disaster recovery

[RD]

One month ago I created a full backup of my entire hard drive. Quite
recently I had to reformat, so I reinstalled windows xp then restored
my
backup which went quite well. However went I rebooted I got the blue
screen
advising that something had changed and therefore to prevent further
harm or
loss of data windows had stopped any further operation. I couldn't
restart
the machine at all. So I had to start over. Only this time its a
manual
reinstall of everything with only data restored.

Is there not a failsafe way of restoring from backup software? System
restore was incapacitated by the virus which caused the whole problem.
If I
reinstall windows and then restore only data and programs isn't
windows
going to reject that too, since the registry will be affected?

Frustrated!

 

[philo]

One month ago I created a full backup of my entire hard drive. Quite
recently I had to reformat, so I reinstalled windows xp then restored
my
backup which went quite well. However went I rebooted I got the blue
screen
advising that something had changed and therefore to prevent further
harm or
loss of data windows had stopped any further operation. I couldn't
restart
the machine at all. So I had to start over. Only this time its a
manual
reinstall of everything with only data restored.

Is there not a failsafe way of restoring from backup software? System
restore was incapacitated by the virus which caused the whole problem.
If I
reinstall windows and then restore only data and programs isn't
windows
going to reject that too, since the registry will be affected?

Frustrated!

As a precaution I recommend checking your hardware:

I'd run a RAM test and the mfg's harddrive diagnostic.

Once you are sure your system is 100% operational...
When backing up...I recommend using Acronis True Image
and cloning your entire drive to another.

 

[db.·.. >]

what you might
try after restoring
a backuped archive
is a windows repair
with your setup cd.

it will synchronize
the files you restored
with your current
configuration.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

---------

there are a number of
variables as to why you
encountered a hurdle and
my guess is your antivirals
and methodology.

 

[RD]

Yes that might have worked except windows wouldn't allow me to even get to
that point. As soon as I started anything the blue freeze frame came on. I
don't know what Windows expected me to do at that point. I suppose Ubuntu
could have recovered any data. Still what can you trust and can one be sure?

 

[db.·.. >]

there are never assurances
until one tests which
methodology works
best for their particular
configuration.

i installed ubantu a
while back - it was a
fun and an interesting
process.

however i had no real
need for it nor did i desire
to waste time and loose
sleep in the event the
o.s. that i do use became
corrupted.

in any case, my suggestion
for having multiple o.s.'s
is to install them on "separate"
disks.

that way the o.s. can be
unplugged from the mobo
in the event a corrupted
o.s. requires attention and
focus.

 

[RD]

The only time I used it I only ran it from a CD, so it only resided in RAM.
It worked quite well for transferring files to a memory stick.