Prolly a dumb question but..

[silverlining]

...what's the harm in asking?
So, my computer's been a bit nutty lately. Sometimes it doesn't start properly, sometimes it crashes on startup, sometimes it crashes not on startup etc. So I want to reformat it and am planning to do that after I buy my mini laptop this weekend (so I can backup stuff on the laptop). But i'm really dreading having to reinstall all my TS2 games. I'll backup the important stuff (downloads, n-hoods etc) of course, but it takes such ages to install (especially since some of my cds are sorta worn, haha). So, though I'm sure the answer is "no"; is there any way to reformat my computer without having to reinstall TS2?

[CharlieChomper]

It's definitely not a stupid question.

In answer to your question, partly because of reasons involving the registry system in Windows, once you reinstall it, you'd need to reinstall the game, plus the expansion packs, and stuff packs, etc.

On a semi-related note, you may want to check into just how much you'll actually be backing up to make sure there's enough room for everything on the mini laptop.

[silverlining]

I figured that was the case, just wanted to know if there was a loop-hole somewhere, heh.

I *think* the laptop will be enough. The only problem is my "my images" folder, I should weed through that some first. but if it doesn't all fit, I'll borrow my mom's external harddrive as well while reformating.

[CharlieChomper]

Which operating system will you be running on the laptop?

If it's Win XP, you need to make sure to leave (at least) 100MBs free per partition (in Windows/DOS terms, think letters (aka c/d/e, etc.) not just to avoid Windows complaining or nagging about it but also because that space is generally allocated toward the swap file--which is why Windows complains or nags when it's lower than that number.

With Linux, there is no such restriction in place.

Edited for clarity.

[silverlining]

I'm getting Linux probably cos the computer I'm getting (the little blue Acer Aspire One) is cheaper with Linux.

[CharlieChomper]

Let me know how things go.

[silverlining]

I will!

Oh, I thought of another q. I want to copy my bookmarks/favourites so I have them on the laptop too. How do I do that?

[CharlieChomper]

Which web browser(s)?

It is usually possible to transfer bookmarks from one system to another, but the steps involved differ depending upon the browser you have your bookmarks (or favorites) stored.

[silverlining]

Mozilla 3 or whatever the newest is called ^^

Haha, I just checked and that computer's harddrive is nowhere near big enough to move all my stuff onto...dang! I guess I'll have to use my mom's external harddrive too, or find some other way to do it...so complicated!
And guess what? The same computer with windows XP, which is 1500 SEK more expencive, has a 120 GB harddrive. The Linux one has 8GB...
Dang it, I knew it was just a tad too good a plan to work

[CharlieChomper]

Ironically, when I read your initial question, I had it in my head to type out the directions to do this in Firefox (Mozilla is the name of the Foundation as well as their first major release in the browser market and which Firefox is derived from), but then rethought it in the "just in case it's IE or another browser" scenario.

It's actually fairly easy to deal with the bookmarks system with FF in that if you go into "bookmarks"->"organize bookmarks"->"file"->"export" it should save a copy of them into a html file which you can transfer to the new system. From the new system, you go back into "bookmarks"->"organize bookmarks"->"file"->"import" and select the html file you created from the other system and that should give you back all your bookmarks.

Also as to the hard drive space issue and differences, the reason for that likely goes back to part of the reasons you'll never find WinXP on an embedded device--it uses up far too many resources for that realm to be considered "efficient" (even its sibling, the aptly-named WinCE that's Microsoft's entry in that market fails in this respect, among other reasons) and given just how many system resources it uses and how large of an imprint it makes (to give you some idea into this I have two hard drives on my dual boot Linux/Windows system (which actually includes two Linux distributions running alongside XP) that equal a total of 260GB, most of that space is allocated to Windows and I'm currently running at over 97-99% full for most of the Windows partitions, with maybe half of the partition I have XP, itself, installed to already half-full. In contrast to that, My Linux partitions are much smaller and still have plenty of space left in them even after 7 years in one distro, 4 in the other and despite the fact that I probably spend more time in Linux than I do Windows and its where most of my files actually reside).

In contrast, Linux tends to be a bit "better suited" in this area (as the requirements tend to be far less in comparison and much broader--so, for example, if I had a 64-bit processor, I can run it at the full 64-bits and not suffer from the loss of resources or performance that I might with a 64-bit edition of Windows, even, or even just the 32-bit editions (which will only clock in and run at a lower speed than they normally would be able to) and does not usually require as much space in general.

The particular distro that Acer chose to go with was actually designed with the embedded market in mind as well as things like netbooks, which is amongst the reasons as to why it was chosen. It therefore, has lower power and space requirements compared to some of the other distros that are out there and that may explain why there may appear to be less space.

Another factor in this is that programs written for Windows tend to be massive by comparison to what's available for Linux just because of how differently things tend to be handled at times. For most Windows applications, you may need separate libraries or dependencies per program whereas with Linux, much of the open source community has been very good about trying to avoid "reinventing the wheel" as it were with things like libraries and other components in favor or reusing what's already out there or else make use of already standard ones and build off that, so that means less space required. Even just the formats are different.

Related to this, you're also having to deal with drivers and the amount of space they take up in Windows (as everything including the processor requires a driver for it) as that's just the way it was designed. In Linux, we really don't have drivers to speak of outside the video card and the module for sound--everything is built into a single component of the operating system called the kernel (all operating systems, incidentally, do make uses of kernels--it's just in how they're implemented that determines the role they play into things and how "important" they are), which is set up in such a way as to support whatever hardware is in the system which eliminates the "need" for drivers.

Plus, when dealing with hard drive partitions, in Windows you end up losing a set amount of space because of how the file systems it uses handles things (the amount depends upon both the hard drive's geometry as well as what file system is used (ie NTFS or sometimes even FAT32), along with the size of the partition). Linux, in contrast, uses very different file systems (of which there are many choices of, including--if someone really wanted to go that route for some reason--support for FAT32) that handle things differently in this respect.

So, in short, the reason as to why there appears to be such a discrepancy may have more to do with the operating systems' actual "needs" versus anything else.

[silverlining]

Thanks for the bookmark tutourial. I remembered there being something like that to do but I've failed at it once before so I wanted a proper explanation.

Well yes, I know that Windows takes up a lot more space than Linux (you've told me before, after all). But it doesn't explain why there's such a HUGE difference. 8 gigs is really very little these days. I mean, the music files I have on this computer alone is about 5 gigs. But I've decided to go with the little Acer anyways and simply switch out my music once in a while and use my mom's external harddrive to backup things while reformating. Then if I decide I need it at some point I can either get an extra internal harddrive (though I dunno if they make 'em small enough for netbooks) or just get my own external harddrive that I can take with me as well.

[CharlieChomper]

My apologies for the repetition.

I just had another look and the 120GB is for a HDD (what I suppose you might call a "regular" IDE hard drive, albeit laptop-sized) whereas the 8GB is actually for a SSD drive (which is a slightly faster technology that's coming back into adoption and tends to cost a bit more overall, but has a much better reliability rate compared to standard IDE and tend to be more durable.

I suppose you can think of it in terms of being somewhat related (although, not the best of examples) to compact flash and the like--hence the more obvious discrepancy (going back to compact flash and things like USB "thumbdrives"/"sticks", it's a similar premise of where they're still working on increasing the amounts due to certain physical limitations that exist and trying to find ways of overcoming them that don't result in potential problems or issues as has happened with some hard drive manufacturers in the past in an attempt to further push things along.)

However, there actually is a model of the Acer out there (specifically from what I've found--I'll need to look into whether or not it's available in Sweden as well--is that A150L appears to ship with it) running Linux that does come with a 120GB HDD drive as well. With the current state of development, a number of companies appear to be trying to move toward SSD adoption in this area.

That may be the more likely explanation into what's happened.

[silverlining]

Yes, I did see a 120 GB Acer with Linux, but it was as expencive as the Windows 120 GB one and could only be bought from one online store (which I'd never heard of and which only had so-so costumer rating).

[CharlieChomper]

What music format do you primarily listen to (ie MP3, iTunes, Ogg, etc.)?

Amongst my reasons for asking is that if you have a "thumbdrive"/"USB stick" (depending upon your preferences in terms), you can try and copy some of the files over to that whilst working on the new system versus constantly transferring back and forth between systems or changing things about in this respect.

:

Regardless, I hope everything does go well with this and let me know how things do go.

[silverlining]

Mostly MP3s. I do have a USB stick but it doesn't fit all my music either. Thanks anyways though.

Getting the computer today. Quite excited ^^

EDIT: Got the computer now. It's so tiiiny! And cute *squeel*

I'm really not used to not having a proper desktop to put stuff on. Will take a while to get used to this one but that's ok. I also don't like having to us a touchpad so will wish for a wireless mouse for my bday ^^

[CharlieChomper]

The directory structure in Linux is not that much different from Windows, really, when it comes to where your files are kept (by default, they should be stored under your account name in the "home" partition).

However, if you're talking about the desktop's layout, there is a more "advanced" menu available which is unlockable. As I think I may have mentioned earlier, the distro Acer chose has two variations for the desktop: the "simple" mode that Acer chose to make the default (claiming it might appear easier for users) and a more "advanced" mode which Acer attempted to disable but is still there and can be unlocked (someone I know with that same system and model had managed to unlock it). There have been members of the community who have posted directions on this, as they managed to figure out how to unlock it shortly after they were first released.

Regardless, congratulations and let me know if you've any questions!

[silverlining]

Thanks CharlieChomper!
Since I'm only gonna use the computer for studying, writing, surfing the web etc I think I'll be fine with this menu rather than having a proper desktop like I'm used to. It'll just take some getting used to is all!
Thanks for all your help! I'm sure i'll start pestering you again about something else soon, haha.

[CharlieChomper]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it.

Also, please don't hesitate to ask away if needbe. I really don't mind.