Fresh install of XP on new disk. General advice please

Avoriaz

Hi, I am looking for advice, tips etc about installing XP.

I have a four year old Dell laptop. I haven’t bothered reinstalling XP in all that time so things are getting a bit slow and cluttered.

The laptop has an 80gb drive that slots into the side of the laptop in a caddy. I have a second 80gb drive and caddy so I can easily swap between the disks. It is simply a matter of powering off, swapping the disks and powering up again.

I plan to install XP and all my software from scratch on the second disk. If anything goes wrong I can easily swap back to the original disk and start again.

I have all the original XP disks, software CDs etc.

What is my best way forward?

Obviously I need to install XP first, then load all my application software and then copy my data files across. I know how to do all that.

1) Are there any shortcuts that will allow me to copy all my Window settings across so that I don’t have to set it all up again. I want it to look exactly the same as it is now with all the same colours, font sizes etc.

2) Are there any useful files that I can copy across to speed up the registration process etc?

3) Is there a recommended order in which to install my applications or does it not really matter?

I plan to load AVG anti virus, firewalls etc so that I am fully protected before I install my broadband internet connection.

Any other tips or hints would be welcomed.

Thanks.

Razoo

Hi Avoriaz

You're not going down the 'Aah Vista' route, then? Me neither!

Have a look at this link. I can't vouch for it's integrity as I haven't followed the instructions myself. The instructions do seem very thorough though.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

Regards

Razoo

stamford

This might be of interest regarding updates

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1003181