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Title: Windows Backup question Post by: Venkman on December 03, 2007, 02:53:09 PM 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... Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: Sir Fodder on December 03, 2007, 03:34:07 PM 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.
Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: Venkman on December 03, 2007, 03:40:11 PM 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
Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: Sir Fodder on December 03, 2007, 03:43:26 PM Hmm, unless they changed the Windows Backup software recently, I think that button is only for data, not drive image. Found this article (http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/geek-to-live-automatically-back-up-your-hard-drive-147855.php) 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.
Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: funcro on December 03, 2007, 06:59:34 PM 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. See here for backup details (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820) for and here for restore details (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309340/EN-US/) and here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx) for an awesome publicity picture. Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: raydeen on December 04, 2007, 04:18:26 AM http://sysresccd.org/Main_Page (http://sysresccd.org/Main_Page)
Haven't really played with this yet but have heard good things. Does drive backup (a la Ghost) in addition to other useful things. Title: Re: Windows Backup question Post by: Venkman on December 04, 2007, 06:49:02 PM 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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