This is a rough outline of what we are going to do--read it all very carefully and ask questions before you begin.
a. build a bart's pe
b. use it to rename some critical directories
c. reinstall windows on the existing drive without format to retain data
d. reinstall programs
e. updates
f. restore data as relevent
The laptop makes this slighly trickier, but thanks to Bart's PE, it is still very doable
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/#downloadI won't repeat the Bart Pe instructions here, but ask if you have questions
After creating the bart pe, set your laptop to boot from cd, and boot with it.
You will get a windows xp install from cd, that will enable us to do what we need.
After boot, choose GO > PROGRAMS > A43 FILE MANAGEMENT UTILITY
This will bringup an explorer like utility.
Rename the folowing
c:\Documents and Settings to c:\oldDS
c:\Program Files to c:\oldPF
c:\Windows to c:\oldWin
Then, Go > EXIT
Remove the BartPE, insert the WindowsXP cd
Windows Setup will begin.
When asked to install windows or run a repair, choose install new installation
You will be asked to select a partition, choose the existing one,
You will be asked to format or leave as it--leave as is.
Windows setup will being.
Allow it to finish as normal.
About an hour later, you will have a Windows XP install.
Don't activate yet. You will eventually, but for now let's leave it as is.
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If your computer is Windows XP Home follow these instructions (pro directions below)
Windows XP Home has file and folder security, but it is hidden from view normally. To get at what you need, you must access the access control list--the easiest way to do this is to reboot Windows XP Home in safe mode.
If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab.
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of --in this case, c:\oldDS -- and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message if one appears.
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
Windows will pop up a message box, reading: "You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?" All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
Click YES
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.
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On Windows XP Pro
If you are using Windows XP Pro, you must disable Simple File Sharing, which is the default when it is not joined to a domain. To disable simple file sharing,
Double click MY COMPUTER, choose TOLLS > FOLDER OPTIONS > VIEW. Scroll down and UNCHECK USE SIMPLE FILE SHARING.
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of --in this case, c:\oldDS -- and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message if one appears.
Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
Windows will pop up a message box, reading: "You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?" All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
Click YES
Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.
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You will now be able to access all of your data
Before moving forward
REINSTALL ALL UPDATES and PROGRAMS
Now, it's time to start restoring it to its proper locations.
Start with the easy stuff:
Double click MY COMPUTER (don't maximize as you will be doing a lot of dragging and dropping) and navigate to
C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\
copy the contents of C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\DESKTOP to your current DESKTOP
copy the contents of C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\MY DOCUMENTS to your current MY DOCUMENTS (this will include MY PICTURES AND other MY..folders)
copy the contents of C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\MY DOCUMENTS to your current MY DOCUMENTS
copy the contents of C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\FAVORITES to your current FAVORITES
EMAIL is trickier
For outlook
copy the contents of C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook to C:\Documents and Settings\{NEW profile name}\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
For outlook express
C:\oldDS\{old profile name}\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{long alphanumeric string}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
C:\Documents and Settings\{NEW profile name}\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{long alphanumeric string}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
NOTE: THE {long alphanumeric string} WILL NOT BE THE SAME--IT IS RANDOMLY CREATED.
Other things to be wary of....
[old drive]:\oldPF\???-- you cannot simply drag programs from one computer to another because Windows installs files in multiple locations. Some programs, however, do save data in their directories. Games will save SAVE GAME data here, and you can often recover it simply by moving the game save folder to the machine when Windows and the program re-installed on the other machine
[old drive]:\random folders -- a few programs store their data in standalone folders in the C:\drive, though this is becoming less common. If you have an older program that has been updated several times, take a look through the root directory. A few that come readily to mind are Quicken and Peachtree. There may be others. There may also be a MY DOCUMENTS folder hanging around.
DO NOT DELETE ANY THING in c:\OLD?? for a couple of weeks. After about a month, feel free to do so, but there may be things you are not thinking of.
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