I need to reformat my system to use 128 byte inode size instead of what it defaulted to (256 byte). Quickly, the reason is that third party tools like Ghost 14 and True Image 11 don't recognize 256 byte inode ext3 and will only do sector by sector imaging (too huge).

So, what will guarantee a successful file restore after I re-format?

Do I need to reformat and then re-install SUSE or can I just reformat and then restore all my files without a new installation?

What is the best way to get all my files to an external drive and then back?

Eg.

rsync everything to elsewhere, reformat using, perhaps, gparted. Drop to a shell and rsync everything back?

rsync everything elsewhere, reformat, reinstall a default set up then copy everything back (locked file issues, perhaps? Could maybe still use the CD boot shell idea if so.)

Use something other than rsync as one of the above?

Something else completely that I haven't thought of.

I really don't want to lose the way I now have things set up so any expert help would really be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Simon

I would suggest you use a new USB drive, much quicker than rsync, you can backup individual directory trees, e.g., copy /home to the usb drive.

On the subject of Ghost and TrueImage, have you thought about using PartImage? You'll find it on the systemrescuecd: http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page. I'm not certain whether it will deal with 256 byte inode, but you can always give it a look see.