What to do BEFORE reformatting

I see lots of threads describing how to reformat and reinstall software, but I am not sure what things should be done beforehand to prevent future problems.

I've only gathered one thing so far: register Lojack (if you purchased it) before reformatting.

Is there anything else that absolutely, positively must be done before an OS reinstall?

 

Besides backing up your data? No...

But, if you have other software like Lojack you might need to register them but it all depends...

All in all though, you should be set.

 

Like shoelace said back up your data. The next thing you can do is be prepared for your new OS, whatever it may be. Make sure that your hardware is compatible and that you have the appropriate drivers. Thats about it, really. You're ready to nuke your HD.

 

Yup, I've done this before and definitely will take care of the basics.

It's XPS specific stuff like the Lojack stuff that I'm not so sure about.

 

Well Lojack is a software company all of its own so I am really not sure what you mean by "XPS specific stuff"...

What software are you talking about??

 

Some XPSs such as my 1530 come with a subscription for Lojack as part of the service/support contract. I read that if Lojack is not activated prior to reinstall (I guess the key is part of the initial load?) then it might be very hard to ever get it activated. I was wondering if that's the only such thing I need to worry about with a fresh XPS machine.

 

If you use Outlook, back up your Outlook data file. It's buried quite deep, contains all of your emails, contacts and calendar entries but is stupidly not in your default-for-everything-else 'Documents' folder. You can use Outlook itself to just export a PSD file, or you can find it manually and copy it somewhere safe. You can later import the file, or just point Outlook to the new file location (put it in your Documents folder!).


Slightly off-topic, but one thing you should do after formatting (and installing, I assume, Windows) is move your Documents or My Documents (Vista / XP) to a different partition than C: (Google how to do this if you're unsure, it's very easy).

Future reformats of C: will then not mean you having to back-up all your documents.

If you can move My Documents to an entirely different HD, not just another partition on the same drive as Windows, even better.

If your Windows HD dies unexpectedly, you've still got your important data. If the HD with your documents on it dies unexpectedly, you have a chance to recover the docs (if it's a software failure) or can easily restore them from a backup (which you do make occasionally, right?).

Personally, my Documents folder sits on the same drive as Windows (I've only got one in the laptop) but the really important stuff goes to a semi-permanently attached SD card which then gets backed up to a DVD-RW occasionally.

 

If you like to put important docs on an SD, I know that SanDisk has a pretty sweet deal like $35 for a card that goes in the express card slot (but holds an SD card) and you tell the card what places you want automatically backed up (ie My Documents, My Music, etc.) and as soon as you add or remove something from those folders it backs up what you've done on your SD card!!

Pretty kool and cheap especially if you already have an SD to use.. ^-^;