Win7's unofficial, no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall

The new WindowsSecrets newsletter is out. I have two stories in this issue.

The "Top Story" (free to all, no subscription required):

Win7's no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall

Microsoft won't tell you this, but you can do a fast, nondestructive, in-place, total reinstall of Windows 7 without damaging your user accounts, data, installed programs, or system drivers.

That means you may never have to do a full, from-scratch reinstall again, even when your system is misbehaving so badly that a full reformat-and-reinstall seems the only answer!

It's a complete how-to, with many screen-shot illustrations.

My regular Q&A columns answers reader question on these topics, this week:

• ID those cryptic programs in Control Panel
• Can't unlock files secured with XP's EFS
• Replace double clicks with single clicks?
• Hardware-based passwords for notebooks, PCs

Here's the full issue rundown:

The following link includes all articles this week: http://WindowsSecrets.com/comp/110714 Free content posted on July 14, 2011: TOP STORY By Fred Langa Win7's no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall You need three things before you begin Avoiding problems with Win7 Service Pack 1 Start your Win7 in-place reinstallation Your Win7 reinstall is almost done! LOUNGE LIFE By Kathleen Atkins Yikes! My software hates my hardware! WACKY WEB WEEK By Tracey Capen Watch out! This photo booth has attitude   Paid content: LANGALIST PLUS By Fred Langa ID those cryptic programs in Control Panel Program names in uninstall "very cryptic" Can't unlock files secured with XP's EFS Replace double clicks with single clicks? Hardware-based passwords for notebooks, PCs KNOWN ISSUES By Katherine Murray Looking for green (energy) in cloud computing What that gigantic cloud will bring to computing Greenpeace reports on cloud service providers Go do some more energy homework, Twitter What we can do now, next week, and next year PATCH WATCH By Susan Bradley Office File Validation patch leads to problems OFV: A good security concept, badly implemented Bluetooth: Patch it or never use it Visio and the preloading-.dlls threat Taking out 15 kernel bugs in one swat Attackers can gain more privileges Time to update USB drivers in Windows 7 Big hard drives can lead to big headaches Regularly updated problem-patch chart A portion of your support helps children in developing countries Each month, we send a full year of sponsorship to a different child. Your contributions in July are helping us to sponsor Noemi Elena, a six-year-old girl from Chile. Children International channels development aid from donors to Noemi Elena and her community. We also sponsor kids through Save the Children. More info

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