Emergency system restore

[Average Joe]

Is there a way to create a CD that, should my computer fail (get corrupted,
etc), I can put the CR in the drive and boot from it and restore my system to
this prior "healthy" state?
I am not talking about backing up user and data files, this is for
recovering the system in case I or someone else messes it up.

 

[DL]

A winxp cd is bootable and has repair tools
Or Acronis TI can be used to make an image of a working system

 

[Average Joe]

Can you tell me how I go about making this bootable CD? or is my only real
solution to do what you call "make an image of the system" since I would like
to have not just my OS but also my other programs be backed up (Office,
Adobe, iTunes, Google, etc).

The goal is to get my computer running again as quickly as possible, not
just XP.

Thanks.

 

[peter]

here is one answer..
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

and creating an Image of your whole HD onto an external HD by means of
Acronis True Image saves
everything at that point in time. The image can be placed back on the
original HD or even a new empty HD
by creating the Acronis Emergency start up CD.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/features.html

peter

 

[Twayne]

Is there a way to create a CD that, should my

computer fail (get
corrupted, etc), I can put the CR in the drive
and boot from it and
restore my system to this prior "healthy" state?
I am not talking about backing up user and data
files, this is for
recovering the system in case I or someone else
messes it up.

Yes.

Least preferred but works well:
Use ntbackup.exe to back up, and create the
requisite ASR floppy. Note the floppy
requirement.

Best:
Use Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image (not free
but have trials available so you can check them
out fully). There are others too; I simply don't
have experience with them. BootItNG is also good,
but a little on the tekkie side.
Either of the above wll let you create a boot
disk and assuming you have your backup files
available, allow you to get things back up and
running in a short period of time, exactly as the
machine was when the last backup was done.
Both also require that you create your boot
disk from an ISO image, so you'll need to learn
how to burn an ISO disk to a CD. NOT difficult,
just unexpected by most first timers.
Both will schedule any sort of backup you want
at anytime you want, which is usualy overnight for
most people.

The most important thing to watch for with any
backup software is that it uses VSS (Volume Shadow
Services), which means it can back up files 'in
use' for the operating system. Without VSS you
cannot get a complete, functional OS backup. Both
Norton and Acronis do, of course, as does
ntbackup.exe.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Can you tell me how I go about making this bootable CD?

For the XP CD, you probably already have it.

or is my only real
solution to do what you call "make an image of the system" since I would
like
to have not just my OS but also my other programs be backed up (Office,
Adobe, iTunes, Google, etc).

It that case, you do want an image. TrueImage is not expensive, it's
reliable and easy to use, and the directions for making the boot CD/DVD are
pretty easy to follow.

Just having a boot disk "in case your computer fails" is, frankly, not
nearly enough.

On my desk right now are two hard disks from failed systems. The problem
is that the failure was point was the hard disk. The clients required new
hard disks, reinstalls, and restoration of data from backups.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Yes.

Least preferred but works well:
Use ntbackup.exe to back up, and create the requisite ASR floppy. Note
the floppy requirement.

Additional note: this - ASR - is not supported and does not work on XP
Home. You can try, and it will fail.

There are directions on the MS KB site that detail installing and running it
on XP Home, and at the very end casually mention that ASR won't work on XP
Home. It will allow you to try, and will then fail.


HTH
-pk
<Snippage>

 

[Twayne]

message


Additional note: this - ASR - is not supported
and does not work on
XP Home. You can try, and it will fail.

There are directions on the MS KB site that
detail installing and
running it on XP Home, and at the very end
casually mention that ASR
won't work on XP Home. It will allow you to
try, and will then
fail.

Hmm, good point! Unfortunately, that's true in
most cases. Just to be thorough, here's the
workarounds MS recommends, courtesy of my sister
who uses Home version:

=============

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302700/

The Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature
enables users to create a set of floppy disks that
can be used to automate the process of recovering
a failed system.

When you attempt to use the ASR Wizard on Windows
XP Home Edition, you may receive the following
error message:

Backup Utility

The files for recovery diskette could not be
created. The operation was cancelled.

If you receive this message, you may be unable to
create a backup set with ASR.


CAUSE

This behavior can occur because ASR is not
supported in Windows XP Home Edition...
This behavior can occur because ASR is not
supported in Windows XP Home Edition.

However, Windows XP Home Edition users can access
the ASR Wizard *if *they install the Ntbackup
program from the *Valueadd folder* on the Windows
*XP Home Edition CD-ROM*
..


RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, access the Automated
System Restore Wizard:
Install Backup Utility for Windows on the
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM. Follow
these steps to install Backup Utility for Windows:
Double-click the Ntbackup.msi file in the
following location on the Windows XP Home Edition
CD:

CD-ROM Drive:\Valueadd\MSFT\Ntbackup

When the installation wizard is complete, click
Finish.

Click Start and, then click All Programs.

Point to Accessories, point to System Tools and
then click Backup on the All Programs menu.
Click the Advanced Mode link on the first screen
of the Backup and Restore Wizard.
On the Backup Utility dialog box, click the
Automated System Recovery Wizard button.
NOTE: ASR does not function and is not supported
on Windows XP Home edition.

The ASR Wizard may create the floppy disks and a
backup file (Backup.bkf). The floppy disks,
however, *cannot start* the ASR process in Windows
XP Home Edition if they are used after a
catastrophic system failure.

*For catastrophic malfunctions* that result in the
need for total data recovery, you must use the
*following steps for the recovery process* (which
assumes that a full backup had been performed a
short period of time prior to the equipment
failure and subsequent data loss):

Manually reinstall Windows XP from the
installation media.

Install Ntbackp from the Valueadd folder of the
Windows XP installation CD-ROM.

Use Ntbackup to restore the data by using the
backup set that had been created prior to the
system failure.

MORE INFORMATION
*The error message in the Symptoms section of this
article is not always displayed.* When the error
message is not displayed, you can create a backup
set with ASR. In the situation where a backup set
is created with ASR, the startup floppy disks that
are created to use with ASR *do not work with
Windows XP Home Edition.*

*The backup set is still valid.* You can recover
the data set that had been created with the ASR
Wizard by proceeding as if the data set had been
created with Ntbackup.




APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
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Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb KB302700

===============

Regards,

Twayne