How can I do a system image for backup?

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I've heard that one can do a system image for backup, and then do the backup, so in case your system crashes, you can restore it the way it was. My computer crashed last November and I had no backups of anything, much less the whole system or registry. There was some kind of partition problem, so I had to re-install WXP. And then go through the long and tedious process of downloading everything again. So, how does one do an image of their system, and then do a backup? Thanks.
 
You need a third-party "imaging program", such as Norton's Ghost.
Visit: http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| I've heard that one can do a system image for backup, and then do the backup, so in case your system
crashes, you can restore it the way it was. My computer crashed last November and I had no backups of
anything, much less the whole system or registry. There was some kind of partition problem, so I had to
re-install WXP. And then go through the long and tedious process of downloading everything again. So, how
does one do an image of their system, and then do a backup? Thanks.
 
Hi,

Why not consider using a spare drive as a removable? Ghost, a great HD
imaging program. Why not clone your active drive, then unplug it, your
things will not be very vulnerable to loss.

Every week or so when your main drive is feeling good, do a clone of it
to the removable. If your main drive ever throws a rod or something all
you'll need to do is switch the jumper from slave to master and you're
good to go, no reinstalling of anything. Your backup drive/s aren't
likely to get infected with anything not being connected most of the
time too.

Then there's a good chance what you're running isn't so easily backed
up, but a clone is a pretty easy out if it'll work in your situation. A
couple of clicks to get it going, then go play elsewhere while it's
doing its thing.


---==X={}=X==---


Jim Self
AVIATION ANIMATION, the internet's largest depository.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com

Your only internet source for spiral staircase plans.
http://jself.com/stair/Stair.htm
 
Thanks Jim. But I'm not sure I know what you mean about using a spare drive as a removable. Not to sound dumb, but do you mean backup onto a CD? If I clone my hard drive, what do I clone it to, and if my system crashed how would I recover/restore it? Is it better, or just easier and faster, to clone the drive as opposed as doing an "image" of one? As you can tell, I'm not very "literate" on these kind computer issues, but I definitely want to get my hard drive backed up somehow, and soon, so if I ever crash again, I can recover easily. Thanks.
 
=?Utf-8?B?Y2F0cHVycnNvbg==?= wrote in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support:
Thanks Jim. But I'm not sure I know what you mean about using a spare
drive as a removable. Not to sound dumb, but do you mean backup onto a
CD? If I clone my hard drive, what do I clone it to, and if my system
crashed how would I recover/restore it? Is it better, or just easier
and faster, to clone the drive as opposed as doing an "image" of one?
As you can tell, I'm not very "literate" on these kind computer issues,
but I definitely want to get my hard drive backed up somehow, and soon,
so if I ever crash again, I can recover easily. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Get a copy of Norton Ghost. CLONE your hard drive to another drive and if the first drive
goes south on you, just pop in the backup and you're good to go. Norton Ghost is your best
bet. I've been using it for years.
 
I came across this article by Jim Foley ("Elder Geek"). Hope you'll find
helpful.
Protecting The Windows XP System and Data
http://www.theeldergeek.com/protecting_the_system.htm
The bottom line -- literally -- "....if you did have a total system failure
my experience has shown that a reformat and full install or using an image
restore program is far more satisfactory than using a full system backup
that can easily and quickly lead you back into the situation that caused the
initial failure."

I started using the freeware DrvImagerXP 5 months ago and I have not looked
back since. It has transformed my entire computing experience.
(Runs on .NET Framework; no tech support; DrvClonerXP -- can't comment: have
no experience of that -- is the same but for a 2nd HDD)
http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/13/2/13-2-39.shtml


--
[I have found my Shangri-La in ntlworld.]


--
catpurrson said:
I've heard that one can do a system image for backup, and then do the
Click to expand...
backup, so in case your system crashes, you can restore it the way it was.
My computer crashed last November and I had no backups of anything, much
less the whole system or registry. There was some kind of partition
problem, so I had to re-install WXP. And then go through the long and
tedious process of downloading everything again. So, how does one do an
image of their system, and then do a backup? Thanks.
 
Okay, I'm still confused. What is "another hard drive"? As far as I know, I have one hard drive in my computer. I have one computer. I don't plan on getting another one anytime soon. Computer I mean. I can't clone to another hard drive if I don't know what you mean or exactly what it is. Please explain that part, because right now, I'm still lost. Sorry! Please be patient with me, I'm still learning. Thanks for your help.
 
=?Utf-8?B?Y2F0cHVycnNvbg==?= wrote in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support:
Okay, I'm still confused. What is "another hard drive"? As far as I
know, I have one hard drive in my computer. I have one computer. I
don't plan on getting another one anytime soon. Computer I mean. I
can't clone to another hard drive if I don't know what you mean or
exactly what it is. Please explain that part, because right now, I'm
still lost. Sorry! Please be patient with me, I'm still learning.
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Not a problem,.... I was assuming you had a second hard drive you could copy your primary
(C) drive to. There's another alternative... you can backup/copy your hard drive to CD's via
your burner. That way, if your hard drive crashes or is otherwise out of commission, you
could install your windos operating system to your new drive, load up your backup software
on the new drive and then copy your data from the CD's to the new hard drive. Use the
Google search engine and you'll find a gazillion other ways to backup your hard drive.
 
Thanks Bee. I just wrote a reply and sent it, but I don't think it went through. So I'm trying it again. I downloaded DrvImager XP today, and have it on my computer now. I've been reading the help index, it's really good and helpful. It says if you don't have that much on your computer (or partition) it's best to do the imaging with xcopy, which comes with XP. I have a 40 gig hard drive, with only 2 gigs used up. My C drive is File system: NTF
Partition size: 40,970,084,352. So now I don't know if I should use DrvImager or xcopy to do the imaging. What do you think? Also, when I tried to download it with my dl manager, FreshDownload, it said "forbidden" and wouldn't even start the download. So I resorted to an IE download, which worked fine. So what does it mean when it says "forbidden"? Thanks for your help.
 
I have no knowledge of "forbidden" in FreshDownload. That was some months
ago though; yours may be of a newer version. I now use FreshGet, which has
a
better GUI, among other things.

For my lone 40GB HD, I have chosen the following scheme, all in NTFS:
Partition (P) 1 2 3 4 5 6
Drive Letter* C H D E F G
Cap chosen 5000 3000 6100 6100 6100 remainder(MB)
Given by 4.88 2.93 5.96 5.96 5.96 12.59(GB)
machine Work- (Lever Image Image Image Data
horse
WinXP (WinXP
SP1 + (SP1 + critical upd + .NET Framework
critical upates
Protectn (ZA only
Internet- (Int conn
connection
Essen. (DrvImagerXP only
appl kit
*Except C for 1, all others are inconsequential, choose what you like.

Boot to P2, use DrvImagerXP to save P1 to P3 (11½m). No Xcopy.
Boot to P1 for all my day to day computing.
While on P1, in the event of a malfunction, restart, boot to P2, use
DrvImagerXP to restore P1 from P3 (12½m).
In actual fact, after the initial testing, I use P5, not P3 for this
purpose, for P3 is designated Semi-permanent Master, P4 Every Evening, and
P5 Pre-event.

Other points:
1) In the Save and the Restore panels, I allocate 630MB to each Chunk, so
there are only 8 Chunks, i.e. 8 CDs, to contend with.
2) Want to save/restore in Save Mode? I select No.
3) System Restore is disabled in all drives (partitions) except C: (P1).
4) Activate WinXP in P2 early for it can easily be forgotten, not being in
constant view.

This is the setup that works for me, thus far.

So now, I am bolder in experimenting with my computer. But crucially, I
have no worry about virii, parasites, hijackers, worms,Trojans, spyware,
adware, malware and any sort of ware that I don't want. I just restart,
boot to P2, restore P1 from a saved image, in P5, P4, or even P3, go and
make a cup of tea, come back and all is well again.

Good luck.

Bee.
--
[I have found my Shangri-La in ntlworld.]


--
catpurrson said:
Thanks Bee. I just wrote a reply and sent it, but I don't think it went
Click to expand...
through. So I'm trying it again. I downloaded DrvImager XP today, and have
it on my computer now. I've been reading the help index, it's really good
and helpful. It says if you don't have that much on your computer (or
partition) it's best to do the imaging with xcopy, which comes with XP. I
have a 40 gig hard drive, with only 2 gigs used up. My C drive is File
system: NTFS
Partition size: 40,970,084,352. So now I don't know if I should use
Click to expand...
DrvImager or xcopy to do the imaging. What do you think? Also, when I
tried to download it with my dl manager, FreshDownload, it said "forbidden"
and wouldn't even start the download. So I resorted to an IE download,
which worked fine. So what does it mean when it says "forbidden"? Thanks
for your help.
 
It is FlashGet , not FreshGet.
Also, P1 and P2 are created as primary partitions, the rest extended
partitions.
The Restore panel does not require any Chunk size allocation.
Whatever size you choose for your partitions, allow for about 1½GB free
space as 'elbow room' in partitions that may be used for burning files from
the HD onto CDs, for two temporary files of the size of the file being
transferred, which can maximally be near to 700MB, are being created in the
process. Besides, whenever the free space is reduced to below 1GB, a low
disk space warning will be triggered for that partition. This pops up from
the Notification Area on every reboot.

Bee.
--
[I have found my Shangri-La in ntlworld.]


--
Bee said:
I have no knowledge of "forbidden" in FreshDownload. That was some months
ago though; yours may be of a newer version. I now use FreshGet, which has
a
better GUI, among other things.

For my lone 40GB HD, I have chosen the following scheme, all in NTFS:
Partition (P) 1 2 3 4 5 6
Drive Letter* C H D E F G
Cap chosen 5000 3000 6100 6100 6100 remainder(MB)
Given by 4.88 2.93 5.96 5.96 5.96 12.59(GB)
machine Work- (Lever Image Image Image Data
horse
WinXP (WinXP
SP1 + (SP1 + critical upd + .NET Framework
critical upates
Protectn (ZA only
Internet- (Int conn
connection
Essen. (DrvImagerXP only
appl kit
*Except C for 1, all others are inconsequential, choose what you like.

Boot to P2, use DrvImagerXP to save P1 to P3 (11½m). No Xcopy.
Boot to P1 for all my day to day computing.
While on P1, in the event of a malfunction, restart, boot to P2, use
DrvImagerXP to restore P1 from P3 (12½m).
In actual fact, after the initial testing, I use P5, not P3 for this
purpose, for P3 is designated Semi-permanent Master, P4 Every Evening, and
P5 Pre-event.

Other points:
1) In the Save and the Restore panels, I allocate 630MB to each Chunk, so
there are only 8 Chunks, i.e. 8 CDs, to contend with.
2) Want to save/restore in Save Mode? I select No.
3) System Restore is disabled in all drives (partitions) except C: (P1).
4) Activate WinXP in P2 early for it can easily be forgotten, not being in
constant view.

This is the setup that works for me, thus far.

So now, I am bolder in experimenting with my computer. But crucially, I
have no worry about virii, parasites, hijackers, worms,Trojans, spyware,
adware, malware and any sort of ware that I don't want. I just restart,
boot to P2, restore P1 from a saved image, in P5, P4, or even P3, go and
make a cup of tea, come back and all is well again.

Good luck.

Bee.
--
[I have found my Shangri-La in ntlworld.]


--
catpurrson said:
Thanks Bee. I just wrote a reply and sent it, but I don't think it went
Click to expand...
through. So I'm trying it again. I downloaded DrvImager XP today, and have
it on my computer now. I've been reading the help index, it's really good
and helpful. It says if you don't have that much on your computer (or
partition) it's best to do the imaging with xcopy, which comes with XP. I
have a 40 gig hard drive, with only 2 gigs used up. My C drive is File
system: NTFS
Partition size: 40,970,084,352. So now I don't know if I should use
Click to expand...
DrvImager or xcopy to do the imaging. What do you think? Also, when I
tried to download it with my dl manager, FreshDownload, it said "forbidden"
and wouldn't even start the download. So I resorted to an IE download,
which worked fine. So what does it mean when it says "forbidden"? Thanks
for your help.
Click to expand...
 
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