Question regarding an odd backup method.

[jstreet]

Hey all - I have a 16.8GB hard drive, that's half filled. My system crashes all the time, is full of junk, and I just want to start over, but at the same time I need access to my old files. Here's my plan, I'd love to hear whether you think it's crazy or not.

Use Microsoft Backup to backup my entire system to a file, then delete everything but that file. Reinstall Windows 98, my apps, etc and then selectively restore what I want when I want from that one legacy file. Assuming I don't idiotically delete the file, this should all work fine, right? Ideally, I'd love to just buy another HD but I don't have the cash at the moment. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
-Ben

[coleslaw]

you might be better off partitioning your hard drive into 2 partitions, moving all of the stuff that you want to keep to the new partition, format the old partition, reinstall windows, transfer your needed files back, and then merge the 2 partitions back together.

[Nanotech9]

I agree w/ coleslaw... you can use partition magic to do the trick or partitioning w/o loosing everything.

Also, if you want to save some space, I believe Norton Ghost 6.x will compress everything to one "image" file, and then you can use the "Ghost Browser" or whatever it's called to pull what you want out of the image.

[haven]

ditto 2x