Tired of reloading/reformating

Is there a program I can buy that will copy my Sata drive contents and reload it in the future without going through Microsoft to activitate OS? I have corrupted my OS so many times that I am tired of rematting and reloading my OS and calling microsoft to reactivate my product software (win XP Pro).

My back-up plan to use system recovery didn't work because my c: data store in my SATA raid was also corrupted.

Its a bit of work and I cant remember the cost off the top of my head but you might want to look at getting nortons ghost.It'll allow you to make a compressed image of your drive.I dont know if they have a client side version but I do know you can run a server on one pc then using network boot connect to the server and re-image your box in the state you saved it in.I personaly like it alot as we use it here at work.

I would have to agree with Commander_Kang, check out Norton Ghost. You can make an exact image of your hard drive, then all you have to do is re-image it whenever you need to. Depending on the size of the image you can back it up to a dvd, or possible a second small hard drive.

On a side note, why are you having to reinstall so much? I usually reinstall XP on my machine every 1-2 years. On boxes for my family it's been closer to 2-3 years.

I overclook my computer and sometimes if I go too far, I corrupt my OS

So, Symantec Norton Ghost will copy EXACTLY what I have and I DON'T have to reactivate my OS?

Sorry, but I am new to this. Are you also saying I will need a second hard drive to back-up/create image, or will the Ghost create the image using a DVD disc? I have about 20 Gigs of stuff on my C:.

Which Norton Ghost works the best? 2003, 9, or 10?

This is how it's usually done: Boot to a norton boot disk. In the menu you'll create an image from your hard drive, this is a norton ghost image and is 1 file. This is an exact copy of the entire contents. Depending on the size of the image, you can either back that file up to a dvd or extra hard drive. When you need it re-image your pc, you'll just put in the ghost boot disk and point it to the image to use, and which drive to put it on. It's a fairly simple process once you've done it.

Well I am afraid this will not work for me. Because of the size of data I have to store, it will have to be store on a seperate hard drive. I am not sure if the seperate hard drive will be immune to my overclocking. I suspect not. Because I will be overclocking, the data in C: as well as any other drive will be corrupted if I go to far. This is similar to windows system recovery which allows you to back-up your data and recovery using a floppy. I have done this and found my recovery data was corrupted.

I have used a separate hard drive that I would then disconnect thereby assuring it could not be corrupted. Once a week I would reconnect it and recopy the hard drive to update it. If I screwed up Windows then naturally copy the back up. It's very tedious, but it does assure you a good copy of your C drive.

Well I use Acronis True Image and just make a copy of the state I want to use, usually right after I do a new install and add my Vir and updates and apps. It just copies to a compressed raw image that I then burn to A DVD and get a boot CD to restore with. Problem is I usually don't stay with a config long enough to need to restore. But it does help with my hot swap drives. Acronis works with the encryption I sometimes use while Ghost does not.

I also use ghost and ghost all drives before I work on a system for people, that way if there is any questions of data loss or saying "it never did that before" I just give them the old system back and get the data or check the behavior.
Its very easy to ghost a drive to another , slave it up, boot to the ghost CD, pick your poison, clone and remove the slave and then put it somewhere. Restoring is the reverse.

rseven said:

I have used a separate hard drive that I would then disconnect thereby assuring it could not be corrupted. Once a week I would reconnect it and recopy the hard drive to update it. If I screwed up Windows then naturally copy the back up. It's very tedious, but it does assure you a good copy of your C drive.

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I think this may be the answer to my situation. I do hope more will come out and share their experiences and how to recover. Thanks Rseven! I do have a 100Gb Western Digital HD as a spare here. Not sure if I want to do a Ghost or another Windows system recovery back-up. I have never had the oppurtunity to use the tool, so I don't know if it will work.

I understand what Ghost can do, but if I have to reload everthing, all indications point to another activation to my OS. This is something I must avoid and I know if I am careful with my overclock, I will be fine. However, I have recently encountered a corrupted OS which totally took me by surprise when I tried to reach 2.7 Ghz. In the past, I have played in this range and never had a corrupted OS. Now I know better

In regards to Ghost, which program works the best? The latest program available is Ghost 10.