Going through the whole discussion at
microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment
as a non-technical is somewhat experienced computer
user with an XP with no floppy and an oem XP system
(no disk) I have come to what I hope is the reasonable
conclusion that Microsoft does not intend for me to be
able ever to restore my machine from a backup and
that backing up my mlachine is a total waste of time.
DL wrote:
I dont work for Acronis; its allways worked for me without any problemsThere
21-Mar-08
I dont work for Acronis; its allways worked for me without any problems
There is a fully functioning trial on their site
I have never used NTBackup; it was written in the days of floppy & Tape
drives
MS Has only just got round to producing an updated 'version' and then only
in certain flavours of Vista
Previous Posts In This Thread:
XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
Hi folks.
Have just gone through painful process of doing system restore, and was
hoping to use System Tool Backup to create ASR.
Hit the snag where I have a modern pc that uses USB Mass Storage device
instead of old fashioned floppy.
As I understand it, the floppy is used to hold the two files in
C:\WINDOWS\repair, Ie:
asr.sif
asrpnp.sif.
As far as I can make out from Googling this contains information for
diskpart to reformat Hard Drive volume.
By copying these two files off to USB, can my PC read this device when I
boot from XP install CD. (or use ones on hard drive).
I've been unable to ascertain safely how to make USB Mass Storage device a
bootable device. (PC recognizes USB when I boot from Dell utility disk,
because of modern BIOS, but says Invalid or damaged bootable partition when I
make USB Mass Storage Device primary boot device from BIOS).
I've seen commands for diskpart involving
clean
create par
etc
But I think clean works for active 'disk' rather than 'volume' and would
hate to wipe out HD instead of USB!
(My interpretation of diskpart command for clean is that it works on disk
not volume)
When I use list disk, I only see
disk 0 (The HDD)
When I use list volume, I see
C (Then HDD vol 1)
D (DVD-ROM Vol 0)
E (Removable Vol 2)
I guess really I don't care really if USB is not bootable, as long as when I
insert XP install disk and it gives option to do ASR, that it will find files
on USB (or HD) in repair folder, but would be intrigued to see if bootable
USB Mass Storage Device is possible.
So can someone tell me, will ASR prompt for non existent floppy during
recovery or is it smart enough to look on HD or USB Mass Storage?
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
The only time that I sused ASR, I had a bought a USB Floppy which the
program recognized.
Not only must you have a floppy, but you must use the XP distribution CD to
perform the recovery.
Acronis is so much better.
Jim
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
Jim wrote:
"The only time that I used ASR, I had a bought a USB Floppy which the
program recognized. Not only must you have a floppy, but you must use the XP
distribution CD to perform the recovery. Acronis is so much better".
I am still confused by ASR as a whole. If my hard drive has single partition
an backup is on this partitition, even if I somehow get ASR to recognize
asr.sif asrpnp.sif from floppy drive I have to purchase (how daft is this!),
won't ASR use these files to re-partition/format drive and in process wipe
out my backup file, thus shooting myself in the foot!
It makes me think I need to partition hard drive and maintain backup/sif
files on seperate partition. Then somehow I need to get ASR to magically
recognize second partition to do restore. I guess I could use something like
Partition Magic to save going through manual re-install yet again...
But I've seen comparison for Norton Ghost vs Acronis True Image here:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/drive-imaging-reviews.htm
(admittedly a bit dated, but makes me tink Acronis is better choice)
Also seen mixed reviews Amazon customers have said about Acronis, and feel
reluctant to make purchase:
See:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acronis-Tru...-reviews.start=1&qid=1206010119&sr=8-1&colid=
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
I can't see how you could backup a partition to a file which lies in the
partition that you are saving to an archive. Almost any backup program
would eventually get into an endless loop.
There is nothing magical about getting Ntbackup to recognize a second
partition, provided that you have assigned a drive letter to the partition.
If you don't or can't assign a drive letter, then you cannot use Ntbackup.
Sorry, I can't comment on customer reports on Amazon. Acronis worked for me
when nothing else would. In fact, if you were using Acronis or Ghost, we
would not be having this conversation because you would have long ago
restored your disk.
Jim
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
Supported Floppy drives that XP ASR works with:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916196
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
Perhaps so. The KB actually discusses which USB CD drives that the XP
installation CD will recognize for the purpose of downloading SATA drivers.
While the installation CD will probably recognize these drives during a
repair process, only MS knows for certain. At least, they have access to
the
source code.
The documented way to restore an ntbackup is through an option of the XP
installation. This procedure requires you to have an installation CD.
Jim
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
:
1) I can't see how you could backup a partition to a file which lies in the
partition that you are saving to an archive. Almost any backup program would
eventually get into an endless loop.
2) There is nothing magical about getting Ntbackup to recognize a second
partition, provided that you have assigned a drive letter to the partition.
If you don't or can't assign a drive letter, then you cannot use Ntbackup.
3) In fact, if you were using Acronis or Ghost, we would not be having this
conversation because you would have long ago restored your disk.
My problem is understanding how ASR works.
On point 3) I am not convinced of either Ghost or Acronis. May I clarify, I
have already manually restored the system in an incremental fashion. The
whole system restore came about in the first place because of Java EE SDK not
uninstalling cleanly and preventing me from being able to install newer
version. It's a Glassfish thing. See:
http://forums.java.net/jive/message.jspa?messageID=261982
http://forums.java.net/jive/thread.jspa?threadID=38121&tstart=15
On point 1) If you've ever done a backup using XP's own backup, it allows
you to save the backup file back to your C: drive when you do an ASR backup.
It's clever enough not to include the backup file itself in the backup!
It's point 2) I am most interested. In retrospect I think I should have
partitioned drive, but having never done ASR before, am learning as I go
along.
Before I go ahead and re-install Java, I want to make sure I've got my
system saved so I can restore more easily if Glassfish goes awry again.
When you insert XP Install disk it gives you the option to go to ASR via an
F key.
I take it it's going to need a Microsoft XP compatible USB floppy to begin
with?:
I echo John Mahoney's thoughts "Sorry Microsoft but I have a hard time
finding USB drive's by the Plug and Play ID #!" at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=47971
* (with respect to earlier post Supported Floppy drives that XP ASR works
with
*
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916196
(Or will the XP Install CD be clever enough to find sif files/backups
onsecond partition? I may even get second external Hard Drive)
There is another possible alternative to Acronis. That is Slipstream/nLite
that is a feasible alternative:
See:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm
http://www.nliteos.com
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
:
"It's point 2) I am most interested. In retrospect I think I should have
partitioned drive, but having never done ASR before, am learning as I go
along.
Before I go ahead and re-install Java, I want to make sure I've got my
system saved so I can restore more easily if Glassfish goes awry again. When
you insert XP Install disk it gives you the option to go to ASR via an F key.
I take it it's going to need a Microsoft XP compatible USB floppy to begin
with?"
I hope this now clarifies my earlier dilemna.
If the sif files are on a floppy and ASR uses those to do diskpart on C
drive, it'll wipe out the backup file that's on the C: drive. Hence shooting
myself in foot.
So this is why I am asking if I manually partition HD or buy second external
HD, and do backup/copy sif files to this, can ASR recovery process detect
backup/sifs on second drive or second partition on same drive. (Maybe
parition magic can come into play here?)
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
Jeremy:
I restored the drive in my laptop one day last week using Acronis. Here is
how:
1) I have a desktop and a laptop. I make a backup of the system disk of
each computer every week. This backup includes all partitions.
2) At the beginning of each month, I copy the current system backup file for
each computer to DVD media. I use Easy CD Creator for this task.
3) I determined that the problems on my laptop actually began sometime in
January. Hence, the last known good configuration was the December backup.
4) I took the December backup disks to my desktop where I recreated the
December backup file. Easy CD Creator will accomplish this task.
5) I decided not to use the repair partition because I am not certain that
my problems were only caused by software errors.
6) I put a new disk in a 2.5 inch USB enclosure.
7) I downloaded the December backup onto this disk with Acronis.
8) I removed the existing disk from the laptop and replaced it with the disk
I had just created.
9) I booted the laptop, and all is well.
Can Ntbackup restore hidden partitions?
Can Ntbackup make differential backups?
Can Ntbackup perform a clone operation?
Ntbackup can backup and restore data quite efficiently.
This process took the best part of an afternoon to accomplish. It would
have taken at least a couple of days to get to the same spot if I had
started with the repair partition.
I may make the repair partition into an Acronis Secure Zone because you can
boot from that and keep on working while Acronis is restoring your system.
Jim
Re: XP System Backup. ASR No floppy drive
:
"Can Ntbackup make differential backups?"
I think you'll find it can via backup type:
"Normal, Copy, Differential, Incremental, Daily"
I think you've indirectly hit on another way for me to archive backup file
though.
On to DVD. I can use Roxio for this. (So sif files which contain partition
information won't wipe out my backup file)
Sorry if this seems rude, but Jim.. do you work for Acronis?
You see I've already decided I'm not going down the Acronis/Ghost route.
I'm looking for clarification specifically on the ASR process when you have
an XP Pro SP2 install disk.
I've done re-installs manually on several pcs in past. It's just ASR is new
to me.
BTW:I've never mentioned anything about "repairing partitions"...
I dont work for Acronis; its allways worked for me without any problemsThere
I dont work for Acronis; its allways worked for me without any problems
There is a fully functioning trial on their site
I have never used NTBackup; it was written in the days of floppy & Tape
drives
MS Has only just got round to producing an updated 'version' and then only
in certain flavours of Vista
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