Possible to overwrite OS with a back-up copy?

Question

I never did this b4 nor i have any idea if this work. please tell me if this works or not..

right now i have 100% working OS with softwares n there updates. OS with software is in C: drive n nothing more in it. size is about 6.5GB.

say i have backed up the entire C: drive in DVD, n due to some reason i had to format my OS drive erasing all the softwares n updates.

if i install the OS again after formatting, is it possible that i copy paste/overwrite the OS with the back up i made consisting of the installed softwares,updates.

will the running OS allow overwriting? or i will i have to overwrite it in dos mode, n if in dos mode then what will be the commands for it.

gets fed up with installing softwares wasting time in updates...so was wondering if i can cut the installing n updating part as i have quite a lot softwares installed.


I use winxp pro as my OS.


thank u.

Answer 1

You can use norton ghost software to take backup image of entire OS. For this you need to have different partitions and enough space to create backup images. You can restore backup image of OS anytime without re-installing entire OS. The following is the link to know about norton ghost

http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost12

There are few other softwares available other than norton ghost you can check the same in the following web site

http://www.sofotex.com/download/PC_Utilities/Back_Up/

Answer 2

Your DVD back up is not going to give you what you want.

You need to take a "snapshot" of your C: drive. The best known program to do that is called Norton Ghost, but it isn't free.

Try Drive Image XML, free from:

I've been testing it for a few months and it's impressive.