Backing Up Operating System

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob
  • Start date Start date
R

Rob

I just obtained an old second hand computer with Win98. The computer did
not come with a restore CD-ROM.
Is there any FREEWARE that I can use to back up the OS with all the drivers
to CD-ROM or another hard disk?

Rob
 
[""; Wed, 06 Aug 2003 00:26:12 GMT]
Clone a second hard drive:
http://www.xxcopy.com/
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance. I have XXCOPY on my machine but never thought about
using it to clone my hard drive; so I want to make sure that I understand
this. Two things:

1. Basically, using the /CLONE command ("Duplicates a directory (volume)"),
I could make an _exact_ duplicate on my hard drive, so that if my hard drive
crashed, I could restore my laptop to the exact position that I was in at
the time of the back-up?

2. Does XXCOPY support spanning the job on multiple 700 MB CD-Rs? The only
note I see in the XXCOPY notes about disk (or disc) spanning is about the
switch /SP: "Spans the copy job over multiple destination (new volume)."

Thanks!
 
Clone a second hard drive:
http://www.xxcopy.com/

Backup and restore very quickly this way. But get a removable tray for
it for virus security purposes.

Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
Click to expand...

Art,

Many thanks for the info. XXCOPY looks like a great way to clone my hard
disk onto another hard disk. Can I also use it to clone my Win 98 OS onto a
CD-RW?

Or should I use another program for backing up my Win 98 onto a CD-RW?

Rob
 
[""; Wed, 06 Aug 2003 00:26:12 GMT]
Clone a second hard drive:
http://www.xxcopy.com/
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance. I have XXCOPY on my machine but never thought about
using it to clone my hard drive; so I want to make sure that I understand
this. Two things:

1. Basically, using the /CLONE command ("Duplicates a directory (volume)"),
I could make an _exact_ duplicate on my hard drive, so that if my hard drive
crashed, I could restore my laptop to the exact position that I was in at
the time of the back-up?
Click to expand...

Exactly. And with Win ME you can use xxcopy's exclusion switches to
_not_ copy c:\_restore (system restore) or whatever else you might
wish to exclude.
2. Does XXCOPY support spanning the job on multiple 700 MB CD-Rs? The only
note I see in the XXCOPY notes about disk (or disc) spanning is about the
switch /SP: "Spans the copy job over multiple destination (new volume)."
Click to expand...

That I don't know. I just use it to clone a backup drive.

Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
What about using Savepart at
http://perso.club-internet.fr/guiboure/en/index_frame.html
It looks like Savepart will back up a partition (with an OS) to CD-ROM.
Click to expand...

At the present time, I happen to have software for a CD-RW but the
physical unit isn't working. Since I have no use for it I have no
plans to replace it.

In a different vein, in breezing over the manual for Savepart I was
reminded of the fact that when I cloned my backup drive on my "new"
Win ME PC (using xxcopy) I didn't bother to make it bootable. It's
perhaps worth mentioning that Win ME is quite different from Win 9x in
this regard. It's not just a simple matter of doing a SYS d: from a
system diskette the way it is with Win 9x. I know how to do it for Win
ME since I've designed programs for creating bootable ME diskettes. I
simply didn't bother since my plan is to replace the main drive if it
breaks, and then make the new drive bootable before restoring from the
backup drive.

What I might do, now that I think of it, is create a little program to
make a freshly formatted secondary h.d. bootable from the Win ME
environment.

Anyway, thanks for the link.

Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
Hi Art,

I am sorry to hear that you are using Win ME. I have heard many people
complain of its quirks! You may want to seriously consider upgrading to
Windows XP or Win 2000.
Click to expand...

LOL! I had considered W2K (but never XP. No way). I happened to find a
steal on a Hp Pavilion with the Win ME install disks. It has a 900 mhz
PIII with 128 RAM and I'm satisfied with it. No quirks that I haven't
been able to fix. The main thing with any OS is good weekly
maintenance. And attention to security aspects.

BTW, I got off on a bad tangent there concerning the bootable aspect
using xxcopy. It was so long ago that I did my old Win 98 clone that I
had forgotten that the procedure involving FDISK to handle the MBR
etc., is all written up in the xxcopy info ... including the slightly
different info for Win ME.

Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg
 
I am sorry to hear that you are using Win ME. I have heard many people
complain of its quirks! You may want to seriously consider upgrading to
Windows XP or Win 2000.
Click to expand...


WinME is the best Windows OS once you get rid of IE 5.5 and other baubles
like System Restore and PC Health. These are what cause any problems with
it.

OPPCOM:

www.beta10.com

Sorry, but personally, I would consider moving to 2000 or XP a downgrade,
especially since that huge security flaw was found a few weeks ago.
 
Rob said:
I just obtained an old second hand computer with Win98. The computer did
not come with a restore CD-ROM.
Is there any FREEWARE that I can use to back up the OS with all the drivers
to CD-ROM or another hard disk?

Rob
Click to expand...

Win2K has a native backup prog but the only way to make it work for a CD is
to mount a drive (the CDR) to a folder and then backup to that which
automagically puts it onto the CD in the drive. Win2K has a procedure for
the mounting.

Writing DVDs is a similar process and there's a tool (Daemon Tools) that is
a freebee and it mounts the DVD drive to the folder. I'm using it right now,
with DVD Decrypter, to burn DVDs. I'm pretty confident that it would also
work for CDs. Then you would do your backup to there and it would get
written to the CD. It's probably worth a try, if you can't get anything
more transparent.

Good luck,

S
 
I wholeheartedly agree!!! XP is the bane of the modern world! ME is head
and shoulders
better ... and, for the exact reasons 'donut' mentioned.

===================================================================
 
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