Step 1: Backup

Before you even think about doing anything to your hard drive, you need to back up all your critical files. This means not only all your data files (you did organize them all in a single location, didn’t you?), but also those application files and other software pieces that took some time and/or effort to acquire. Included on this list should be updated driver software, applications patches, service packs, bug fixes and any other enhancements that you’ve downloaded off the web (and don’t have available on CD or in some other handy form). I also recommend you save your browser bookmarks which, if you're using Internet Explorer, can be found in the Windows/Favorites folder.

One file that's commonly overlooked (because it isn't stored in an obvious place) is your Outlook or Outlook Express e-mail file. The easiest way to find it and back it up is to search for *.pst off the Start menu. All Outlook files use the .pst extension and you can be sure to find yours this way, even if it doesn't have the default name of Outlook.pst. Generally speaking, your Outlook file should be in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. This is important to know because when you reinstall, you need to copy your .pst file back to this same directory.

In addition, don't forget to write down all your network settings from any network log-in you have, as well as those found in the network control panel. If you have dial-up networking connections, remember to right down the settings for each of those as well. When you go to re-establish your network settings, you'll be awfully glad you did.

You’ll probably run into a problem with applications that automatically update themselves over the web, because they don’t necessarily have an easy way to find the update files they’ve downloaded. If that’s the case with some of your applications, you’ll probably have to simply let the application "re-update" itself after you re-install it.

Windows 98 or Windows ME updates that occur via the Windows Update feature may also present this problem, although you might be able to find them in your Windows directory in a hidden folder called msdownld.tmp (at least, that’s where they were on my machine). To view hidden files, open Windows Explorer, select Folder Options from the View menu, select the View tab, and click on the Show all files radio button.

You don’t need to back up all your applications because you can more easily install them off their original CDs. In fact, part of the point of this exercise is to re-install your applications so that all the right files get put in all the right places. For this reason, I also don’t recommend that you make a complete disk copy, or disk image before you do a re-install of all your software. If you do, and then you restore that copy, you could end up with the same types of problems that led you to take on this procedure in the first place. Just back up what you need.