Robocopy

[Norm Cook]

Is it necessary to be in Safe Mode when performing
a full C Drive (OS) backup to an external USB drive?

I did this once before and I had to reload my soundcard
drivers. My thought was copying system files and other
Windows files (services, etc) caused this.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Is it necessary to be in Safe Mode when performing
a full C Drive (OS) backup to an external USB drive?

I did this once before and I had to reload my soundcard
drivers. My thought was copying system files and other
Windows files (services, etc) caused this.

There are a couple of "no"s here.
- You cannot back up drive C: to an external medium, neither
in Normal Mode nor in Safe Mode. In both modes, certain
system files are locked. Here are a few options to do it:
a) By using an imaging program such as Acronis TrueImage.
b) By booting the machine with a boot CD such as a Bart
PE boot CD or a Windows 7 Repair CD.
c) By connecting the disk as a slave disk to some other machine.
- Copying files will not affect your existing installation unless
you select some robocopy switch that will delete source files.

It would be a good idea to say what exactly you're trying to achieve.

 

[Jim]

Is it necessary to be in Safe Mode when performing
a full C Drive (OS) backup to an external USB drive?

I did this once before and I had to reload my soundcard
drivers. My thought was copying system files and other
Windows files (services, etc) caused this.

Not an answer , but , why use robocopy ?

 

[Craig S]

Pegasus - Anyone, until he answers and assuming his goal is just OS backup
from corruption x,y,z, , Imaging Software allows, I think, (ie) Dbl-Clk an
..xml File or Clk a Restore Icon to Inject the back-up OS Copy in place of the
"problem OS"- BUT it seems if a Boot CD is ever required (Bart PE, etc) they
all want access to i386 Installation Files to Make the CD, which MANY owners
don't have via Mfg'er Loaded OS's and NO Install Disks (my C:\i386 shows
EMPTY!
D: Recovery Partition back to Day 1 would be Hell to Update from after 3
years!

Will you address this possible issue when answering his Reply?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Not an answer , but , why use robocopy ?

I suspect that some people 'remember' that you could sometimes create
bootable file sets with xcopy. This hasn't worked for perhaps a couple of
decades.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Is it necessary to be in Safe Mode when performing
a full C Drive (OS) backup to an external USB drive?

I did this once before and I had to reload my soundcard
drivers. My thought was copying system files and other
Windows files (services, etc) caused this.

There is no point in doing this because you won't get a bootable result.
Robocopy is simply not capable of doing this, and you'll just waste time and
drive space.

Use an imaging program if you need the whole drive.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Pegasus - Anyone, until he answers and assuming his goal is just OS backup
from corruption x,y,z, , Imaging Software allows, I think, (ie) Dbl-Clk an
.xml File or Clk a Restore Icon to Inject the back-up OS Copy in place of
the
"problem OS"- BUT it seems if a Boot CD is ever required (Bart PE, etc)
they
all want access to i386 Installation Files to Make the CD, which MANY
owners
don't have via Mfg'er Loaded OS's and NO Install Disks (my C:\i386 shows
EMPTY!
D: Recovery Partition back to Day 1 would be Hell to Update from after 3
years!

Will you address this possible issue when answering his Reply?

I'm not sure why you think that the i386 folder is necessary. It's not
involved in the process of burning disks and imaging programs use their own
engines for disk creation.

Also, if you restore a bootable OS partition from an image (accessed via
boot DVD or hosting a drive), everything on the target partition is
replaced, not just the OS files. It doesn't "inject", it replaces.

If you have no install disks, you really should not rely on the recovery
partition. When your drive fails, it will be as lost and unusable as
everything else on the physical drive. Get an imaging program and another
larger hard disk, and back up to the new drive. Also, contact the
manufacturer and see if you can purchase a set of OS install media.

 

[Craig S]

Thanks for the replies.
Since Norm hasn't re-posted on HIS thread, I'll just say that my i386
Install Files interest was because more than One Imaging App that presume you
have to Boot from a CD SAY one needs those files to make (ie) a BartPE
Rescue/Recovery CD in order to use the Image. I'm using Macrium Free and
presumably I can Install the Saved Image over the "damaged" one JUST by
Dbl-Clking the desired .XML File. Apparently, some situations Require a CD to
access the Image backup, and that's where my question came from.
(Slipstreaming SP3 ALWAYS talks of OS Install files need, also.).

I've Never had the Need and am woefully lacking in this area of expertise.
Just preparing for Worst and Learning as I go.
Thanks again!