I just read the original post again...

Depending upon what the "etc" is, reformat/reinstall maight be easiest. Or, clean install on a new hard drive, and use the old one as a document, movies, etc. drive.... That'* what I do. I can R/R anytime I want without losing a thing (I even backup my user profile folder so my favorites are saved)

Hans, a little more detailed info on how to do that would help all of us that are less than very computer savvy. As in...details man...details...

enable hidden files and folders and system files etc from the folder options section of xp.

depending on what programs you have and if they have scripts that are saved you need to indentify where the files are...ususually I will just backup the entire user'* profile to be safe...aka go to documents and settings, find the username you want to save and back all that up..not all of it can be put back on the new install, you can do a lot of the folders though.

this backs up everything in the my documents section, the desktop and the ever so important "application data" folder thats commonly forgotten. if you end up missing stuff like favorites, saved passwords, etc you can dig up the info and copy it back on to the fresh install.

Ahhh.....Thanks!