General backup question

[Rhino]

I want to make a full backup of Windows XP Pro with SP1 so that I can
install SP2. I have heard of a few problems associated with SP2 and want to
be able to restore to an XP/SP1 environment if I have trouble with SP2.

I have a CD burner with Roxio 5 and a DVD burner with Nero Express 6 that
might be part of the solution in making my backup - or not. I'd really like
to avoid buying any additional hardware or software since money is tight for
me right now.

Unfortunately, I can't get NTBackup to co-operate with me: it won't backup
to anything but the floppy drive and 4 very small removable drives that I
have for writing memory sticks, SD cards, etc.

Nero Express looks like it will burn an image for me but I'm not sure how to
create the image; it looks like Nero can't make the image for me. (If I'm
wrong about that, someone please tell me how to do it; I can't find anything
in the manual or tutorials that explains how to do this.)

ASR seems to be one tool that creates an image and it comes with some
configurations of XP but I'm not sure if it comes with MY configuration (XP
Pro with SP1).

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make a restorable image of my system
so that I can recover to it in the event that SP2 gives me grief? Do I need
to make an image and then burn that to CD or DVD? Or is a file-level backup
going to be sufficient if everything on my hard drive is in the copy? If an
image is the answer, how will I restore to that image if I need to go back
to SP1, i.e. what program will I use for the restore?

Even if SP2 isn't *likely* to cause me grief, I'd still prefer to be able to
restore to SP1: I have the darnedest luck some times and I don't want to
"roll the dice" in this case.

 

[Jim]

I want to make a full backup of Windows XP Pro with SP1 so that I can
install SP2. I have heard of a few problems associated with SP2 and want
to
be able to restore to an XP/SP1 environment if I have trouble with SP2.

I have a CD burner with Roxio 5 and a DVD burner with Nero Express 6 that
might be part of the solution in making my backup - or not. I'd really
like
to avoid buying any additional hardware or software since money is tight
for
me right now.

Unfortunately, I can't get NTBackup to co-operate with me: it won't backup
to anything but the floppy drive and 4 very small removable drives that I
have for writing memory sticks, SD cards, etc.

Nope, it won't backup to DVD. I have two disks with plenty of room.
Therefore, I just backup the system disk to a file on the data disk. Then,
(I uses Easy CD creator) I just drag and drop the file into the Easy CD
Creator utility. It is very happy to make a multiple disk copy.

Nero Express looks like it will burn an image for me but I'm not sure how
to
create the image; it looks like Nero can't make the image for me. (If I'm
wrong about that, someone please tell me how to do it; I can't find
anything
in the manual or tutorials that explains how to do this.)

ASR seems to be one tool that creates an image and it comes with some
configurations of XP but I'm not sure if it comes with MY configuration
(XP
Pro with SP1).

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make a restorable image of my
system
so that I can recover to it in the event that SP2 gives me grief? Do I
need
to make an image and then burn that to CD or DVD? Or is a file-level
backup
going to be sufficient if everything on my hard drive is in the copy? If
an
image is the answer, how will I restore to that image if I need to go back
to SP1, i.e. what program will I use for the restore?

You will need the settings floppy to restore also.

Even if SP2 isn't *likely* to cause me grief, I'd still prefer to be able
to
restore to SP1: I have the darnedest luck some times and I don't want to
"roll the dice" in this case.

Have you followed all of the instructions on preparing your system for SP2?
If you haven't, stop. Get it ready and then install the update.
Jim

 

[Jonny]

I want to make a full backup of Windows XP Pro with SP1 so that I can
install SP2. I have heard of a few problems associated with SP2 and want
to
be able to restore to an XP/SP1 environment if I have trouble with SP2.

I have a CD burner with Roxio 5 and a DVD burner with Nero Express 6 that
might be part of the solution in making my backup - or not. I'd really
like
to avoid buying any additional hardware or software since money is tight
for
me right now.

Unfortunately, I can't get NTBackup to co-operate with me: it won't backup
to anything but the floppy drive and 4 very small removable drives that I
have for writing memory sticks, SD cards, etc.

Nope, it won't backup to DVD. I have two disks with plenty of room.
Therefore, I just backup the system disk to a file on the data disk. Then,
(I uses Easy CD creator) I just drag and drop the file into the Easy CD
Creator utility. It is very happy to make a multiple disk copy.

Nero Express looks like it will burn an image for me but I'm not sure how
to
create the image; it looks like Nero can't make the image for me. (If I'm
wrong about that, someone please tell me how to do it; I can't find
anything
in the manual or tutorials that explains how to do this.)

ASR seems to be one tool that creates an image and it comes with some
configurations of XP but I'm not sure if it comes with MY configuration
(XP
Pro with SP1).

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make a restorable image of my
system
so that I can recover to it in the event that SP2 gives me grief? Do I
need
to make an image and then burn that to CD or DVD? Or is a file-level
backup
going to be sufficient if everything on my hard drive is in the copy? If
an
image is the answer, how will I restore to that image if I need to go back
to SP1, i.e. what program will I use for the restore?

You will need the settings floppy to restore also.

Even if SP2 isn't *likely* to cause me grief, I'd still prefer to be able
to
restore to SP1: I have the darnedest luck some times and I don't want to
"roll the dice" in this case.

Have you followed all of the instructions on preparing your system for SP2?
If you haven't, stop. Get it ready and then install the update.
Jim
And its a good idea to backup the previous XP installation before any
changes. Imaging is the fastest to save and restore. Don't know why the OP
is fishing for imaging software suggestions though.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I want to make a full backup of Windows XP Pro with SP1 so that I can
install SP2. I have heard of a few problems associated with SP2 and want
to
be able to restore to an XP/SP1 environment if I have trouble with SP2.

I have a CD burner with Roxio 5 and a DVD burner with Nero Express 6 that
might be part of the solution in making my backup - or not. I'd really
like
to avoid buying any additional hardware or software since money is tight
for
me right now.

Unfortunately, I can't get NTBackup to co-operate with me: it won't backup
to anything but the floppy drive and 4 very small removable drives that I
have for writing memory sticks, SD cards, etc.

Nero Express looks like it will burn an image for me but I'm not sure how
to
create the image; it looks like Nero can't make the image for me. (If I'm
wrong about that, someone please tell me how to do it; I can't find
anything
in the manual or tutorials that explains how to do this.)

ASR seems to be one tool that creates an image and it comes with some
configurations of XP but I'm not sure if it comes with MY configuration
(XP
Pro with SP1).

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make a restorable image of my
system
so that I can recover to it in the event that SP2 gives me grief? Do I
need
to make an image and then burn that to CD or DVD? Or is a file-level
backup
going to be sufficient if everything on my hard drive is in the copy? If
an
image is the answer, how will I restore to that image if I need to go back
to SP1, i.e. what program will I use for the restore?

Even if SP2 isn't *likely* to cause me grief, I'd still prefer to be able
to
restore to SP1: I have the darnedest luck some times and I don't want to
"roll the dice" in this case.

Rhino

ASR does not create an image. It creates backup which can be used to
recreate a system to resemble it's original state. An image is a snapshot of
a system that can be used to restore it to an exact copy of when the
snapshot was taken. ASR is part of NTBackup and is included with your
version. With the help you have already been given if you cannot figure out
how to use NTBackup then it is not for you. I am not belittling you.
NTBackup is very confusing. It is a powerful program but not easy to use.

As I stated before, given your knowledge of computers, there is no free
solution. You need to look at purchasing either some software or some
hardware or both. I recommend an external hard drive and some imaging
software. This is easy and convenient to use.

If you cannot afford to do this then run the Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard and save the results to a folder. Use Roxio or Nero to burn this
folder to a DVD. If it will not fit then see my first suggestion about an
external drive. Now make a second backup of all your data like mp3's.
pictures, documents, whatever is important to you to CD or DVD using Roxio
or Nero. This will make sure you have at least your data safe. To go back to
SP1 if needed you would have to uninstall SP2 which doesn't always work. If
the uninstall didn't work you would have to perform a clean install of
Windows, reinstall you programs, then use the DVD you created with the
transfer wizard and Nero to restore your data and settings. Anything that
was missed by the transfer wizard would need to be copied from the other
backup where you saved all your important data.

If this is still confusing to you then you need some on site help either
from a more knowledgeable friend or a professional.

Kerry

 

[Rhino]

that

I
Nope, it won't backup to DVD. I have two disks with plenty of room.
Therefore, I just backup the system disk to a file on the data disk. Then,
(I uses Easy CD creator) I just drag and drop the file into the Easy CD
Creator utility. It is very happy to make a multiple disk copy.
You will need the settings floppy to restore also.
Have you followed all of the instructions on preparing your system for SP2?
If you haven't, stop. Get it ready and then install the update.
Jim

And its a good idea to backup the previous XP installation before any
changes. Imaging is the fastest to save and restore. Don't know why the OP
is fishing for imaging software suggestions though.

Mostly because I am _massively_ confused by this backup stuff.

Not the basic concept - I know what a backup is and why I'd want to have
one - but the details. Every time I post here, I get one or several initial
answers to questions, then try to ask followup questions to clarify
something the responder says, only to find that they have lost interest in
the thread. Then I ask a new question, usually from a slightly different
angle, to try to get to the root of the problem. But I still tend to get
only one or two replies that raise a many questions as they answer, which
require still more followup questions on my part, but which are mostly
ignored because the thread has, apparently, gone dead for the original
responders.

And of course, the most frustrating thing is that only a small portion of my
question only got answered in the first place in most replies.

Rhino

 

[Kerry Brown]

Mostly because I am _massively_ confused by this backup stuff.

Not the basic concept - I know what a backup is and why I'd want to have
one - but the details. Every time I post here, I get one or several
initial
answers to questions, then try to ask followup questions to clarify
something the responder says, only to find that they have lost interest in
the thread. Then I ask a new question, usually from a slightly different
angle, to try to get to the root of the problem. But I still tend to get
only one or two replies that raise a many questions as they answer, which
require still more followup questions on my part, but which are mostly
ignored because the thread has, apparently, gone dead for the original
responders.

And of course, the most frustrating thing is that only a small portion of
my
question only got answered in the first place in most replies.

You are expecting too much of a newsgroup. It sounds like you need someone
to hold your hand. That is not possible here

Here are the answers to your specific questions in your original post.

1) Can anyone tell me what I need to do to make a restorable image of my
system
so that I can recover to it in the event that SP2 gives me grief?

Use a backup program or a disk imaging program to backup or image your
system. A disk imaging program will take a snapshot of the disk and put it
in an image file. A backup program will copy all the files and optionally
some other information usually called "system state" into a backup file.

2) Do I need to make an image and then burn that to CD or DVD?

Possibly, some imaging programs do this automatically, some don't. It
depends on what program you choose how this works. The image is generally
much larger than one CD and usually larger than one DVD. It somehow has to
be split into smaller pieces than will fit on one disc. Some imaging
programs have this option as well. You can specify a file size. It will then
create several files of that size which when pieced together will be an
image of your disc. You could then use your CD/DVD burning software to burn
these files to discs.

3) Or is a file-level backup going to be sufficient if everything on my hard
drive is in the copy?

Yes, this will work if done properly. It is more work to restore a file
backup than an image. The creation process is about the same amount of work
depending on the program.

4) If an image is the answer, how will I restore to that image if I need to
go back
to SP1, i.e. what program will I use for the restore?

You use the same program that created the image. Most imaging programs can
create a boot CD. You boot from this cd then restore the image to your hard
drive. This will overwrite the hard drive making it a duplicate of the way
it was when you created the image. With a backup program the procedure is
different. Again it depends a lot on the program. With NTBackup the normal
procedure is to do a clean install of Windows formatting your hard drive,
then restore the backup overtop of Windows. This is quite time consuming and
sometimes doesn't work exactly like you would expect. With XP Microsoft
introduced ASR (Automated System Recovery) which automates a lot of the
restore procedure and works very well. With other file backup programs you
may have options similar to the disk imaging programs where you create a
boot CD and restore from there.

Your easiest option is to purchase a backup or imaging product. Any of the
products in the links below will accomplish what you wish to do. As I
mentioned before I do not recommend relying on only one backup method. I
recommend you also purchase an external drive.

For more information see the following links

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

http://www.norton.com/home_homeoffice/products/backup_recovery/ghost10/index.html

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

http://www.novastor.com/pcbackup/backup/n_backup.html

http://www.stompsoft.com/backupmypc.html

Kerry

 

[Rhino]

Rhino

ASR does not create an image. It creates backup which can be used to
recreate a system to resemble it's original state. An image is a snapshot of
a system that can be used to restore it to an exact copy of when the
snapshot was taken.

I was sure I read something yesterday that ASR creates an image; maybe I
misread it. Sorry for causing any confusion but if you knew how confused I
am right now, you would understand....

If I have got this right, I need to create an image if I hope to be able to
restore Windows to a previous state. For instance, if I do a backup now,
install SP2, and then want to be able to recover to my current state, I need
to restore an image of the system taken before installing SP2. A backup of
my files, even of all of the files on all of the drives of this machine will
not be enough since file backups don't capture the contents of files that
are "in use" by Windows while the machine is making the backup. Is all of
that correct?

ASR is part of NTBackup and is included with your version.

So it _is_ present in NTBackup on XP Pro with SP1 installed? The web page
that talked about slipstreamed this and RTMed that didn't make it clear to
me if I had ASR in my version of NTBackup. I haven't been able to get anyone
to tell me definitively if I have ASR or not or to give me some way of
determining that myself.

Mind you, I'm not dead set on using ASR to make an image. My copy of Nero
(Nero Express Version 6 to be more precise) has a feature in it (Nero
BackItUp) that will backup an entire drive and I've tried using it but it
tells me that "File system may currently be in use!". I closed every window
that was opened and closed all of my TSRs (except a couple that I wasn't
sure I'd be able to restart if I stopped) and still got the same message.
Then I rebooted, closed all windows and all but a couple of TSRs and it
STILL wouldn't start the backup with the same message about the file system
being in use. There is no help in the program but there are tutorials on the
Nero website; however, they say nothing about dealing with this problem in
the BackItUp tutorial
(ftp://ftp6.nero.com/Support_doc/PDF-Backup/ImmediateBackup.pdf). Since Nero
is not co-operating, I am still willing to try using NTBackup with or
without ASR to take my backup.

With the help you have already been given if you cannot figure out
how to use NTBackup then it is not for you. I am not belittling you.
NTBackup is very confusing. It is a powerful program but not easy to use.

Actually, you've been pretty much the only person so far that has actually
answered my questions well and helped me make some progress.

As I stated before, given your knowledge of computers, there is no free
solution. You need to look at purchasing either some software or some
hardware or both. I recommend an external hard drive and some imaging
software. This is easy and convenient to use.

Are you saying that there is no way the combination of XP itself, NTBackup,
Nero, and Roxio plus a CD burner and a DVD burner are capable of taking the
backup I need in order to be able to restore Windows if something goes wrong
with SP2? I'm having a little trouble believing that. I mean, what are all
of those programs _FOR_ if I can't take a backup with them?

By the way, in an attempt to reduce my ignorance about slipstreaming and
such, I found an article that talked about this (and removing SP2) at
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm. Following the advice in this
article, I have downloaded (but not yet installed) CDBurnerXP and
AutoStreamer, both of which were free. Would any of these help me make a
suitable backup or image, whichever I need?

If you cannot afford to do this then run the Files and Settings Transfer
Wizard and save the results to a folder.

This is not the same thing as doing a System State backup, right? This won't
pick up whatever Windows needs to put itself back in the current state,
right?

Okay, I tried using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Since it wasn't
very clear in the wizard just what it would try to backup, I chose to
transfer settings _and_ files. The first thing I noticed was that it suffers
from the same glaring weakness as the backup wizard: it doesn't let you
transfer to the hard drive or to a CD/DVD burner; the only options are the
floppy drive and those small removable drives for making memory sticks and
other PDA stuff! Is there any way to coax it to use my hard drive, CD
burner, or DVD burner??

I wasn't very clear what files it would try to transfer so I decided to
_start_ doing the Files and Settings Transfer to my floppy drive; I figured
I'd just cancel it once it started to write to the floppies, then wait here
to see if there was some way to do this transfer to the hard drive or one of
the burners. It churned away for a couple of hours - MUCH longer than I
expected! - and occasionally told me that such-and-such a file could not be
transferred. None of the files was anything I recognized so I just clicked
"ignore" for the 6 to 10 files that caused this message. Finally, the
transfer stopped with this message:

-------------------
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Cannot complete the collection

An error occurred while the wizard was saving your data.

The wizard cannot create the data needed to save your settings. Make sure
you have enough disk space available.

The wizard could not save some of your files and folders.

[list of 6 files that it could not save...]

To close this wizard, click Finish.
-------------------

The floppy in the A: drive is empty so it obviously didn't fill up the
floppy and then give up. Perhaps it wanted to write to the floppy and saw
that it wasn't big enough for all the files and then gave up _without_
writing anything?? The message isn't very clear about what went wrong and
doesn't suggest what to do next so that is not awfully helpful. It also
doesn't report what files it _did_ find in building its "collection" so I
still have no idea what files it will pick up and which ones it will ignore.
I really am curious to know which things it will store when it is working.

That means I need some more guidance from you.

Do you know how I can make it do the Files and Settings Transfer to my hard
drive or one of the burners? If not, would it make sense to use the Files
and Settings Transfer wizard to copy just the settings and use Nero to back
up all important files? If that would make sense, I'd need some guidance on
which files to transfer.

Basically, I know I'll want to transfer any personal data such as emails,
address book, word processing documents, spreadsheets, etc. but _not_ the
programs which create them, on the theory that I can simply reinstall the
programs from the CDs. However, I am not at all sure what Windows files I'll
need to save that aren't picked up by the "System State" backup I did via
NTBackup and the Settings Transfer, once I've done that. Can you enumerate
exactly what Windows-related files I'll need to backup that would not have
been picked up by the System State backup and the Setting Transfer??

Use Roxio or Nero to burn this
folder to a DVD. If it will not fit then see my first suggestion about an
external drive. Now make a second backup of all your data like mp3's.
pictures, documents, whatever is important to you to CD or DVD using Roxio
or Nero. This will make sure you have at least your data safe. To go back to
SP1 if needed you would have to uninstall SP2 which doesn't always work. If
the uninstall didn't work you would have to perform a clean install of
Windows, reinstall you programs, then use the DVD you created with the
transfer wizard and Nero to restore your data and settings. Anything that
was missed by the transfer wizard would need to be copied from the other
backup where you saved all your important data.

Okay, I've read this paragraph but I'm not going to do anything about it
until we get the previous bits resolved.

If this is still confusing to you then you need some on site help either
from a more knowledgeable friend or a professional.

Actually, _your_ suggestions are actually very useful and make sense to me.
The answers other responders gave were much less helpful. If you can bear
with me, I might still manage to get this backup taken!

Rhino

 

[Rhino]

Short followup report:

I just used the Settings and File Transfer Wizard to save just the Settings
to my floppy drive. It used 3 floppies. No problems along the way.

Rhino

 

[Kerry Brown]

Short followup report:

I just used the Settings and File Transfer Wizard to save just the
Settings
to my floppy drive. It used 3 floppies. No problems along the way.

Rhino

This only backs up your user settings, email, favourites and my documents.
It is obvious you are confused. I don't think it is possible to help you any
more via a newsgroup. You should try to find someone who can walk you
through the process.

Kerry

 

[Kerry Brown]

Are you saying that there is no way the combination of XP itself,
NTBackup,
Nero, and Roxio plus a CD burner and a DVD burner are capable of taking
the
backup I need in order to be able to restore Windows if something goes
wrong
with SP2? I'm having a little trouble believing that. I mean, what are all
of those programs _FOR_ if I can't take a backup with them?

That is correct. NTBackup was around long before CDRW drives were popular
and has never been updated to use them. Nero's backitup cannot backup open
files of which there are many when Windows is running. There is no spell
checker, virus checker, spreadsheet, or satellite tracking software built in
to Windows either. Some things need to be purchased. The best you can do
with what you have is backup your data. If you need to restore to a previous
configuration then you would have to perform a clean install of Windows and
your programs then restore the backed up data.

Kerry

 

[Rhino]

This only backs up your user settings, email, favourites and my documents.
It is obvious you are confused. I don't think it is possible to help you any
more via a newsgroup. You should try to find someone who can walk you
through the process.

Confused? No, not about this transfer of my settings....

Did you read my other post in this same thread all the way to the end?

I mentioned that I was not able to do a Settings and File Transfer for the
settings and the files and described the difficulties I had.

_This_ branch of the thread is just to mention that I tried transferring the
settings alone to floppy and that it worked fine. I just wanted to report a
small positive step.

I'm not ready to give up yet unless I've run out of options that don't cost
me money....

Please don't go away, you are very helpful!

Rhino

 

[Rhino]

That is correct. NTBackup was around long before CDRW drives were popular
and has never been updated to use them. Nero's backitup cannot backup open
files of which there are many when Windows is running. There is no spell
checker, virus checker, spreadsheet, or satellite tracking software built in
to Windows either. Some things need to be purchased. The best you can do
with what you have is backup your data. If you need to restore to a previous
configuration then you would have to perform a clean install of Windows and
your programs then restore the backed up data.

(*)&^&*#!!! [Expletives, none of which are directed at you!]

Do you mean I've just spent the better part of several days messing around
with NTBackup, Nero, and assorted wizards, reading a variety of websites,
composing several complicated questions, rooting through a variety of
partial answers and just generally trying a lot of stuff only to find that I
can't do what I need to do with the hardware and software at hand?

What a PAIN IN THE ASS!

&$(@&^@*(@@ [More cursing, again, none of which is directed at you!]

So the suggestion I made about do a system state backup (which has already
worked), a settings transfer (which has already worked) and then picking all
the necessary files that I need to restore Windows (plus my own vital files)
and backing them up via Nero's file backup facilities won't work?

Why?? I am quite prepared to backup whichever Windows and application files
are necessary and to write every blessed file on the hard drive to DVD or
CD. Won't a file backup do the rest of what needs to be done?

Is there any way to coax Nero BackItUp to do what it's supposed to do,
namely back up my hard drive? Surely BackItUp is intended to work on Windows
machines, right? If so, how would any other Windows user do a hard disk
backup with Nero?? I can't believe they would bundle BackItUp into the Nero
package if it can't possibly work on the world's most popular operating
system. There MUST be some way to make it back up a disk in Windows?!?

I don't know anyone else to ask and I can't afford to pay anyone to help me
right now.

Please, I'm clutching at straws here....

Rhino

 

[Kerry Brown]

(*)&^&*#!!! [Expletives, none of which are directed at you!]

Do you mean I've just spent the better part of several days messing around
with NTBackup, Nero, and assorted wizards, reading a variety of websites,
composing several complicated questions, rooting through a variety of
partial answers and just generally trying a lot of stuff only to find that
I
can't do what I need to do with the hardware and software at hand?

What a PAIN IN THE ASS!

&$(@&^@*(@@ [More cursing, again, none of which is directed at you!]

So the suggestion I made about do a system state backup (which has already
worked), a settings transfer (which has already worked) and then picking
all
the necessary files that I need to restore Windows (plus my own vital
files)
and backing them up via Nero's file backup facilities won't work?

Why?? I am quite prepared to backup whichever Windows and application
files
are necessary and to write every blessed file on the hard drive to DVD or
CD. Won't a file backup do the rest of what needs to be done?

Is there any way to coax Nero BackItUp to do what it's supposed to do,
namely back up my hard drive? Surely BackItUp is intended to work on
Windows
machines, right? If so, how would any other Windows user do a hard disk
backup with Nero?? I can't believe they would bundle BackItUp into the
Nero
package if it can't possibly work on the world's most popular operating
system. There MUST be some way to make it back up a disk in Windows?!?

I don't know anyone else to ask and I can't afford to pay anyone to help
me
right now.

Please, I'm clutching at straws here....

I've never used Nero Backitup so I don't know the answer. Almost all backup
programs other than NTBackup have this limitation. Try Nero's support.

http://www.nero.com/en/Support.html

With most backup programs you have to reinstall Windows before restoring
your data. Usually there is some way to save the system state. There is
often little glitches when trying to do a full restore. NTBackup is one of
the only ones other than very expensive network based systems that I have
used that can do this without any problems. As I said in another post your
best bet is to backup your data, make sure you have your Windows and program
disks, then hope the SP2 install works OK. I have installed it hundreds of
times and never had a problem that necessitated a reinstall of Windows. Make
sure the pc is clean of malware before starting. Uninstall or disable any
antivirus or antispyware programs while doing the install. If something goes
drastically wrong you will still have your data. The rest can be easily
reinstalled. It just takes a bit of time.

Kerry

 

[Rhino]

(*)&^&*#!!! [Expletives, none of which are directed at you!]

Do you mean I've just spent the better part of several days messing
around
with NTBackup, Nero, and assorted wizards, reading a variety of websites,
composing several complicated questions, rooting through a variety of
partial answers and just generally trying a lot of stuff only to find
that I
can't do what I need to do with the hardware and software at hand?

What a PAIN IN THE ASS!

&$(@&^@*(@@ [More cursing, again, none of which is directed at you!]

So the suggestion I made about do a system state backup (which has
already
worked), a settings transfer (which has already worked) and then picking
all
the necessary files that I need to restore Windows (plus my own vital
files)
and backing them up via Nero's file backup facilities won't work?

Why?? I am quite prepared to backup whichever Windows and application
files
are necessary and to write every blessed file on the hard drive to DVD or
CD. Won't a file backup do the rest of what needs to be done?

Is there any way to coax Nero BackItUp to do what it's supposed to do,
namely back up my hard drive? Surely BackItUp is intended to work on
Windows
machines, right? If so, how would any other Windows user do a hard disk
backup with Nero?? I can't believe they would bundle BackItUp into the
Nero
package if it can't possibly work on the world's most popular operating
system. There MUST be some way to make it back up a disk in Windows?!?

I don't know anyone else to ask and I can't afford to pay anyone to help
me
right now.

Please, I'm clutching at straws here....

I've never used Nero Backitup so I don't know the answer. Almost all
backup programs other than NTBackup have this limitation. Try Nero's
support.

http://www.nero.com/en/Support.html

With most backup programs you have to reinstall Windows before restoring
your data. Usually there is some way to save the system state. There is
often little glitches when trying to do a full restore. NTBackup is one of
the only ones other than very expensive network based systems that I have
used that can do this without any problems. As I said in another post your
best bet is to backup your data, make sure you have your Windows and
program disks, then hope the SP2 install works OK. I have installed it
hundreds of times and never had a problem that necessitated a reinstall of
Windows. Make sure the pc is clean of malware before starting. Uninstall
or disable any antivirus or antispyware programs while doing the install.
If something goes drastically wrong you will still have your data. The
rest can be easily reinstalled. It just takes a bit of time.

I got up this morning prepared to write more posts exploring various aspects
of backup/recovery further but your words about having installed SP2
hundreds of times without a serious problem put me in a bit of a
devil-may-care attitude. I decided to grab the proverbial bull by the horns
and do the SP2 install _without_ a backup and just deal with the
consequences if there were any.

The good news is that everything went fine. The install gave me no grief -
although the admonition in the install program to do a backup first made me
grimace a little - and everything in Windows seems to be working just fine
after the install and reboot. I've also installed a few other critical
updates that became necessary after finishing the SP2 install and am about
to reboot to put these in effect.

So, it looks like I dodged a bullet this time. Now you're probably getting
the idea that I've just been hyper-worried for nothing this whole time but
if you'd seen some of the weird system problems I've had with computers over
the years, you'd know better. I've had things that should have taken 5
minutes and work flawlessly blow up and take an expert many hours to sort
out with him scratching his head the whole time and saying "This shouldn't
be happening.... I've never had this happen any of the other dozens of times
I've done this....". So that's why I've been so frantic about this.

I really REALLY appreciate your help with this, Kerry!

Rhino

 

[Kerry Brown]

I got up this morning prepared to write more posts exploring various
aspects of backup/recovery further but your words about having installed
SP2 hundreds of times without a serious problem put me in a bit of a
devil-may-care attitude. I decided to grab the proverbial bull by the
horns and do the SP2 install _without_ a backup and just deal with the
consequences if there were any.

The good news is that everything went fine. The install gave me no grief -
although the admonition in the install program to do a backup first made
me grimace a little - and everything in Windows seems to be working just
fine after the install and reboot. I've also installed a few other
critical updates that became necessary after finishing the SP2 install and
am about to reboot to put these in effect.

So, it looks like I dodged a bullet this time. Now you're probably getting
the idea that I've just been hyper-worried for nothing this whole time but
if you'd seen some of the weird system problems I've had with computers
over the years, you'd know better. I've had things that should have taken
5 minutes and work flawlessly blow up and take an expert many hours to
sort out with him scratching his head the whole time and saying "This
shouldn't be happening.... I've never had this happen any of the other
dozens of times I've done this....". So that's why I've been so frantic
about this.

I really REALLY appreciate your help with this, Kerry!

Rhino

Glad it worked for you. I hope you had at least your data backed up. I still
recommend you pursue finding a backup method that works for you. It is only
a matter of time before something causes you to lose access to your data. It
is part of using computers. The only solution is having a verified backup to
restore from.

Kerry

 

[Rhino]

Glad it worked for you. I hope you had at least your data backed up. I
still recommend you pursue finding a backup method that works for you. It
is only a matter of time before something causes you to lose access to
your data. It is part of using computers. The only solution is having a
verified backup to restore from.

I know that I have only dodged a bullet _this time_, not forever; one of
these days, something will break down and then I will need a proper backup.
When my finances permit, I will look at something that can do a full backup,
quite possibly to an external drive. In the meantime, I will see if the Nero
folks can guide me on using BackItUp for the whole hard drive on Windows
without encountering that "some files are in use" message.

Rhino

 

[Mike Fields]

I know that I have only dodged a bullet _this time_, not forever; one of
these days, something will break down and then I will need a proper backup.
When my finances permit, I will look at something that can do a full backup,
quite possibly to an external drive. In the meantime, I will see if the Nero
folks can guide me on using BackItUp for the whole hard drive on Windows
without encountering that "some files are in use" message.

Rhino

Based on the experience of myself and others, you will find that
"finances permit" (or getting to the top of the priority list) does
not happen until just AFTER you have a drive failure of some sort.
I have lost 2 drives recently - one a Maxtor that really did die and
the second a Maxtor that was "killed" when the power supply in
my daughters computer blew a filter cap. Result was the main
controller chip on the hard drive now has a hole in it and two pins
of the chip burned off (really !!) - took out the mother board etc also.

mikey

 

[Shelly F]

Based on the experience of myself and others, you will find that
"finances permit" (or getting to the top of the priority list) does
not happen until just AFTER you have a drive failure of some sort.
I have lost 2 drives recently - one a Maxtor that really did die and
the second a Maxtor that was "killed" when the power supply in
my daughters computer blew a filter cap. Result was the main
controller chip on the hard drive now has a hole in it and two pins
of the chip burned off (really !!) - took out the mother board etc also.

mikey

to the OP: I purchased Casper backup, works great, instant reboot from
a second hard drive at any time. Backup after the initial run takes
less than 5 minutes. Check it out, I have no relationship with the
company, incidentally. hth

 

[Rhino]

Based on the experience of myself and others, you will find that
"finances permit" (or getting to the top of the priority list) does
not happen until just AFTER you have a drive failure of some sort.
I have lost 2 drives recently - one a Maxtor that really did die and
the second a Maxtor that was "killed" when the power supply in
my daughters computer blew a filter cap. Result was the main
controller chip on the hard drive now has a hole in it and two pins
of the chip burned off (really !!) - took out the mother board etc also.

I know. :-(

Murphy's Laws seem to rule the universe, more than any of the "laws"
discovered by the physicists.....

But I just don't have any choice but to wait before buying more hardware.
It's that simple.

Rhino