What's the roadblock with program files

is the roadblock. Every time that you install a program it gets referenced in the Registry. A new install won't have those references.

The best way with Acronis is to wipe the hard drive with a disk wiping utility, repartition it, do a fresh install and relocate My Documents. Install all of the programs that you require.

When you have updated everything boot from your Acronis CD and create a secure zone that can be used to house the Image of the Operating System.

Later on when needed you can restore the original image.

The other Hooks that the Programs Place into Windows would not be included so they are still unlikely to work.

I agree with Jacky here Just finish the Install and Clone the Drive with some form of Cloning Utility like Ghost, Acronis True Image or one of the others. It's much faster and easier to do things that way.

Windows is not DOS and works completely differently. You need to either install the software or clone the HDD to get a working system after a crash of some kind. The Clone Option is by far the best for any Production work where Down Time is money.

But then again [b]Standardization[/b] of the Hardware & Software loads is also a [b]Must Do[/b] thing to save time and money. You only need 1 Image when you have a standard hardware roll out and you can add any extra software that a Individual may use over the base Software install.

Col

Easy answer here is

[b]Windows is the Roadblock.[/b]

When you install most Windows Software it places hooks into Windows to work. There are Registry Keys involved and DLL files that get installed with most Windows Software.

Without either the Registry Keys/Changes or the DLL Files the software is not capable of running. There is a reason why you have to reboot the system after you install quite a lot of the Windows Programs and that is because the Registry Keys are not there to run the newly installed Software. The Install adds the keys or makes the necessary changes and then you must restart the OS to load the Changes for the Application to work.

The entire idea behind Windows was to stop Portability of Software between different computers. It then allows the Software Company to make money out of the customers who have to install the different bits of software onto every computer where they want to use it.

Instead of selling one copy and then allowing the business to use it on 5,000 different computers.

Look at things from the Software Makers prospective you have the chance of selling 1 copy or 5,000 to a big company which do you really believe that the Software Company will want to do?

Col

I'll be right over. ;)

Seriously, though, what interesting thing are you doing there?

you have to keep copies of the steps as you install the software. If I haven't access to a second System to use Notepad I write it down and then add it to my Library of text notes.

Your not the lone ranger as a lot of us had to work it out ourselves. It's good to see that you have an interest and you are willing to learn as I must admit I'm still learning and always will be.

You just hang around, I'm sure that a question will come your way and give you a chance to earn a few Thumbs.

Now - THERE is a curious point.

If you've had the scoller make two and a half passes (or even one single pass!) before going to the logon screen, I can only imagine that you are one in a million, or at least your 'puter is.

When I was running XP Pro, my rig would have that little scrolling line make between seven to nine passes before arriving at the logon screen. It was a bit of a lottery as to which figure it would achieve before arriving at logon.

However, perhaps due to my own stupidity, I never ever wished that it would have less passes of the scroller. I never realised that anyone else had less than me.

Interestingly, now that I'm booting into Windows 7, I don't have ANY scroller to sit and watch and count the number of times it crosses the screen. All I've got is a little animation of the Windows Logo spiralling out from a distant point way back in the screen, to form finally in the middle of my screen.

Perhaps Microsoft have realised the disturbing way that Users sat and counted the number of times the scroller passed across the screen. :D

Is just a simple timer that is affected by the software installed and the Hardware.

The more powerful the hardware the less time is taken to boot the system but the more software that you add the longer a boot takes.

This XP Rig has 100 Processing running by default when it first starts and takes about 18 Scrolls of the Scroll Bar to reach the Log On Screen.

Naturally if I didn't have so much software involved it's considerably faster only takes about 5 passes and has 34 Process Running. But at that stage the system is unusable as it just has the Bare OS and Drivers installed no extra software or the Added Windows Components that make the thing usable.

I keep a quick track of the number of times that the Blue Bar scrolls across the screen just to see if anything has changed in the system on the few occasions when it is restarted. Generally it's left running unless a Reboot is required because software was installed or there is a Thunder Storm Warning in which all electronics get turned off and unplugged. I do have a Mains Filter that is supposed to stop a Lighting Strike at 100 Meters but that doesn't mean to say that I want to test it to see how well it works with my computers or other electrical equipment.

The Filter is more for peace of mind rather than real protection. But even then it is a [b]One Use Only Item[/b] so once it absorbes the energy or rerouts it you need to have it replaced by a electrician. costs about $600.00 with the Sparkies Labor and I've had to have this done twice now over a 15 year period.

Still considerably cheaper than a Dual Xeon M'Board getting destroyed along with the rest of the bits that made that particular computer and I do have UPS's on all the computers which add another layer of filtering on top of the unit wired into the Fuse Panel.

As for installing the Dell junk I wouldn't bother, just install the OS then the Drivers and add what you require from Open Source Windows Applications as apposed to the Dell Supplied ones. From my experience I've found the Dell Utilities are only good for making Warranty Claims against Dell but they actually do not give a true indication of what is actually happening.

You can also mess with the System to alter the number of times that the Scroll Bar travels across the screen but all you are doing there is slowing down the timer not actually speeding up the Boot Times.

If you want a Perfect Install don't bother trying to install Windows it's a nightmare and you get hundreds of Load Errors every time that you reload the system. Just do a Clean Install add whatever Programs you need and Make an Image of the Drive to recover from latter when the OS crashes or gets otherwise corrupted.

I can recover form a image in under 30 minutes where as if I do a new Clean Install after wiping the HDD it takes several days to complete loading the system with all of the software that I use regularly. The only short cut here is to clone the HDD after you have all of the software installed. ;)

Col

As far as the 'My Programs' portability I guess I'm just dreaming about what I've deduced from all the answers is just not possible. But I find it hard to believe it can't be done. But I'm not hard to impress, there's times I'm convinced there must be elves inside doing magic of some sort. But it sure would be nice to be able to. I'd do clean installs a lot more often. And after relying on Acronis for so long it makes anything seem possible.
But enough of that rant, about Arenal, Costa Rica and geo thermal power production; Presently I'm working north of Arenal on a project in what is called the Las Pailas field, up closer to the Nicaraguan border. This is seperate from the Miravalles field (and plant) but physically part of the same system. And watching your first big pyroclastic eruption is something you'll remember forever. I've been here close to 12 years and I.C.E., environmental extremists and the fact that it's a small disorganized government and it controls everything relating to their generous endowment of hydro and geo energy makes life interesting, frequently frustrating but ultimately rewarding. And my comment about 'environmental extremists' isn't any indication of my feelings for the environment. It's just that most of the best areas for wells and generating structure are in the many National Parks, and it's not Costa Rican environmentalists that are holding things up. It's almost all North Americans and it embarrasses and angers me. With geo you're talking small footprint operations, very small and the alternatives are all costly and all dirty. Every few years a few tourists get cooked in pyroclastic flows, some just by bad luck and some by stupidity. This is a recent and the funniest fatality you're likely to run across. An Israeli (at least it wasn't a fellow gringo!) tourist went walking on an extremely dangerous (if you've ever been to Yellowstone it's like that) thin crust over boiling water from another volcano. Papered with warning signs not to do that. Naturally he fell through and was in the hospital for a month recovering. And guess what he did his very first day out of the hospital? Decided to go swimming in a pond surrounded by signs that said "DANGER! LARGE ALLIGATOR HABITAT!" This time hospitalization was not an option as they couldn't find enough of him to take to one. Call me sick but I find that hilarious.
Arenal volcano though is the one to see, as it's been erupting daily for 41 years now. And not just pyroclastic flows, which are pretty dangerous if you want to sit on the base of the mountain and watch. The pyroclastic eruption that signaled it's awakening wiped out a village five miles from the volcano. And the West side of La Fortuna is ON the volcano. You'd think people would be nervous but it's like L.A. and the San Andreas I suppose, you live in denial or go nuts. But pyroclastic flows are infrequent compared to the regular explosive eruptions that throw hot lava hundreds and sometimes maybe thousands of feet in the air. Many a night I've spent the whole night watching (and partying sometimes too). Hope that answers at least one question. I have hundreds of photos I've taken over the years and include not just the volcano but about every weird and/or amazing animals, birds and even insects as well as some good earthquake damage shots. If I remember and get back to this post anytime soon I've got lots of them on a Picasa web album and I'll post a link if you'd like. Didn't get any shots of the alligator incident tho.