Community poll forum: Have you ever had to use any of your file backups?

On my primary systems it's usually just to restore individual files that become corrupt or accidentally deleted. However, on my test rigs I have to restore using a Ghost backup at least once a week for various reasons, almost always stemming from installing alpha/beta software.

John

OEM's come with junk, junk and more junk. As soon as you get a new computer you should format it, consolidate all the nitsy-bitsy "backup and recovery" partitions into one, reinstall your OS and only install what you need. Then back up files onto CD's when you need to. Don't bother backing up your operating system, what's the point in being all sentimental about an OS?

Ashamed to say, but how do you back up your operating system? It sounds like something I should do.

It is important to make a ghost image of your Os. I have had to use it many times after accidentally deleting a ntldr file or something. Without the proper help from a pro, you will not be able to restore the ntldr file. this is done in Dos. So you may have to rely on the OS "ghost" copy. I say "ghost" cause that is what it is just an image of your existing OS. You pick the software...Norton's "ghost" or I like to use Nero it is very easy I did it on my very first time. also When I tested it out. I made sure that I would not miss a single file on that partition. Basically backing up the back up. If this sounds like jibberish probably is.

What I am saying is get an external HD...Back up all important data files on that. PICS, Bills, Music, stuff you find important in life... Then hopefully you have at least 2 or 3 partitions on the your Hard disk drive. then back up stuff you can live without but you may want to have it at a later time...After basically you have stripped down the OS try re installing the ghost image over what you have now on your OS that you want to test.

BTW you want to make a full copy of your OS before you start moving any files and stuff around...This will ensure you that the reinstalled image of your OS will be the one you wanted and fully intact. I hope this helps man. It is early in the morning here in Las Vegas the city that truly never sleeps.

Roxio Go Back is now owned by Symantec, I believe. I have been using it for a while and have had to restore my system to a previous date or time about 10 times. I have also used it to restore a single file, but only once or twice. I use a USB external drive and backup my whole hard drive (C: drive) twice a week.

I purchased, based on reviews, Acronis True Image 9.0 and would LIKE TO BACK UP MY SYSTEM for complete restoration purposes, but am having trouble at the start, as there is no documentation other than searching Q&A. May I ask what you use in Acronis for a restorable image (is it the Backup Wizard or the Clone Disk); I am having problems with their tech support people who don't have a great command of the English language. They also insist that I first use the Microsoft program Sysprep, which appears to delete the identity of the source computer=scary. Did you find that you had to use this program?

I use Retrospect for incremental backup and Acronis (used to use Ghost but Symantec has ruined it) for imaging systems. Use both for my personal test beds and use Retrospect on client machines both PC & Macintosh. Also make Acronis to image machines I sell to clients that way I can quickly restore if they screw them up.

In a previous life, I was a Unix system engineer for a major organization, and my job had a significant user support component for not only servers but PCs as well. The question is not whether or not you're ever going to need to restore from backup, but when.

If you don't have the backups, you will lose your data. Think about it... All your email addresses, everything you've written and "archived" on your PC, your Quicken accounts, your irretrievable, incalculably precious photographs, EVERYTHING, will be lost if you haven't got a backup WHEN, not "if," your hard drive goes into the dumpster.

Oh, sure, you can go to a sector-by-sector recovery firm and maybe, just MAYBE, get some small percentage of it back, weeks later at a cost of maybe $3,000, but wouldn't it be easier just to back things up?

I no longer do full system/data backups. It's really only necessary to retain the following:

1. Your Windows and all you initial driver distribution disks for all your hardware.

2. Every application distribution disk you might wish to reinstall. You should also save downloaded application distributions to CD just in case, although it's usually better to download and install the most recent versions after you restore your O/S and connectivity.

3. Periodic printouts -- on actual PAPER, because all your saved data will be gone -- from Belarc Advisor (for an overview) and PC Wizard (for more richly detailed information -- what a WONDERFUL app!) so you can reference the actual state of hardware and software installed on your PC.

4. Your ENTIRE "My Documents" folder saved to disks.

5. A copy on CD of those folders out of the "Application Data" folder that cannot be easily recreated, like the one where your email data is stored and your web browser bookmarks/favorites. Most of the folders in "Application Data" only contain "Preferences" configuration information that you can easily redo after recovery, so you don't need to keep these, although they're usually so small it's not really an issue. Others, however, like some picture sorting apps, contain large indexes that might cause complications after reinstall. It might actually be BETTER to leave these off.

Twice on my present computer (and innumerable times on the computers of others) I have had to restore from backups. First I restore the system and drivers from initial distribution, and update those as needed to the most recent versions. Then I restore the applications, from distribution if I purchased them, and then update to current from their internet sources. I then restore my most essential internet-sourced applications (like Eudora and Firefox) in their current versions, and I leave off those applications I installed but then found that I never actually use them. Then I restore my data, first the "Application Data," and finally the "My Documents," from CDs. Finally, I re-download and reinstall my enormous host of "auxiliary applications" over the internet in their most recent iterations (Belarc Advisor is so nice to provide me with a list of all of these things I'd installed previously!).

Admittedly, this method makes restoration more time consuming and difficult to complete, but the end result is vastly superior for a number of reasons.

1. If you restore from a complete backup, you will get everything back just as it was but with all the accumulated cruft (and potentially even malicious code which may have caused your crash in the first place, and corrupted files with their corruption intact) that you've loaded your system with over years of use. When you restore from distribution, you get clean installs and your computer runs like new.

2. You get everything you download in its the most recent version without any unwanted, system-draining remnants of previous releases.

3. Through the refreshment this does to your own human memory, you get a permanent better sense of what you've got, where it is, and what you really need. It makes YOU a better geek!

Because my computer is (how shall I put this?) rather mature, it takes me several days to complete the whole procedure, although my computer becomes usable for things like email and web browsing within only a few minutes of restoring the O/S, drivers, reconnecting to the internet, and installing and configuring the email and browser apps -- a matter of a couple of hours.

It's a pain, sure. But so's any other way, and this leaves you actually better off in the end than you were before the crash.

...is/was an excellent solution:

http://search.ebay.com/alohabob_W0QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsopZ1QQxpufuZx

to migrate from one PC to another. Usually, your important data is stored in Documents and Settings under your username. If you adhere to Windows' default of keeping all data in the My Documents folder and not scattered all over your hard drive you will be OK. Now, as far as programs go, AlohaBob should work fine, but I would gather up all my installation CDs anyway.

As for your Belkin setup, the typical way to recover is to install the backup application on a new, working PC, and then look for the "Recover" option, select the drive with the backup data, and go.

Best of luck!

Tony

From time to time I have installed an app that causes annoying slowdowns, or a device that caused a debilitating conflict. In some cases the app would not completely uninstall, causing a host of problems that once required hours of googling message boards and tech pages for DOS fixes. Now I can restore to an earlier time when the system was stable and the annoying app wasn't even a gleam in my hard drive's eye. One thing I did learn, though, was to create a restore point BEFORE putting anything new on the system...just in case. AND to avoid apps I'm not positively sure I want. Some upgrades (like--ahem--Acrobat 6 Pro) are not welcome on my stable and zippy fast system. More is NOT always better, Adobe!

I have done a C:\\ Drive recovery almost every 6 weeks since buying this machine in Sept '04.
I have turned backing up, and resotration into a habit.

I use the Tune-up Utilities when I am in the mood for a different colored theme. I have never had a problem using this software, let's just say that it is very microsoft friendly. This software actually has about 15 different working applications built in. From Registry cleaner, to icon choosers, to task managers. Nice!! Worth the money.
Try it sometime.

To return the operating system and system/program necessary files to earlier states, generally after i have messed around with them and corrupted something somewhere accidentally on purpose.

I used to do the weekly backup and save it to a CD but it became so...annoying! I keep my data on a separate partition, like I tell all of my friends and family. But I should do a monthly backup just in case an EMP is released in my general area. I think I will start backing up again, thanks CNET!

I don't restore because theres nothing on my computer that I need to save.