Is there a way to ...

Im running XP and I have two partitions (1 for windows 1 for programs) and was wondering next time I have to format, is there any way of getting windows to recognise the programs on the other partition because it gives me an error, telling me to reinstall the programs when i try and run them and its a pain having to install all my programs again when I have formatted.
Any ideas would be appreciated (although I don't plan on formatting any time soon )

Most programs reference registry values and write to the system directory, so no.

Is this what you are referring to:
<From puppyPC.com>
"This tweak is great if you keep all your programs on a separate partition as Windows. For instance, I keep Windows on my C partition and all my programs on my D partition. This way, if I should ever need to reinstall Windows, my programs remain installed and, after importing a backup of my old registry, fully functional."

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
Now modify the string ProgramFilesDir to the path that you want future programs to suggest as the installation directory (i.e. D:\Program Files)

Yeah thats exactly what I'm looking for.
Ive had a quick browse on the site and it looks like I'll just have to keep a backup of my registry every so often, thanks Enablingwolf.

Yeah backing up the reg is always a good idea to do, if you tweak the system to suite your needs. Good luck.

You need to import your registry backup, but doing things this way is not recommended.

Run a program like ghost and simply setup your PC, defragment, then create an image... Instead of formatting in the future, just bring the image back down, and it will be as good as new, no reinstalling programs one by one.

The problem is, data just sits in a folder without references while programs have references scattered throughout windows and within the registry. Though the program files are still there, the programs are missing pointers and related files which it depends on.

Oh, this is getting more complicated than I thought it would
Maybe it will be just easier for me to reinstall everything, there isnt loads to install I was just trying to make my life easier but never mind!
I might try the Registry restore sometime but I dont want to pay out for a program (Norton Ghost) for something which I won't use that much.

Or...

http://unattended.msfn.org/

Let windows install the programs for you (after one heck of a lot of head scratching figuring it out...)