Can I temporaryily store MS Office on external HDD while performing system recovery?

Hi There,

I intend to clen up my notebook. To do this I have purchased an external HDD. I intend to copy all important info to this external HDD and then perform a system recovey.

however, i am concerned about my MSOffice package. I intend to drag the MSOffice folder to the external HDD while performing the recovery. Once the recovery is complete I am hoping to drag the folder back to the Notebook HDD.

Will this work and cause no problems?

I have reviewed a few forums in relation to this issue but cannot find any solid answers.
Most forums seen to cover topics that involve transferring MSOffice to an external HDD permanently and everyopne seems to say that this does cause problems with regestreies(i am not too what this means as i am not too computer literate).

Any advice would be much appreciated in relation to this matter.

I have MSOffice2003 by the way......

thanks very much
Ziggy

 

By system recovery, do you mean a complete hard drive restore (like returning your computer to the original new configuration) ?

If you will be doing a complete restore, that will delete all the registry entries of any program that wasn't part of the original configuration. If you move the office 2003 folder, it will no longer work when you move it back.

Laplink pcmover is the only program that can move all your programs (including registry entries) and reinstall it onto a new operating system. But it is expensive and only useful if you lost the installation cd's to your original programs. When I used it, it created a "moving van" file this contained all the programs that where going to be transfered (you can save this on a external), after you do the windows recovery, you can unpack the "moving van" into your "clean" windows.

Whatever you do, make sure you do an image backup of your "system partition" that way you can at least get back to your current configuration in case something goes wrong. Use this free software to make an image backup and save it on your external. It's good insurance to have before making any major changes to your computer.

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

 

Which Windows OS are you using? What problems are having that you need a system recovery?

 

Hi,

thanks very much for the advice.

yes it is a complete hard drive restore and returning to the original state,
i had a virus on the laptop a while ago, i have managed to remove the virus, and all seems ok in that regard. However, now and again i receive a message on start up saying some files are corrupt and i need to insert one of my backup boot discs....also the internet has slowed and does not always load pages....
it is for this reason i feel a restore would freshen up to notebook.....
however, if there are any other suggestions i would again appreciate any advice. Is there any way to "refesh" the system with the boot discs or some sort of system restore....and hang on to all my information??

thanks again

 

Windows XP: Turn off System Restore. Restart Windows in Safe Mode. Run your antivirus and antimalware apps again to be on the safe side. Restart in normal mode. I'd even go so far as to run an online scan with Trend Micro HouseCall to be on the "safer" side. Total time spent: about two hours depending on your system.
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Clean out junk files and registry with CCleaner:
http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10315544.html?tag=mncol
Restart.

Now try to repair your system files without wiping out all your programs and personal folders. There are two ways to go. Either way you'll need your Windows Installation or recovery disc.
Option one: try a sfc scannow. You repair your Windows system files and retain all updates, personal folders, and program files.

Read this:
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html
Forty minutes.

Option two: Windows Repair install. You retain personal folders and program files but will have to redownload all Windows updates including non critical software (e.g. WMP 11).

Read this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
Forty-five minutes.
If you go this route download and save SP3 as Windows critical updates are all included to that point. Run the saved SP3 file. That will save lots of time. Then burn SP3 to CD for possible future use.

Go here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en
Thirty minutes.
You'll still need to download critical updates that came out after SP3 but those are fast.

Hopefully now all is well and you saved yourself the all day job of a complete reinstall where you start from scratch and have to reinstall eveything.
Whichever way you decide to go consider Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost to backup your now entire "healthy" harddrive to your external drive so you don't have to relive the nightmare. Well worth the money.

 

Hi,

thanks very much for the advice again.
I decided to try a repair install rather than a total recovery. I tried to follow the steps but once i inserted the backup boot discs it didnt give me the options i was expecting.....it did give the option to perform a PC Recovery, this advised no data files would be lost, I thought that this was similar to a repair so i decided to go with this.

Unfortunately, i pretty much wipped the laptop clean,..ah well.... but it did leave alot of folders.
My MSOffice folder is still on the laptop and when i launch, Word for example, from within the folder, it does open but then an error message pops up saying i need to run setup, I dont actually have the CD, i cant find it.....is there anyway to recover Office from what i have on the laptop.

Also, i have a webcam, it is a Kinstone Clip Webcam, i dont know the version and it now is not recognised, i think it is looking for the driver. I have also been on to the Kinstone website but i cant find a picture the matches my camera, I dont suppose anyone would know where to get a free driver download?

thanks again for the help and any further advice would be much appreciated

Ziggy

 

At this point you might as well reformat, do a clean installation, and hunt high and low for your program CD's. Without them you are...out of luck.