My problem is that I have very important documents and programms stored, and copyiing them to CDs and floppy disks is totally difficult owing to the huge amout of these programmes. How can I format without losing any of my important stuff?
2006-06-11 01:59:12 · 3 answers · asked by jocular 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
You can't. A format will wipe out everything. You cannot pick and choose what is to be deleted. You have two options. One is to clean out your computer. Three very good free tools I use for myself and my family are listed below: Ad-Aware (for spy & adware), BitDefender (for viruses adware), and a program called CCleaner (which cleans your registry).
If running those still doesn't work, you'll need to format. If you have many large files to save, my suggestion would be to buy a hard drive to fit the information, and transfer the data directly onto the second harddrive. As for the programs, put them on the hard drive if they are one of a kind, or user created. Otherwise delete them and then redownload or reinstall from the original install discs. Scan the new drive for viruses after you transfer your files onto it, but before you put them back on your primary drive. You can ask someone at a computer store or service how to do this.
I hope this helped. Good luck!
2006-06-11 02:38:19 · answer #1 · answered by JDAS 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't...."Unless" you have the Operating System on it's own partition....So, with that in mind since you more than likely will loose everything you don't backup to DVD or CD's, layout your Harddrives in at least 3 Partions...
1.Primary C:\Drive (Window OS 10gbs...need extra space for updates)
2. Logical Drive Partition for Software programs and Music.
3. Backup Partition...
Having it layed out this way will also prevent Viruses and other bad stuff from getting into the reset of your system and HD partitions...
Since I've done this I haven't had any problems at all...
2006-06-11 02:13:48 · answer #2 · answered by MUff1N 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
believe me, i've just encountered the same problem as yours, and i couldn't do it.
a full format seems to be the only solution.
personally, i think only important documents should be backed up, or saved somewhere. programs, reguardless of what they are, can be installed later, right?
just the docs, remember.
2006-06-11 02:12:58 · answer #3 · answered by hado_hl3130 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋