Windows XP Tips

Table of Contents
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Retrieve Drivers for your Hardware
Partitioning the Harddrive
Drivers and Updates
Tweaks and Improving Performance
Helpful Reminders
Vista Specific Tweaks
Recommended Programs
Conclusion

For this guide, you will need Windows XP and a harddrive backup program. Acronis True Image allows you to make backups of your entire partition, so it's a good candidate for this tutorial. This guide will teach you how to split your harddrive into multiple parts (partitions) to improve the overall security of your system. In addition, you will be advised to install security programs such as antivirus, along with free alternatives to commercial programs. To finish, you will learn how to make backups to preserve progress.

DriveImage XML is a free alternative to Acronis True Image. I have not personally tested this program, so use at your own risk.

1. Retrieve Drivers for your Hardware

Before you do anything, you need to ensure that you have drivers for your computer. If you proceed without performing this step, you may not be able to access the internet to download drivers. In the event that happens, you will need to use a secondary computer to download drivers.Take a minute to gather all of your installation disks for your computer's hardware components (Ex: Motherboard, Network, Video Card, Sound Card, Processor, Mouse and Keyboard, Controllers, etc.) This will make installing drivers a breeze once Windows has been installed.

I recommend downloading the latest drivers for your hardware from the net instead of installing outdated drivers from your installation disks. This will ensure that your computer remains as stable and up to date as possible. For this, it would be wise to copy the drivers to a CD or a USB thumb drive so you can retreive them once Windows is installed.

2. Partitioning the Harddrive

You need to split your harddrive into multiple partitions. Partitioning the harddrive allows us to simulate having multiple harddrives using only a single harddrive. This allows you to store you personal data (music, pictures, documents, etc.) away from Windows. This gives you the ability to reinstall Windows without having to backup all of your personal data, because that data will be separated from Windows.

You have 2 ways to do this. You can either make the partitions before you install windows or you can install Windows and then make the partitions.

Method 1 - Partition Your Harddrive in Windows

This is the easiest method. If you plan to install Windows first and then partition your harddrives, you can do so by installing a program called "Easeus Partition Manager Free". Alternatively, if Windows is already installed but you plan to reinstall windows, you can use Easeus Partition Manager to create partitions immediately. To learn how to use Easeus Partition Manager, follow this tutorial: Easeus Partition Manager Tutorial

Download Easeus Partition Manager Free
Note: Does not support 64bit Operating Systems

Method 2 - Partition Your Harddrive using a Bootable CD Before Installing Windows

If you have no existing OS installed, or you simply want to partition the harddrives before installing windows, you can do so with a bootable program called Gparted. To learn how to use Gparted, follow this tutorial: Gparted Bootable Partition Manager Tutorial.

Download Gparted Bootable Partition Manager

Partition Configuration

Using the partition manager program of your choice, create 2 NTFS partitions on your harddrive. The first partition should be around 15 to 20GB. This is going to be your installation partition for Windows. The second partition should be the remainder of your harddrive. This second partition will be used for storing your personal data.

Windows (C:)
15 to 20 GB

This is where Windows will be installed. (C:) will not need to be bigger than 15 to 20GB

Data (D: or E:)
Remainder

This is where you will store your personal data This partition is essential for easily maintaining your important files that you don't want to lose.

Note: If the harddrive you are partitioning contains a factory restore partition, it may be preconfigured as the D drive. When creating your Data partition, do not delete the factory restore partition unless you are absolutely sure you will not be needing it. Chances are, you won't (because you are reinstalling Windows from scratch), but it is a good idea to keep the factory restore partition as a fallback. Something something malfunction.

Install Windows

After you have made these partitions, install Window on the (C:) partition using your Windows XP installation CD and follow the instructions. It will take about 30-45 minutes for the setup to complete. When you boot up for the first time, your screen resolution will be incorrect, you will have no drivers for your videocard, sound card, or motherboard. This is normal behavior, you simply need to download the drivers for your hardware.

Make a Pre-Drivers Backup of your PC (Optional)

If you have a bootable version of Acronis, now would be the perfect time to make a pre-drivers backup of your C: partition. This backup provides you with the "nuclear" option in the event you want rollback to the first few minutes of Windows. This is useful if a driver fails to install correctly, or other problems arise If you do not have the bootable Acronis or you don't want to make a backup yet, then proceed without making this backup.

3. Drivers and Updates

Install Drivers from your Driver CDs
Using your installation disks that came with your motherboard or your PC, install the drivers pertaining to your motherboard (or chipset). This will likely install the ethernet driver that will allow you to access the net. Once you have access to the net, download and install the remaining drivers for your hardware. Make sure you get the latest version of DirectX and the latest graphics drivers for your video card for best stability.

Drivers you should get include:

Processor
- AMD Drivers
- Intel Drivers
Graphics
- ATI Drivers
- nVidia Drivers
Audio
- Creative Drivers
- Asus Xonar Drivers
Mouse, Keyboard, Controllers and other Peripherals
- Logitech Drivers
- Razer Drivers
- Intellitype Drivers (For Microsoft Keyboards)
- Xbox 360 Controller Driver
Updated Chipset Drivers for your Motherboard

After installing all of the necessary drivers, proceed to Windows Update and get all of the critical Windows Updates.

Make Your First Official System Backup
It is now time to make your first backup. Go ahead and install Acronis True Image, choosing the default location (c: partition). Once installed, you be asked to reboot. Go ahead and reboot. Once you have rebooted, locate and run the Acronis True Image Workstation. From here, you will see Backup, Recovery, and other miscellaneous items to choose from. Choose Backup and make a Full Backup of the C: partition. You can name it whatever you want, but store this backup file on the D: partition. (You cannot store this backup file on the C: partition) Remember to validate the backup in Acronis after it has been created to ensure the integrity of the backup is 100%.

4. Tweaks and Improving Performance

If you are a gamer, or would like to see performance increases out of Windows XP, there are several things you can do to accomplish this. Windows XP, by nature, is not optimized for the best performance. We can improve performance by changing some things.

Disable Tweaks

Disable Indexing

This will prevent windows from accessing the harddrives as often.

Open a My Computer from the start menu
Right click a partition > "Properties".
Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"

Alternatively, you can disable the indexing service altogether.

Go to your "Start" menu and click "Run"
Type "Services.msc" (without quotes) and press OK
In the right, right click "Indexing Service" and choose "Properties"
Next to "Startup Type" select "Disabled"
Click "Stop" if you want to stop the service immediately.

Disable Duration and Dimension Columns

This can make accessing your music or videos in details mode faster.

Open a My Computer and navigate to your My Music folder, or wherever you store your music.
Right click on the collumn bar above your files and uncheck "Duration" and "Dimensions".
If you don't see one or the other, click "more". Browse through the list deselecting collumns you do not wish to see. Apply any changes.
Afterwards, In the main window for My Computer, go to the "tools" menu > "Folder Options".
Go to the view tab and press "Apply to All Folders". Press "Yes" and apply the changes.

Disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard

Every 60 days or so, Windows XP will bug you to remove unused desktop icons. You can disable this.

Right click the desktop > "Properties".
Select the "Desktop" tab and press the "Customize Desktop" button.
Uncheck "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard Every 60 Days". Apply the changes.

Disable the animated dog in search and enable advanced Searching.

The animated dog in the search window has to animate first before you can begin searching. To speed up your search, disable the animated dog.

Go to "Start" > "Search".
In the Search sidebar, press "Change Preferences" and choose "Without an animated screen character".
To enable advanced searching, in the search sidebar, click "Change Preferences" and choose "Change files and folders search behavior". From here you can enable Advanced Search.

Disable Sticky Keys

By default, if you press shift 5 times in a row, Windows will activate sticky keys. This is bad if you are playing a game or are involved in another activity, and you accidentally activate sticky keys. Just press shift 5 times and sticky keys will activate. Disable sticky keys and apply the changes. There are other shortcut combinations in there, so feel free to disable those if you wish..

Disable Hibernation

If you are using a Laptop, it would be unwise to disable hibernation, especially when the battery is critically low on power. If you are using a desktop PC, hibernation is nothing short of a needless feature. So why not disable it? Also, this can free up several hundred megabytes of space on the C:\ drive or partition.

Go to "Start" > "Search".
Select the "Screensaver" tab. Press "Power" and select the "Hibernate" tab.
Uncheck "Hibernation".

Disable Automatic Updates

This one sounds like the absolute opposite of a tweak. It's more about removing an annoyance. If you want to get Automatic Updates whenever you feel like it, you can disable it by following these steps:

Go to your Start menu and click Run
Type services.msc and press OK
On the right, right click Automatic Updates and choose Properties
Next to Startup Type, select Disabled.
Click Stop if you want to stop the service immediately.

Disable Security Center

This is another one of those tweaks that sounds proposterous, but it's not a bad of an idea if you want to remove an annoyance. The security center is just those baloon popups that appear in your system tray reminding you if you have the Windows Firewall disabled or no Antivirus installed. If you know exactly what you're doing and you can't be pestered by Windows, you can disable it altogether. It poses no threat to disable it and is easy to re-enable later.

Go to your Start Menu and click Run
Type Services.msc and press OK
On the right, scroll down and right click Security Center and choose Properties
Next to Startup Type, select Disabled
Click Stop if you want to stop the service immediately.

Disable Animations

Windows XP likes to animate some things Windows. These animations have no remorse for even the fastest computers because all animations in Windows force you to wait while the animation is in effect.

Go to your Start Menu, right click My Computer and click Properties
Go to the Advanced tab and click Settings (Beneath Performance)
Uncheck these options:
1. Animate windows
2. fade or slide menus
3. fade or slide tooltips
4. fade out menu items
5. slide open combo boxes
6. slide taskbar buttons

Disable Annoying Sounds

Windows likes to play little sound bites any time you click something or an error occurs. These are relatively annoying.

Go to your Start Menu and click Control Panel
Go to Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices
Click the dropdown menu beneath Sound Scheme and choose No Sounds

Note: There is at least 1 sound that will force your computer's internal speaker to be used, and that is "Default Beep". Just select that and choose "Windows XP Ding". Now your computer will be quiet. :)

Disable Error Reporting

Whenever a program crashes, Windows will bug you to report errors to Microsoft. I'm willing to bet they are swamped with error reports to the point that they just ignore them. To save yourself some hassle, disable error reporting.

Go to your Start Menu, right click My Computer and hit Properties.
Go to the Advanced tab and click Error Reporting.
Choose Disable Error Reporting and leave but notify me checked. Apply the changes and enjoy.

Disable System Restore

System Restore is great for getting you out of a jam, but if you plan to use Acronis responsibly, then system restore is unnecessary and wastes space on your harddrive. By disabling System Restore, you can improve system performance, and save disk space; thus, make backing up and restoring using Acronis even faster.

Go to your Start Menu, right click My Computer and hit Properties.
Go to the System Restore tab and check Turn off system restore on all drives.

Alternatively, you can disable system restore on all drives except for your C drive. This will prevent Windows from creating backups of files on non system critical hard drives and will improve the speed of system restore.

Disable Autorun for CDs and Removable Storage Devices

Windows XP has a tendency to beg you to do something every time you enter a CD, USB thumbdrive or some form of removable storage. If you don't like being bugged, here is how to disable AutoRun.

Go to your Start Menu and click Run
Type GPEDIT.MSC
On the left (beneath Computer Configuration) expand Administrative Templates and click System
On the right, double click Turn Autoplay Off and choose Enable.
Apply the changes.

Miscellaneous Tweaks

Change location of the Page File

By default, windows automatically determines the size of the page file and stores it on the C:\ drive or partition. Since the C:\ partition is small, changing the location of the page file can potentially improve performance and save disk space.

Go to your Start Menu, right click My Computer and click Properties.
Go to the Advanced Tab.
Beneath Performance, click Settings and go to the Advanced tab.
Beneath Virtual Memory click Change

You should already see some numbers to the right of the C: partition. (Example: 2046-4092) Memorize your numbers for the next step.
Select "D: ..." and click Custom Size

For initial size, type the first number. For Maximum Size, type the second number. Press the "set" button to apply the new location.
Afterwards, select "C: ..." and choose No Page File. Press the set button again to apply the changes.
Close all windows and reboot.

Change the Location of the My Documents Folder

Changing the location of the My Documents folder to a secondary harddrive or partition can help promote proper file management. Folders for your pictures, music and videos are moved along with the My Documents folder which will prevent data loss in the event you need to reinstall Windows.

Create a folder called My Documents on a secondary harddrive or partition.
Go to your Start Menu, right click My Documents and click Properties.
Click Move and choose the folder you created in step 1.

Note: If you have or intend to have multiple desktops, then you'll want to create folders within the secondary harddrive to better signify who's documents belong to who. (For example: "D:\Bob'\My Documents")

Launch Folder Windows in a Separate Process

So you've been using your computer all day, you have 5 or 10 explorer windows open, but then something goes wrong. One of the explorer windows crashes, bringing the others with it. By running folder windows in a separate process, only the window that crashes will crash and the rest will still be running.

Open an explorer (My Computer) by going to your Start Menu and clicking My Computer.
At the top (File Edit View), go to Tools and click Folder Options.
Go to the View tab.
Below, scroll down and check Launch Folder Windows in a separate Process.
Apply.

Registry Edits (Advanced)

Sort Files Properly in Explorer

If you create several files and give them a number, in order for them to sort properly, you have to put zeros before each number. (Ex: 01, 02, 03 etc). The problem is, if you have more than 100 files, you need to put 2 zeroes preceding the number. If you don't put any zeros at all, your files with sort like this: (1, 10, 11, 12 etc) You can eliminate this problem forever with a simple registry edit.

Go to your Start Menu and click Run.
Type regedit and press OK.
On the left, expand out HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > MICROSOFT > WINDOWS > CURRENT VERSION > POLICIES > EXPLORER.
On the right, right click in the blank area and select NEW > DWORD Value.
Type NoStrCmpLogical and press Enter on your keyboard.
Double click the value and type 1. Make sure it's set to hexadecimal and not decimal.

Change the Location of the My Programs Folder

By changing the location of your My Programs folder to a secondary harddrive or partition, any future installations will default to the location of your choice and your Windows partition will stay small and tidy for fast and easy backups. Also, your programs will not be wiped out in the event you need to reinstall Windows.

Create a folder called Program Files on a secondary harddrive or partition.
Go to your Start Menu and click Run.
Type Regedit and press OK.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > MICROSOFT > WINDOWS > CurrentVersion.
Double click ProgramFilesDir.
Change the path so that it targets the Program Files folder you created in step 1. Press OK.

Note: Remember to create and choose a folder named "My Programs" otherwise programs may not behave correctly.

Change the Location of the Common Files Folder

Sometimes programs will store common files in the Common Files folder. This folder can quickly build up and take a lot of space on your C drive. If you want to keep your C drive tidy, you can move this folder to another drive.

Create a folder called Common Files on a secondary harddrive or partition.
1. Move or copy files from C:\Program Files\Common Files to the folder you created in step 1.
Go to your Start Menu and click Run.
Type Regedit and press OK.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > MICROSOFT > WINDOWS > CurrentVersion.
Double click CommonFilesDir.
Change the path so that it targets the Common Files folder you created in step 1. Press OK.

Note: Remember to create and choose a folder named "Common Files" otherwise programs may get confused. It's important that you do not skip step 1b or programs may not behave correctly.

Windows Explorer
Don't confuse Windows Explorer with internet explorer. Technically, they're the same thing but when I say Windows Explorer, I'm referring to "My Computer" or the explorer window you use to access your files. You can customize the appearance of your explorer window to be more appealing to the power user.

Start by opening a "My Computer" from your Start Menu.

Enable the Status Bar

You can turn the Status bar to reveal information about selected files.

Go to the View Menu
Click Status Bar

Classic Windows Folders

You can disable that giant vertical blue bar along the left side. It is great for shortcuts, but that's realy all it is. A big obtrusive sidebar with shortcuts.

Go to the Tools Menu and click Folder Options
Go to the General tab and select Use Windows Classic Folders

Classic Windows Folders

You can disable that giant vertical blue bar along the left side. It is great for shortcuts, but that's realy all it is. A big obtrusive sidebar with shortcuts.

Go to the Tools Menu and click Folder Options
Go to the General tab and select Use Windows Classic Folders

Show Hidden Files & Folders

By default, Windows will hide files and folders set to "hidden". If you want to see these files, follow these steps.

Go to the Tools Menu and click Folder Options
Go to the View tab and enable Show Hidden Files and Folders

Show File Extensions

This is one of those must have options for any user. Windows assumes everybody is a downright computer illiterate bafoon, so they hide the 3 letter file extension at the end of files. This is painful for just about everyone, power users and casual users. How do you know what kind of file it is if you can't see the extension?

Go to the Tools Menu and click Folder Options
Go to the View tab and uncheck Hide File Extensions

Show Protected Operating System Files

By default, Windows will hide protected operating system files. Most files in the Windows directory are hidden from the average user to prevent them from accidentally deleting or messing with their Windows directory. It just so happens that this feature makes it very difficult for just about anybody to properly use their computer, so do yourself a favor and unhide them.

Go to the Tools Menu and click Folder Options
Go to the View tab and uncheck Hide Protected Operating System Files.

Details Mode

Windows likes to display your files in list or icon view. This is great for making Windows look tidy, but it's a huge pain to power users. You don't see useful information like filesize, filetype, date modified or anything of that nature.

Go to the View menu and choose Details.

Apply to All Folders

If you add any extra columns or you change the viewing mode to "Details Mode", then you probably want those options to apply for all folders on your harddrives. After choosing the columns you want and details mode, follow these steps:

Go to the Tools menu and click Folder Options.
Go to the View tab and click Apply to all folders.

Windows Task Bar
Out of the box, the Windows XP Taskbar is really annoying. You can change a few things about it to make it more appealing and more usable.

Group Similar Taskbar Buttons

Windows will group the least used taskbar buttons on the taskbar. In my opinion, this is annoying because you can't manually control which taskbar buttons are grouped into menus. If a program needs your attention, you don't know which one it is until you click the menu to find out. Sometimes, you will click the menu inbetween button flashing to discover the program that needs your attention isn't highlighted. 1 word. Annoying. I recommend turning it off.

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Uncheck Group Similar Taskbar Buttons.

Show Quicklaunch

To put shortcut buttons on your taskbar, follow these steps:

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Check Show Quick Launch.

Show Inactive Icons

Rarely used icons in your system tray (next to your taskbar clock) will hide behind a collapsible button. I find it to be annoying because I like to see "at a glance" which programs I have running. Hidden icons add an extra layer of annoyance to the already annoying system tray.

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Uncheck Hide Inactive Icons.

Windows Start Menu
The Windows XP Start Menu is slightly annoying, but we can fix some of that with a few tweaks.

Highlight Newly Installed Programs

When you install new programs, they will be highlighted with the color "orange" in your Start Menu. This is a neat visual cue to inform you of new programs but is a limited feature at best. I like to disable anything that I can't control and how does my Start Menu know which programs I want highlighted in orange? It's annoying. To disable it, right click your Taskbar and click "Properties". In the "Start Menu" tab next to "Start Menu", click 'Customize". Go to the "Advanced" tab and uncheck "Highlight Newly Installed Programs"

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Go to the Start Menu tab.
Click Customize and go to the Advanced tab.
Uncheck List my most recently opened documents.

Disable Recent Documents

Sometimes the start menu will lag or pause when you open it, it could be that it's busy loading your recent document's history.

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Go to the Start Menu tab.
Click Customize and go to the Advanced tab.
Uncheck List my most recently opened documents.

Display the Control Panel as a Menu

You can speed up accessing your control panel by showing it as a menu in your start menu.

Right click your taskbar and go to Properties.
Go to the Start Menu tab.
Click Customize and go to the Advanced tab.
Underneath Control Panel, choose Display as a Menu.

5. Helpful Reminders

This is just a list of helpful reminders you should consider before making a final system backup.

Miscellaneous Reminders

Install a Printer from Across the Network

This is just something most people forget or don't know about, but serves as a handy reminder. You can actually install a printer from across the network without having to hunt for drivers, have access to the networked PC, or learn rocket science.

Go to your Start Menu and click My Network Places.
Double click your network (usually named Workgroup)
Double click the networked PC with the printer.
Double click the printer to begin installing the printer driver.

Note: If all goes well, you should now have the printer window open. You can now print anything from across the network. If you're not able to install the printer, maybe you're running a different OS or a 64bit OS. In which case you will need to find the appropriate driver on the net and repeat these steps.

Share Harddrives on your Network

If you need to share your harddrives on your network so you can access them from other computers, this is how you do it.

Go to your Start Menu and click My Computer
Right click on the harddrive you want to share and go to Sharing and Security.
There will be a clickable link that says If you understand the risk... Click that.
Check Share this folder on the network.

To allow write access to your harddrives, check Allow Network Users to change my files.

Repeat for all harddrives that you wish to share.

Note: Be aware that allowing other users to change your files gives them the ability to copy, delete, rename and edit files on your computer. This is useful if you know the risk and you trust the people on your network. Otherwise, exercise caution when enabling that option.

Test UPnP to See if it's Working Properly

By default, UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is not properly configured in Windows XP. UPnP is required for bypassing the firewall and router for certain programs to work correctly. There's a great tool called "UPnP Test Program" which can test your UPnP and offer step by step instructions on how to fix it.

Download UPnP Test Program
Run the program and press Test
It will perform 8 different tests. If any of the tests fail, click More UPnP Info. It will open a website and provide further instructions for making UPnP work properly.

Note: You must have a router that supports UPnP and at least Windows XP, Vista or newer operating system

Rename the OS Partition

This doesn't really affect anything. It's just a reminder to rename your C: Drive, or the drive which Windows is installed on to whatever you want.

Fix Drive Letters

If your drive letters change around, you can fix them by following the steps below:

Open your Start Menu, right click My Computer and click Manage.
On the left, click Disk Management.
On the right, right click one of your partitions and click Change Drive Letters and Paths...
Click Change and assign any drive letter you want.

Note: Drive letters A and B are reserved for floppy drives. If the partition you're trying to change has a Page File or a system folder like "My Documents", you will have to disable the Page File or change your My Documents folder to another location before changing the drive letter.

Mute the Microphone

Sometimes after installing sound drivers, it will unmute your microphone and it can be easily heard if you're wearing headphones. It's probably a good idea to go into your volume control and mute any microphones listed before making a system backup.

Install Drivers for Mice, Keyboards or Controllers

Sometimes I forget to install drivers for my mouse or keyboard. This is just a reminder to install those before making a system backup.

Disable Unwanted Startup Items and Services

After installing programs or drivers, you'll notice they will start up with your computer. You can disable them very easily by following these steps.

Open your Start Menu and click Run.
Type msconfig and click OK.
Click the Startup tab.
Go down the list and uncheck any items you don't want to start up with your computer.
Go to the Services tab.
Check Hide All Microsoft Services.
Go down the list and uncheck any services you don't want to start with your computer.

Warning: If you don't know what a startup item or system service is, you can do a search for the item name at google followed by the word "process" and it will give you a good idea of what the item is. Certain programs and drivers are required to start up in order to work properly, so be careful which startup items and system services you disable. You can always reenable a startup item or system service by renabling them.

Install Last Minute Drivers

Sometimes you may put off installing drivers because they're not top priority. An example would be your mouse and keyboard. Just because Windows detected and made them usable doesn't mean they're going to work as well as they would if you installed proper drivers. Your mouse is a perfect example. Most Logitech mice have crazy sensitivity until you install drivers--even the cheapos. Popular Mouse Driver: SetPoint for Logitech Mice
Popular Keyboard Drivers: IntelliType Pro for Microsoft Keyboards

6. Vista and Windows 7 Tweaks

I have created a guide called Windows 7 Tips and Tweaks. This guide should work for Vista as well. Check it out.

7. Recommended Programs

I have relocated the list of recommended programs to its own page. Visit Ultimate List of Free Programs for Windows.

8. Conclusion

After you have finished installing all of your programs, games, and tweaked your computer to performance perfection, it is finally time to make your final backup. Run Acronis True Image and make a backup of your C: partition. Store this backup on the D: partition. When it prompts you to make an incremental backup, choose that and proceed with the backup. After you have made your final backup, be sure to validate it for any possible errors.

The glorious thing about this setup is, if you ever get a virus, spyware, adware, or a program malfunctions, you can restore your computer in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes... and know beyond a shadow of a doubt it will work just the way you like and you won't lose any important data like documents, music, videos, pictures, programs, or settings.

If in the future, you decide you want to install another program or game, and want it to be in your backups, no problem! Just restore to your very last known backup, install the program or game, and back up your computer again. This ensures you are clean of viruses, spyware, or adware, and your computer will stay in top notch shape.

Have fun!

Last Updated (Wednesday, 07 July 2010 23:52)