Can i format a comp. without losing the programs on it?

Question

Will i have to install internet explorer and Windows Xp again?

Answer 1

I believe if you reformat the entire hard drive you will lose everything that is on there, everything.


Quoted from the link below:
* STEP 1: When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Therefore it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing Windows you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or 3rd party hardware you use since you will need to re-install your programs and drivers after re-installing Windows.

* STEP 2: Take a moment to think of anything that you have on the computer that you wouldn't want to lose. Generally you probably want everything in your My Documents folder, you also want to save things like your favorites or bookmarks from you web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has her own My Documents folder, Desktop items and Favorites/Bookmarks.

* STEP 3: Now save everything to a CD, DVD or a hard drive that you will not be formatting.

Answer 2

Format is a data-destructive process... it puts a new structure onj the disk and new FAT tables (or the NTFS equivalent) which effectvively makes all the ol data unfindable. So, yes, if you format your disk you lose *everything* on the disk.

This is nearly true... you can undelete quite a lot after a format if you have the right tools.

But, from your view, if you format your disk you've lost everything and will have to reinstall xp and all your applications.