Backup - best way?

[Rick Z]

Most of us have experienced how you cannot plug in somebody else's hard drive into your system and
expect it to boot unless the motherboard is very similar. How similar probably depends on the
manufacturer. I'm using Socket 775, Core 2 Duo stuff now. I want a system that's set up so if
something goes wrong I can replace that thing and be right back up and running. Of course I need a
bootable backup hard drive, and I was thinking that if I had 2 identical motherboards I could swap
the other one in case the first one died. All the other stuff shouldn't make XP fret if it was
changed, such as the CPU, video card, DVD burner, etc. Remember that only one thing breaks at a
time (99.99%!). But the stuff that usually spells disaster (downtime) is when the motherboard or
hard drive fails or the OS gets corrupted somehow. Opinions? A spare socket 775 motherboard of the
quality I'm using can be procured for less than $50 so its a nice insurance policy.

 

[Big_Al]

Rick Z said this on 8/14/2009 3:21 PM:

Most of us have experienced how you cannot plug in somebody else's hard
drive into your system and expect it to boot unless the motherboard is
very similar. How similar probably depends on the manufacturer. I'm
using Socket 775, Core 2 Duo stuff now. I want a system that's set up
so if something goes wrong I can replace that thing and be right back up
and running. Of course I need a bootable backup hard drive, and I was
thinking that if I had 2 identical motherboards I could swap the other
one in case the first one died. All the other stuff shouldn't make XP
fret if it was changed, such as the CPU, video card, DVD burner, etc.
Remember that only one thing breaks at a time (99.99%!). But the stuff
that usually spells disaster (downtime) is when the motherboard or hard
drive fails or the OS gets corrupted somehow. Opinions? A spare socket
775 motherboard of the quality I'm using can be procured for less than
$50 so its a nice insurance policy.

I can only say that a quality imaging software like Acronis True Image
Home will backup the drive well enough to give you an easy way to get
back working with a replacement hard drive in a few minutes.

Mine takes about 10 minutes +/- to restore. (no counting the time to get
the drive changed).

 

[Steve Winograd [MS-MVP]]

Most of us have experienced how you cannot plug in somebody else's hard drive into your system and
expect it to boot unless the motherboard is very similar. How similar probably depends on the
manufacturer. I'm using Socket 775, Core 2 Duo stuff now. I want a system that's set up so if
something goes wrong I can replace that thing and be right back up and running. Of course I need a
bootable backup hard drive, and I was thinking that if I had 2 identical motherboards I could swap
the other one in case the first one died. All the other stuff shouldn't make XP fret if it was
changed, such as the CPU, video card, DVD burner, etc. Remember that only one thing breaks at a
time (99.99%!). But the stuff that usually spells disaster (downtime) is when the motherboard or
hard drive fails or the OS gets corrupted somehow. Opinions? A spare socket 775 motherboard of the
quality I'm using can be procured for less than $50 so its a nice insurance policy.

For easy image backup and restore, I recommend Rebit software:

http://www.rebit.com/products-software.html
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Mark Adams]

Most of us have experienced how you cannot plug in somebody else's hard drive into your system and
expect it to boot unless the motherboard is very similar. How similar probably depends on the
manufacturer. I'm using Socket 775, Core 2 Duo stuff now. I want a system that's set up so if
something goes wrong I can replace that thing and be right back up and running. Of course I need a
bootable backup hard drive, and I was thinking that if I had 2 identical motherboards I could swap
the other one in case the first one died. All the other stuff shouldn't make XP fret if it was
changed, such as the CPU, video card, DVD burner, etc. Remember that only one thing breaks at a
time (99.99%!). But the stuff that usually spells disaster (downtime) is when the motherboard or
hard drive fails or the OS gets corrupted somehow. Opinions? A spare socket 775 motherboard of the
quality I'm using can be procured for less than $50 so its a nice insurance policy.

Rick, following your logic you may consider the following strategy:

Buy a second hard drive and clone your system to it. Sysprep the clone using
solution 4 of the following:
http://www.motherboard.windowsreinstall.com/winxp.htm
Read the Microsoft support link for more info.

You can reclone and Sysprep the drive occasionally to keep the install
current; if the motherboard fails put the clone drive in with the new board.
Save the old drive until you are confident that everything is working well,
Then clone the "new" to the "old" and Sysprep it as before.

This procedure is meant for hardware upgrades, but i don't see why you
couldn't use it as a type of backup by using a second drive. The only cost
involved is that of the extra hard drive, Sysprep is on your XP install CD.

I would not rely on this as your sole backup strategy however. But it may
save considerable time and effort if you have major hardware failure.