OS & other apps on separate HDs??

[macx]

Having had more than once to reload everything
because Windows caught a problem, I'm wondering
if it's workable to load the OS on it's own drive and
put the rest of the apps (like Norton, Nero, Netscape,
etc etc) on another drive to keep them safe should
i.e. the OS has problems so, i.e. if the OS has to be reloaded and the drive reformatted, that all the
other apps don't have to be also reloaded and
set up again.`

Thanks for any tips / info!

 

[Nodsu]

No. Because of the wonderful thing called the registry, most of your installed applications depend on the health and presence of Windows. Not to mention that you will lose all start menu entries, personal settings etc anyway.

 

[Char_X]

Hi!
Some applications and games may work if you just save their program files previously but far from all. And also it means that you won't have the same settings as in your old system.
But if you want to repair something in your system you can use Repair option on bootable Windows CD - sometimes it helps and all programs and settings remain the same after it.
If you want to format your drive for any reason but want to keep your system with old programs and settings you need to back up boot partition or the whole drive by using any imaging software. After formatting you will be able to restore old system without any problems. Is it what you want or did you say about something else?

 

[macx]

Yes, I think that's what I said

Actually, I suspected the same, not being able to
keep apps other than the OS on a separate drive
to keep them safe should there be an OS problem
and not having to totally reload and reconfigure
them in the event of the need to reload the OS.

I have used Drive2Drive to totally copy a drive
elsewhere and it seemed to work well.

Although the answer wasn't what I was hoping,
I surely do appreciate your verifying what I can
and cannot do.