One of the biggest pains for any computer user is that, at some point of time, you may have to reinstall everything you ever put on your computer. No one likes it but usually it happens no matter what computer or OS you use.

This tragedy could happen because of a virus, flaky OS upgrade, hard disk gone bad (aka done blowed up) or the computer really needs a total wipe and OS install to get it functioning properly again.

One of the methods I use to help speed up the re-installation process is I create the Virgin Install folder; a special folder where I put any downloaded programs, utilities and driver updates in.

I also backup that folder in case of a hard drive crash.

Anytime I download a program, utility, or updated driver for my hardware I make sure I put it all in one place - the Virgin Install folder. If for some reason I uninstall something I put there, I move that file into a subfolder labeled Uninstalled. Simple, eh?

What happens when I download a new version of the picture viewer utility, XNVIEW, for example? I download the new version to the Virgin Install folder and delete the old version’s file. If you want, you can move the old version to the Uninstalled subfolder and keeps a history of as many previous versions as you’d like.

While not a cure-all, using The Virgin Install Method™ can save you valuable time when tragedy strikes your computer.

Got any shortcuts you use to cut down the time to re-install, please feel free and share them with us.