Disaster Recovery Plan - need help

[Dr. Indera]

hello,

i thought that by creating an image of my hard drive every few days, i had a
disaster recover plan, if windows would not boot.

earlier today i read a few articles in pc world that indicated that an image
is not enough.

i'm not sure i understand everything that is needed, so i'm hoping you can
help me.

in addition to my image, i need the xp pro cd, which i have.

one article says i need to make up a backup of my system files <registry>
and other critical files needed to start windows.
i can do this in the backup utility that comes with xp by clicking on the
automated system recovery wizard.

my first question about this wizard is that i need to save the files it
creates on a floppy disk. my laptop does not have a built-in floppy disk
drive.
i do have an external floppy disk drive.
will this work if windows has a problem booting or whatever disaster that
may happen?

the article says to read this page for additional info
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,112479,00.asp
i read it. there are instructions to create a boot floppy. is this the same
as the automated system recovery wizard?

it seems like each article i read has a slightly different solution for
disaster recovery.

i guess why "real" question is what do i need besides a current image,
incremental backup of changed data files and the xp pro cd to restore my
hard drive if windows won't boot?

thanks for reading my long winded email.

 

[Rock]

hello,

i thought that by creating an image of my hard drive every few days, i had a
disaster recover plan, if windows would not boot.

earlier today i read a few articles in pc world that indicated that an image
is not enough.

i'm not sure i understand everything that is needed, so i'm hoping you can
help me.

in addition to my image, i need the xp pro cd, which i have.

one article says i need to make up a backup of my system files <registry>
and other critical files needed to start windows.
i can do this in the backup utility that comes with xp by clicking on the
automated system recovery wizard.

my first question about this wizard is that i need to save the files it
creates on a floppy disk. my laptop does not have a built-in floppy disk
drive.
i do have an external floppy disk drive.
will this work if windows has a problem booting or whatever disaster that
may happen?

the article says to read this page for additional info
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,112479,00.asp
i read it. there are instructions to create a boot floppy. is this the same
as the automated system recovery wizard?

it seems like each article i read has a slightly different solution for
disaster recovery.

i guess why "real" question is what do i need besides a current image,
incremental backup of changed data files and the xp pro cd to restore my
hard drive if windows won't boot?

thanks for reading my long winded email.

You don't need anything else but what you have. Forget about ASR. It
will add nothing to your recovery plan. And ASR _must_ have a floppy
disk to write to, but it doesn't boot from this floppy. To run a
recovery with ASR, you boot the system with the Windows installation CD
and choose the option that's eventually offered of doing a system
recovery with the ASR files. Then the windows setup progam runs
installing a basic windows installation on the hard drive, then it asks
for the floppy to read the two files that ASR puts there. That gives
the recovery routine some needed info and points it to where the actual
backup file you created running the ASR wizard is located. It then
restores that file. It's a long and tedious process. On the other hand
restoring with a drive image using DI7, which I believe you have, is
fast and easy. Whatever boot floppy that article talked about won't
help you with ASR.

 

[Dr. Indera]

hi rock,

this is good news - having an image and the windows cd will get me up and
running, should something happen.

thank you.

--
Indera
* * * * * * * * * *
Don't just live life.
Live life well.


: Dr. Indera wrote:
:
: > hello,
: >
: > i thought that by creating an image of my hard drive every few days, i
had a
: > disaster recover plan, if windows would not boot.
: >
: > earlier today i read a few articles in pc world that indicated that an
image
: > is not enough.
: >
: > i'm not sure i understand everything that is needed, so i'm hoping you
can
: > help me.
: >
: > in addition to my image, i need the xp pro cd, which i have.
: >
: > one article says i need to make up a backup of my system files
<registry>
: > and other critical files needed to start windows.
: > i can do this in the backup utility that comes with xp by clicking on
the
: > automated system recovery wizard.
: >
: > my first question about this wizard is that i need to save the files it
: > creates on a floppy disk. my laptop does not have a built-in floppy disk
: > drive.
: > i do have an external floppy disk drive.
: > will this work if windows has a problem booting or whatever disaster
that
: > may happen?
: >
: > the article says to read this page for additional info
: > http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,112479,00.asp
: > i read it. there are instructions to create a boot floppy. is this the
same
: > as the automated system recovery wizard?
: >
: > it seems like each article i read has a slightly different solution for
: > disaster recovery.
: >
: > i guess why "real" question is what do i need besides a current image,
: > incremental backup of changed data files and the xp pro cd to restore
my
: > hard drive if windows won't boot?
: >
: > thanks for reading my long winded email.
: >
:
: You don't need anything else but what you have. Forget about ASR. It
: will add nothing to your recovery plan. And ASR _must_ have a floppy
: disk to write to, but it doesn't boot from this floppy. To run a
: recovery with ASR, you boot the system with the Windows installation CD
: and choose the option that's eventually offered of doing a system
: recovery with the ASR files. Then the windows setup progam runs
: installing a basic windows installation on the hard drive, then it asks
: for the floppy to read the two files that ASR puts there. That gives
: the recovery routine some needed info and points it to where the actual
: backup file you created running the ASR wizard is located. It then
: restores that file. It's a long and tedious process. On the other hand
: restoring with a drive image using DI7, which I believe you have, is
: fast and easy. Whatever boot floppy that article talked about won't
: help you with ASR.
:

 

[Rock]

hi rock,

this is good news - having an image and the windows cd will get me up and
running, should something happen.

thank you.

With drive image you don't use the windows cd. Boot from the Drive
Image CD, they call it the powerquest recovery environment. That loads
all the drivers needed to view files on Fat, NTFS and CD/DVD drives
provided that the CD/DVD burner is one that DI supports. A menu comes
you, you choose what files and/or drive you want to restore and bingo
off you go.

 

[Dr. Indera]

rock,

what you describe is pretty cool.
i hope i never need it, but at least i am prepared.

thank you.
--
Indera
* * * * * * * * * *
Don't just live life.
Live life well.


: Dr. Indera wrote:
:
: > hi rock,
: >
: > this is good news - having an image and the windows cd will get me up
and
: > running, should something happen.
: >
: > thank you.
: >
:
: With drive image you don't use the windows cd. Boot from the Drive
: Image CD, they call it the powerquest recovery environment. That loads
: all the drivers needed to view files on Fat, NTFS and CD/DVD drives
: provided that the CD/DVD burner is one that DI supports. A menu comes
: you, you choose what files and/or drive you want to restore and bingo
: off you go.
:

 

[Rock]

rock,

what you describe is pretty cool.
i hope i never need it, but at least i am prepared.

thank you.

You should run it at least once to make sure it works. At the least
boot with the Drive Image CD to make sure it will boot and can see the
image files. Then check a few of the image files to verify they are
valid images. It's not a matter of hoping you won't need it, but a
matter of when...