So, add a second hard drive to what I have, and use it, along with imaging software, to backup what I already have?
Yes, Imaging software makes a snapshot of your entire hd and stores it in one file, and restores it EXACTLY the way it was, this is especially useful if you suspect a virus/trojan on your current setup or have problems like tonite where xp interferes with the restore process, like registry settings.
TrueImage, incredibly easy to use, incremental backups etc.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
Norton Ghost, which is really a composite of Powerquest's DriveImage and the previous Ghost.
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/features.html
These can be bought online and downloaded right to your pc, so no need to go shopping for them.
One thing you COULD do, since you have an 80gig drive, and the "sytem" does not usually need more then 15 or 20gig, for its needs::
DO a Partition. That is what I have done.
I wanted my music and video files to be in a seperate location from the "c" drive. Like you , I have a lot of them. SO, I partitioned my drive, and have 2 "virtual" drives, labelled "c" and "D". I have over 40 gig for my media space, this way.
The DOWNSIDE of this, is if you lose a drive, it is ALL lost. Last month, I lost hard drive. Luckily, I had seen it coming.I had tied another drive in place and had backed up MOST of my files, so, when, after new years, the driev died, I did not liose too much. BUT.. Until I could get windows reloaded, I was wihtout a computer ,for 8, loonnnnggg days!!!!!!!
BTW-- good job, with the regedit fix. THAT can be tricky!!
I was out, till a little bit ago, with my sister, seeing "hitch", with Will Smith. Not too bad, not too dirty. Might be worth seeing, none of the usual, black on white racism, as in some of those kind of movies, and it is FUNNY.