I have this external drive going unused and decided to try my hand at that whole backup thing. I've never bothered before. There's never been anything I've needed to keep that wasn't already archived for tax/accounting purposes.
I know there's better backup programs out there, but Windows Backup is what I've got so far.
So here's my question:
If I have to wipe the drive and reinstall and patch Windows XP, can I run Backup to then restore my entire computer? Or do I need to use a bootable CD to execute Backup over a wiped drive?
Yea, real newb stuff. I barely qualify as a PC owner I went from Dell to Alienware to iBuyPower...
Its been a couple years since I was doing support stuff but AFAIK the Windows Backup is only for data backup, you need "drive imaging" software (like Ghost from Symantec) to do a full OS+data backup.
One of the radial buttons is "Everything on this volume". I think it's the third one. The first two are as you noted: This Users Docs and All User Docs
Hmm, unless they changed the Windows Backup software recently, I think that button is only for data, not drive image. Found this article on using something called Syncback freeware to do the image, I'd be interested to hear other opinions as this is something I want to do as well.
If I have to wipe the drive and reinstall and patch Windows XP, can I run Backup to then restore my entire computer?
Short answer: Yes. Pay close attention to the "System State" backup and restore options in the backup program, and you should be able to fully restore a vanilla XP installation of the same service pack level as your backup.
Ah, sweet, thanks for the details guys. Think I might try that full image backup freeware. WinXP Backup wants a bootable floppy disk insert, and I didn't even have one of those in my last PC. I'd rather go freeware.
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I went from Dell to Alienware to iBuyPower...