I won't bore you with the reasons, but I need to make a complete duplicate of
my windows directory including all system & hidden files (i.e. 'Copy of
Windows') without the dreaded 'File In Use' stopping me.

It must be possible because my Acronis backup software does it, but using
that entails dumping the entire Windows directory to somewhere else and then
I probably won't have sufficient disk space to restore it to a renamed
directory, when all I want to do is copy it directly...

I've tried booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt, but that's not like
Boot to DOS was in good-ol' W98, because it loads stuff that will presumably
prevent me using xcopy anyway as soon as it encounters some damn .dll or
something that's In Use.

What is Shadow Copy, and would it do the trick? I'm using a beaten-up
laptop with XP Pro + SP2.

hii what is ur intension ? is it to backup or to have an image drive to save
u from a bad hair day. copying the directory is nvr a good method for one it
wont work if u are trying to load windows from that directory. secondly ur
files constantly get updated with udpates and patches and those copied files
will become abosolute with in no time. if u are planning to save certain
files for recovery if at all there is a crash enable system restore in ur
windows this will save u from a load of crashes! my computer > rightclick
properties> system restore. this will only save ur windows files and
configurations not all ur personal or use files so space wastage is not a
problem! if u are trying to have an image (clonning) as a backup then try
casper xp all ur problems are gone here. (http://www.fssdev.com/) if u are
worried about recovering from a non bootable instance just copy this folder
and save it at a differnt loaction [windows\system32\config] this is ur
registry and u need to cpy this from outside windows else u wont be albe to
use boot floppy or bartpe. also read the following articles so that you are
ready for such problems to fix.

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307545
How to troubleshoot registry corruption
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;822705

Hope this helps...,
Umesh Thota
www.windowsworkshop.com

"Adam Skeaping" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:9B3E1375-8CC2-4081-9ABF-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I won't bore you with the reasons, but I need to make a complete duplicate
>of
> my windows directory including all system & hidden files (i.e. 'Copy of
> Windows') without the dreaded 'File In Use' stopping me.
>
> It must be possible because my Acronis backup software does it, but using
> that entails dumping the entire Windows directory to somewhere else and
> then
> I probably won't have sufficient disk space to restore it to a renamed
> directory, when all I want to do is copy it directly...
>
> I've tried booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt, but that's not like
> Boot to DOS was in good-ol' W98, because it loads stuff that will
> presumably
> prevent me using xcopy anyway as soon as it encounters some damn .dll or
> something that's In Use.
>
> What is Shadow Copy, and would it do the trick? I'm using a beaten-up
> laptop with XP Pro + SP2.

An Acronis backup of the win dir will take up less space than a copy of the
win dir
If you wish to create an Acronis 'recovery' file, the Acronis cd is bootable
and will be able to access this file for recovery.
So your Q seems a little bizare.

"Adam Skeaping" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:9B3E1375-8CC2-4081-9ABF-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I won't bore you with the reasons, but I need to make a complete duplicate
of
> my windows directory including all system & hidden files (i.e. 'Copy of
> Windows') without the dreaded 'File In Use' stopping me.
>
> It must be possible because my Acronis backup software does it, but using
> that entails dumping the entire Windows directory to somewhere else and
then
> I probably won't have sufficient disk space to restore it to a renamed
> directory, when all I want to do is copy it directly...
>
> I've tried booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt, but that's not like
> Boot to DOS was in good-ol' W98, because it loads stuff that will
presumably
> prevent me using xcopy anyway as soon as it encounters some damn .dll or
> something that's In Use.
>
> What is Shadow Copy, and would it do the trick? I'm using a beaten-up
> laptop with XP Pro + SP2.

Man, I got a headache trying to read this response. While we all appreciate
your attempt to help others, please use proper punctuation and
capitalization when responding. Breaking up the response into paragraphs
also helps to keep the thought process simple. It does make it much easier
to read and understand.

Hello, what is your intention? Is it to backup or to have an image of the
drive to save you from a bad hair day? Copying the directory is never a good
method. It won't work if you..... get the idea?


"Thota Umesh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> hii what is ur intension ? is it to backup or to have an image drive to
> save u from a bad hair day. copying the directory is nvr a good method for
> one it wont work if u are trying to load windows from that directory.
> secondly ur files constantly get updated with udpates and patches and
> those copied files will become abosolute with in no time. if u are
> planning to save certain files for recovery if at all there is a crash
> enable system restore in ur windows this will save u from a load of
> crashes! my computer > rightclick properties> system restore. this will
> only save ur windows files and configurations not all ur personal or use
> files so space wastage is not a problem! if u are trying to have an image
> (clonning) as a backup then try casper xp all ur problems are gone here.
> (http://www.fssdev.com/) if u are worried about recovering from a non
> bootable instance just copy this folder and save it at a differnt loaction
> [windows\system32\config] this is ur registry and u need to cpy this from
> outside windows else u wont be albe to use boot floppy or bartpe. also
> read the following articles so that you are ready for such problems to
> fix.
>
> How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
> starting
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307545
> How to troubleshoot registry corruption
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;822705
>
> Hope this helps...,
> Umesh Thota
> www.windowsworkshop.com
>
> "Adam Skeaping" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:9B3E1375-8CC2-4081-9ABF-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I won't bore you with the reasons, but I need to make a complete duplicate
>>of
>> my windows directory including all system & hidden files (i.e. 'Copy of
>> Windows') without the dreaded 'File In Use' stopping me.
>>
>> It must be possible because my Acronis backup software does it, but using
>> that entails dumping the entire Windows directory to somewhere else and
>> then
>> I probably won't have sufficient disk space to restore it to a renamed
>> directory, when all I want to do is copy it directly...
>>
>> I've tried booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt, but that's not like
>> Boot to DOS was in good-ol' W98, because it loads stuff that will
>> presumably
>> prevent me using xcopy anyway as soon as it encounters some damn .dll or
>> something that's In Use.
>>
>> What is Shadow Copy, and would it do the trick? I'm using a beaten-up
>> laptop with XP Pro + SP2.
>
>

lol sure, nyways i hope it helped ur problem.

"LVTravel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Man, I got a headache trying to read this response. While we all
> appreciate your attempt to help others, please use proper punctuation and
> capitalization when responding. Breaking up the response into paragraphs
> also helps to keep the thought process simple. It does make it much easier
> to read and understand.
>
> Hello, what is your intention? Is it to backup or to have an image of the
> drive to save you from a bad hair day? Copying the directory is never a
> good method. It won't work if you..... get the idea?
>
>
> "Thota Umesh" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> hii what is ur intension ? is it to backup or to have an image drive to
>> save u from a bad hair day. copying the directory is nvr a good method
>> for one it wont work if u are trying to load windows from that directory.
>> secondly ur files constantly get updated with udpates and patches and
>> those copied files will become abosolute with in no time. if u are
>> planning to save certain files for recovery if at all there is a crash
>> enable system restore in ur windows this will save u from a load of
>> crashes! my computer > rightclick properties> system restore. this will
>> only save ur windows files and configurations not all ur personal or use
>> files so space wastage is not a problem! if u are trying to have an image
>> (clonning) as a backup then try casper xp all ur problems are gone here.
>> (http://www.fssdev.com/) if u are worried about recovering from a non
>> bootable instance just copy this folder and save it at a differnt
>> loaction [windows\system32\config] this is ur registry and u need to cpy
>> this from outside windows else u wont be albe to use boot floppy or
>> bartpe. also read the following articles so that you are ready for such
>> problems to fix.
>>
>> How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
>> starting
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307545
>> How to troubleshoot registry corruption
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;822705
>>
>> Hope this helps...,
>> Umesh Thota
>> www.windowsworkshop.com
>>
>> "Adam Skeaping" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:9B3E1375-8CC2-4081-9ABF-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I won't bore you with the reasons, but I need to make a complete
>>>duplicate of
>>> my windows directory including all system & hidden files (i.e. 'Copy of
>>> Windows') without the dreaded 'File In Use' stopping me.
>>>
>>> It must be possible because my Acronis backup software does it, but
>>> using
>>> that entails dumping the entire Windows directory to somewhere else and
>>> then
>>> I probably won't have sufficient disk space to restore it to a renamed
>>> directory, when all I want to do is copy it directly...
>>>
>>> I've tried booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt, but that's not like
>>> Boot to DOS was in good-ol' W98, because it loads stuff that will
>>> presumably
>>> prevent me using xcopy anyway as soon as it encounters some damn .dll or
>>> something that's In Use.
>>>
>>> What is Shadow Copy, and would it do the trick? I'm using a beaten-up
>>> laptop with XP Pro + SP2.
>>
>>
>
>

In support of Thota Umesh

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed
it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I
awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

John

Thota Umesh wrote:
> lol sure, nyways i hope it helped ur problem.
>
> "LVTravel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>Man, I got a headache trying to read this response. While we all
>>appreciate your attempt to help others, please use proper punctuation and
>>capitalization when responding. Breaking up the response into paragraphs
>>also helps to keep the thought process simple. It does make it much easier
>>to read and understand.
>>
>>Hello, what is your intention? Is it to backup or to have an image of the
>>drive to save you from a bad hair day? Copying the directory is never a
>>good method. It won't work if you..... get the idea?
>>
>>

But at least you used capitalization and punctuation!

"John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In support of Thota Umesh
>
> I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
> phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
> Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the
> olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
> pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
> porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
> istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought
> slpeling was ipmorantt.
>
> John
>
> Thota Umesh wrote:
>> lol sure, nyways i hope it helped ur problem.
>>
>> "LVTravel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>>Man, I got a headache trying to read this response. While we all
>>>appreciate your attempt to help others, please use proper punctuation and
>>>capitalization when responding. Breaking up the response into paragraphs
>>>also helps to keep the thought process simple. It does make it much
>>>easier to read and understand.
>>>
>>>Hello, what is your intention? Is it to backup or to have an image of
>>>the drive to save you from a bad hair day? Copying the directory is never
>>>a good method. It won't work if you..... get the idea?
>>>
>>>