OStatic

By Paul Martin on Jun. 07, 2009

Dee, if you still have your original drive, you can simply re-install XP, and NOT format the drive. It should leave your data intact.

If you have not made a proper disk image, you will not be able to retrieve it directly, and will have to manually copy the files over.

Most of your user files should be in your Documents and Settings folders, or under the C drive. Getting your program files back is a lot more cumbersome.

By Dee Stone on Jun. 07, 2009

Thanks Paul for responding and is there no way I can transfer from the external drive even if it does not image.

By Paul Martin on Jun. 08, 2009

If you are looking to transfer program files, the answer is probably not, since you will need things like appropriate registry entries, and it might just not be worth the effort to try and mount the registry from your backup (not even sure if that is possible). Also, if you have installed additional hardware, etc. your drivers, etc. would be totally messed up.

Your best bet is to re-install and retrieve your user data. App files, etc. might be a lot more cumbersome.

What you have on your external drive now is just basic data, with no sense of 'organization', so retrieval into program file settings might not be possible.

By Dee Stone on Jun. 08, 2009

So am I to retrieve from the external drive and then transfer back to my computer. I can see the contents on the external drive