folder that Il2:FB is installed in. Then after XP install, just copy it back. I know it works because I've done it. Then just make a shortcut to the executable on your desktop.

as for the registry...not sure myself (although it would be nice to know). i THINK it might work if you make a backup of your reg, reinstall xp, then copy the backup to your new install. BUT this will only work if everything is installed EXACTLY how it was when you made the backup. so if you had everything on just one partition, then you reinstall XP on a separate part then more than likely it wont work. some reg editors/cleaners might be able to fix it; but i wouldn't hold my breath. they'd probably just delete the entries entirely

and yes, you can put XP on it's own separate partition; but i think it HAS to be on C:
i have my HDD in 3 part's C: is winXP, second is for my apps/utilities, and my third is for games. then i have a second smaller HDD for files that i want to keep (patches, programs, music, etc.). when you install, you can choose to format before installing XP. then it will list your drive/s, and you can divide them up into partitions or just leave them as a whole.

my winXP partition is 12 GB and im only using about 8GB; but like i said thats with ONLY xp installed to it. you want to leave some extra because some programs/games REFUSE to install everything where you want it; but usually it's only a small amount of data (config files and stuff like that). but that all depends on what programs you're using also

One of the good things that comes from a new install is cleaning all the old junk from your registry.

I just reinstall everything everytime, I know some people think it's dumb, but hey, 8 yrs ago all this stuff was akin to witchcraft to me anyway.

If you had a copy of Ghost, you can create an image after installing XP and you will not have to go through "the dance" again.

I've had pretty good luck keeping XP and my data, apps and games seperate.

Partitioning is easy using the XP CD. Some people say it really hurts performance, but if it does, it's negligible on a fairly fast computer. I would not partition a drive up into pieces if you have like a Celeron or Sempron.

And like Nixer says, there is nothing like the boost from a clean install.

OK, so if I copy the entire 1st HDD to a folder on the 2nd HDD, then reformat the 1st HDD and reinstall XP on it, I'll probably still be able to get the important apps (Il-2!!), which had previously been on the 1st HDD, to run without needing to reinstall them? This is good news. I'll just reinstall the apps which don't work so straightforwardly.

I really hate it when games go around polluting directories other than the one they're installed in. Wretched Application Data folder... grumble grumble grumble

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think I'll break the drive into three: 20GB for WinXP, 20GB for hypothetical Linux install, and 20GB as a backup for important files on the 2nd HDD.

When I setup my dual boots, I always install WinXP first. Then prior to activation or major setup in WinXP, I install the second OS and verify that the bootloader is working OK.

That way if something fouls up... it's not a huge deal.