[kupoartist]

ooh! ooh! format time! and fun for all the family ^_^

i almost know what i'm talking about, as i've formatted this PC at least 10 times (and sometimes only a few weeks apart... It has a habit of finding new and inventive ways to go tits up )... so far, the three most invaluable things i've found to be loads of use when formatting are:

1. A Network Card (and a friend/spare second PC!)
2. A Partitioned Hard Drive (or a second Hard Drive).
3. Two versions of Windows on the same PC.

Why? because they all help you keep your important files (and in my case, thats 20gb+ of them - even if I had a CD writer, i'd rather not burn 30odd CDs... thats just a waste of my time)

1. A Network Card isn't just great for playing LAN games against people: a while ago I always used to link up two PCs and send the files I wanted to keep to someone else's PC. Then you format, and send it back. Its perhaps a little slow, but you have to format before you can do the much quicker buisness of partitioning...

2. A Partitioned HD is basically one HD drive that thinks its two HDs. (sorry if i'm patronising you here) Its easy and quick to move all your important files from drive C to D, format C (make sure you format the right one!) and then move it all back to C, after you've got your OS up and running. (The same effect could be achieved by installing a second HD - i wouldn't do that unless I actually needed more space [more than 60GB - i don't], as its a waste of money.) - The drawback, is that as far as I know, you have to do this while formatting. You use a program called FDisk to partition, and its put on the Windows Startup disk. My Windows ME manual on Partitioning and Formatting, so have a look in your own Windows Manual (unless you don't have one, in which case, try and find somthing on the windows websites...)

3. If you're low on HD space, it may not be worth it, but I personnally run Windows 98 and Windows 2000 on the same HD. Only, i'm not sure if you have to use Windows 2000 to have a dual OS computer (doh!). This is invaluable for the occasions when you simply can't get into your usual version of windows, like you currently can. You simply load up the other, and you effectively have a fully operational PC (from which you can move your files to another disk, and the reformat and start again.). Its also useful for programs which only work on WinNT or Win9x Programs, as you just select which one you want (eg. Maya Personal Learning Edition. Which appears to actually work on no OS, presumably because its an *******. ).

If you have any questions to ask, feel free to ask them. Except questions like - "why and how the hell do you bother to know all that?", "why did you bother to type all of that out?" and "is it ethically correct to keep a mongoose as a pet?". Also, feel free to ignore all that i've just said. Or sleep trying to read it.