Community Newsletter: Q&A: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was...
- 8/30/07 3:39 PM
Restoring your OS
by 1up2down - 8/17/07 6:37 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The easiest way is to use an imaging program like Acronis True Image. This can be used to create an image (an exact copy) of the whole hard drive or just individual partitions including the operating system. Making an image or restoring it only takes a matter of minutes. My own operating system including all the programs installed on it uses up over 40 GB of space on a 100 GB Partition, and this only takes me about 25 minutes to create or restore an image of it. It's an extremely easy program to use and should you ever accidentally delete any files, all you need do is open the image and copy them back again.
But whilst talking of backing up using images, I also use a program called Alcohol which allows me to create images of all my CDs too. Better still, it also allows me to create up to 31 virtual CD drives on my hard drive. Unlike CDs, the images can't be scratched or damged. So if you have any programs installed that require a CD to be left in the drawer, simply create an image of the CD, mount the image on one of the virtual CD drives and no more keeping a CD in the drive.
These two programs are the most important tools I have and I wouldn't know what to do without them. How often do you hear of someone struggling to solve difficult problems they are having with their operating systems. A few minutes restoring an image and problem solved.
Yes, it can be done.
by William Sommerwerck - 8/17/07 6:37 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hard drives are dirt cheap. You'd think it would be possible to make an exact backup to a second hard drive, so that -- when the first fails -- you could simply reboot with the backup drive, without having reinstall or reconfigure anything.
I'd looked for such software for years. Norton Ghost claims to make an exact backup, but the backup won't boot past the first stages of the Windows 2000 desktop -- it halts and informs you the swap file is either missing or too small. Norton's various workarounds for this are incomprehensible.
But there's hope. Several months ago I found Copy Commander. Lo and behold, it makes a bootable copy on a second drive. You might have to restart the drive twice, because it seems to be "fussing" over some configurations, but it works.
I now back up my main drive two or three times a month using Copy Commander, knowing that a failure of the main drive will lose only those items not backed up since the last full drive copy. Those I cover with a periodic copy to a Zip drive.
TO: Yes, it can be done.
by sgt1035 - 8/29/07 11:05 AM In reply to: Yes, it can be done. by William Sommerwerck"...Those I cover with a periodic copy to a Zip drive..."
I'd be very careful if I were you...I own over 200 ZIP disks. Most have failed and my info cannot be retrieved. I have 2 external and two internal ZIP drives that are no longer working.
Since IOMEGA offered little to no assistance and wouldn't replace them (they failed just beyond the warranty), AND I wanted to access my my info on the disks, I took the easy way and bought another ZIP drive.
Long story short? How would you like to purchase some ZIP disks cheaply???
Just a 'heads up'...
= SGT =
simple system backup
by battleborn1 - 8/17/07 6:54 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There's several ways to accomplish what you want, but if you want a nice, super simple simple way, buy Acronis true image and a spare drive that fits your computer. Make a clone copy, I've used my copies a few times and they are absolutely perfect. Depending on how often you want to update the copy is up to you. I only do it when I make some big change in my system, usually new software and new uninstalls, because I back up important data by just copying it to a third disk daily if need be. For laptop disks they make nice compact aluminum cases that fit in a shirt pocket, and I bought an extra manufacturers hard disk tray for the clone. So my hard disk can burn itself up any way it chooses and I can roll the clock back in five minutes. I think it is very cool indeed.
Simple, complete backup
by jacksaul1 - 8/17/07 7:09 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Your question can be answered simply. Use an image cloning program such as Acronis TrueImage .Back up your image to a second hard drive, either internal or external(via a USB or Firewire connection). In the event of a hard drive crash, which prevents you from accessing your operating system, whether XP, Vista,Linux etc. You may set your computer BIOS to boot from your CD Rom Or DVD drive and use the recovery disk made with your backup program. In the case of Acronis TrueImage, with which I am most familiar, the program installation disk can be used as a recovery disk. If you choose to download the program from Acronis's web site, there are instructions for making an emergency disk. Acronis TrueImage will recoognize external USB and Firewire disks as well as your internal disks. DVD disks, CD disks can also be used to make the cloned image, but a second hard disk drive is the best way to go.
JackSaul
Two Possible Solutions
by High Desert Charlie - 8/17/07 7:12 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First, you can use software like Norton Ghost, or Acornis True Image to manage your backups for you. In the event of a hard drive failure, either of these programs can bring you back up to the last backup you made, saving all of your programs and data at the time of the backup.
Second, is using a RAID configuration to give you a continuous backup of your data. This is a great method in the event of a hard drive failure, but not so great if your problem is viruses or corrupt system files. When using RAID 1, or mirror, you create two identical copies of your data on separate drives. If you have viruses on one, you will have viruses on the other. The RAID however, will give you the most up to date copy of your data, so if one drive fails, the second drive will continue to operate.
Hope this helps.
Backup and restore your computer
by bwannam - 8/17/07 7:12 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A program that I have been using lately with good success is - Acronis True Image. You can create a complete back-up of your computer or choose just what you want. It will backup to CD's, DVD's or an external hard drive, which is what I have been using as it saves time and you don't need to throw away the media when you are ready to create another image. To restore your image, you have to create an Acronis boot disk, and then choose the image you want to restore. The program itself is relatively inexpensive and if it saves your hide once, you'll be more than happy you bought it.
Restoring HD
by miatapete - 8/17/07 7:18 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First thing to load and set up before accessing the internet is a good antivirus and internet security program.
I know two people who did restores and they connected to the internet and as soon as they connected to the internet a pop-up was there telling them that a program had changed the registry and had a link to restore the registry.
Of course this was all garbage and the link probably would make changes allowing access to the computer. I knew right away when they asked about this because I had made the same mistake and got the pop- up as soon as connected to the internet. (I did a second restore even though I did not click the links) but after the second restore I made sure Norton Internet Security was installed and running first before connecting. Then there were no pop ups.
Acronis
by LE5691 - 8/17/07 7:27 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Recently I had two of my computers "melted" - Windows XP would not start and Norton GoBack was not up to the task. If I had reinstalled Windows XP I would have had to remember and re-install all my software and desktop shortcuts - I keep data on another driver. Fortunately I had used Acronis to back up an image of my C drive. There was nearly no loss.
Backups and updates
by mjd420nova - 8/17/07 7:46 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Many backuo programs have their own way of doing things, but once you learn a procedure it becomes simple. One of the things I do when setting up a new system is to install the OS, all the patches, updates and the other software to run the other hardware I use, such as video drivers, CD/DVD burning programs, printers, scanners and other things that might be connected to USB. Once I get all them installed and working together (this may take numerous tries) I then back up to a DVD. I also use a second physical drive to load programs, music and pictures unto so that I'm not cluttering up the boot drive. Once the boot drive is backed up, I then reburn a new disk once a month to keep up with the updates. Then I only need to backup the second drive which holds all the data at my convience.
Backup
by Fire1946 - 8/17/07 8:01 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you really want to back up everything, you need Ghost 10 and an external harddisk. If you just want to back up files a CD or Flash Drive is fine.
Peter
How to back up your C: drive
by donmarkc76 - 8/17/07 8:06 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have installed a second hard drive in my computer. An external drive is also an option. Then purchase Norton's Ghost version 12 program on a CD disk and install it on your C: drive. Install a Ghost folder to save several dated images over time on the second drive. When you save a Ghost image of your C: drive to that folder (I always date them) it will save everything on the C: drive including the Registry and nothing will be lost. If you lose the C: drive, install the saved Ghost file onto the new hard drive with the Norton disk in.
It has been the absolute best program I have of many on my computer. I save an image copy when ever I do maintenance and everything works the way it should. My images are about 10 GB each and I keep the last 6 or 7 I made. It is similar to what System Restore was supposed to do but your complete C: Drive will be as it was at the time you made the image so you will lose everything after the time you restored back. I always save a copy of everything important to folders on the second drive anyway, so do that continually and you should lose only what you did not save. Ghost has saved me multiple times.
Don Rochester, MN
RESTORE COMUTER
by oluwabukuola - 8/17/07 8:14 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
BEFORE I LEARNED HOW TO RESTORE MY COMPUTER I WOULD ALWAYS CALL THE MANUFACTURER (GATEWAY) ABOUT THE COMPUTER. HERE ARE SOME STEPS THAT I DO TO RESTORE
1. GO TO ALL PROGRAMS
2. GO TO ACCESSORIES
3. A FLAG WILL COME UP,
4. SCROLL DOWN TO SYSTEM TOOLS
5. ANOTHER FLAG WILL COME UP
6. SCROLL DOWN TO SYSTEM RESTORE HERE A CALENDER WILL APPEAR THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL PICK A MONTH AND DAY OF A STARTING POINT(THE MONTH AND DAY YOU FIRST BOUGHT THE COMPUTER HOME) BE CAREFUL YOU MUST BACK-UP YOUR FILES RESTORING WITHOUT BACKING UP YOUR FILES THEY WILL BE LOST.
7. THERE MAY BE SOME QUESTION TO ANSWER AFTERWARDS THE COMPUTER WILL GO BLACK
8. PRESS F8 UNTIL THE OPTION PAGE COMES ON THEN HIGHLIGHT THE WORD SAFE MODE.
9. THE DESK TOP WILL BECOME ENLARGE TO SUPER SIZE
10. PRESS THE START BUTTON THEN RESTART YOUR COMPUTER THIS SHOULD TAKE YOU BACK TO WHAT YOU ARE TRYING YO RESTORE. HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION IF NOT TRY THE COMPANY WHO MADE THE PRODUCT.IF THIS DO NOT WORK MAYBE THE MANUFACTURER CAN DO A CLEAN SWEEP TO BRING IT BACK TO THE ORIGINAL STATE
Restore Computer
by Fire1946 - 8/17/07 8:39 PM In reply to: RESTORE COMUTER by oluwabukuolaI have once restored my Gateway as you described it. Unfortunately, the result was that I have lost one program completely and a whole new family tree in Family Tree Maker! Something that should not have happened. When I informed Gateway accordingly,they were clueless.
Peter
restore computer to a former date
by denisegm - 8/17/07 9:10 PM In reply to: How to back up and restore my PC to the exact same condition it was... by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
on the windows xp site, there is a button you can restore your computer to a former date, this helps if someone else has used your computer and mangled your filesor you have lost something, works for me everytime........ i use it often.denisegm@melbpc.org.au
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
