What's the best way to install WinXP to allow easy re-installs?

[redivider]

I've always installed Windows on a single partition taking up an entire drive (which also contains my applications and My Documents), so if I want to reinstall/reformat, I have to back everything up, reinstall Windows, restore all my documents, resinstall all of my software, etc.

I'm trying to figure out way to set everything up so that I can reinstall Windows with as little disruption as possible.

I guess the main thing I'm thinking is that I should split the drive up and keep all my documents separate from the Windows partition. Would that allow me to reinstall Windows without having to restore backups every time? Or would I still end up having to reformat the entire drive anyway? I'm not trying to avoid doing backups, I do that already. Just trying to make the reinstall process a little easier.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

A separate partition helps and I would also reccomend investigating several different programs for imaging your drive.

 

[JasonSix78]

When you create multiple partitions, you can setup the My Documents folder on a seperate partition from the OS. That way anything saved to the My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, and so on will be stored away from the OS partition.

Click Start, Right-Click on My Documents, Click Properties, and you can manually select the target for the folder (example: D:\My Documents)

Hope that helps.

-Jason