xp

[richard romeo]

i have to format my drive? is there any way to save some
files and games i have installed on my drive

 

[gls858]

i have to format my drive? is there any way to save some
files and games i have installed on my drive

Simple answer,no. Format wipes your entire drive clean
so you can start over.

gls858

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

If you have a CD writer you could save the files to CD-R or RW, you could
save them to floppy disks if they aren't too big or you could create another
partition and save them there. NOTE: only saving to another partition on
your hard drive is a convenience. You should always have a backup on some
other media besides your hard drive in case the hard drive fails.

As to the games, if you mean, as installed, no, if you have the setup files,
the files or file from which they were installed, they can be saved the same
way as the files above. If these are already installed, you can't just copy
the installation because there are other references all over the system,
applications require they be installed, not simply copied unless they didn't
require an installation to begin with.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

And to clarify my response, it presupposes you are going to try to save them
before you format. As gls858 has stated, if you format, you'll wipe the
drive so any saves or backups must be done prior to the format.

However, if you can't access Windows in order to do so, you could install XP
to a separate partition, assuming one is available and then try to copy your
files from the old setup to the new one. If you don't have an additional
partition, it would require third party software such as Partition Magic,
www.powerquest.com, to create a new partition without losing your current
files, then installing XP to the new partition.