complete System Laptop Backup

[msnews.microsoft.com]

I have a spare 100GB HD and would like to make a backup and then restore to
the spare - creating a hardware spare. How can I do this?

The existing program, loaded from the CD ValueAdded folder, cannot find a
destination media; looks for a 'floppy' and exits without doing anything!

Available media on my network includes two network drives totalling 1.5
terrabytes of space!

Unfortunately, my laptop's CD is not working. It is not reliable anyhow -
has been replaced B4.

What's the secret?

TIA

Jimmy-Rhea Luper
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Malke]

I have a spare 100GB HD and would like to make a backup and then restore
to
the spare - creating a hardware spare. How can I do this?

The existing program, loaded from the CD ValueAdded folder, cannot find a
destination media; looks for a 'floppy' and exits without doing anything!

Available media on my network includes two network drives totalling 1.5
terrabytes of space!

Unfortunately, my laptop's CD is not working. It is not reliable anyhow -
has been replaced B4.

What's the secret?

Use imaging software like Acronis True Image. You can clone the hard drive,
which will do what you want, or image the hard drive and do incremental
backups.

Malke

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I have a spare 100GB HD and would like to make a backup and then restore to
the spare - creating a hardware spare. How can I do this?

Image or clone the drive.

The existing program, loaded from the CD ValueAdded folder, cannot find a
destination media; looks for a 'floppy' and exits without doing anything!

Yep, that's ntbackup, a rather archaic design that requires a floppy drive.
It's not optional.

The floppy receives information about the drive setup.

Available media on my network includes two network drives totalling 1.5
terrabytes of space!

Unfortunately, my laptop's CD is not working. It is not reliable anyhow -
has been replaced B4.

Then you won't be able to use the ntbackup restore anyway, since you must
launch XP Setup using the CD to restore.

What's the secret?

The secret is to use better, more recent imagaing software, that doesn't
require a floppy disk or running XP Setup.

Many people, including myself, have excellent results with Acronis
TrueImage. This will also help you with reliable backups.

HTH
-pk