re-installing XP is there an easy way?

[soprano]

last time I did this I had to save all data to an external hard drive but then had to re-install all programmes, find and apply patches and get all the settings back to what I remember, took ******* ages surely theres an easier way?
if anyone knows it will be people here

edit- installing win xp Pro this time as pc is xp home

 

[soprano]

so if I get Norton Ghost it will take an image and put it back onto the fresh install? does that include all application progs and games?

if so seems well worth the $40

 

[soprano]

this sounds great guys, so just let me get it clear in my head please..

take the image with acronis/ghost etc and save to an external HD
install win XP pro which will reformat the whole system
then............ I put the image back on which will have all the chipset/mobo/gfx drivers prog's apps etc etc saving me installing all the drivers and progs from scratch?

is that all correct?

 

[soprano]

It's not very clear why you're reinstalling - if you just want to transfer your existing healthy setup to a new HDD then yes, cloning it as suggested above will do the trick.

If however you want to do a clean format/install because your OS is tired and slow from accumulated junk, damaged by data corruption, riddled with malware infestations or otherwise borked beyond easy repair, then there's no point in cloning it because it will end up exactly the same as before.

In any case, if you're upgrading from XP Home to Pro as suggested in your edited first post, cloning isn't really applicable to your situation, and I'm afraid doing it the long way is your only real option...

only added one entry into my diary today, it simply says... Bugger!

 

[soprano]

alert alert, someone just mentioned something about chipset drivers for the MOBO as well
following an onscreen prompt to reinstall is one thing but whats this chipset driver thinghy anyone?