How do I use System Tools > Backup without floppy drive?

[Guest]

I have purchased a lovely new Dell Latitude D620 with all bells and whistles
including burner but didn't include floppy drive as I thought it to be
defunct.
BUT, when trying to use System Tools > Backup to create a recovery disc, I
get a message that after backup disc is created I will be prompted to enter a
floppy disc and that both backup and floppy will be required to recover.
HELP!
Does this mean I HAVE to purchase a floppy drive?
Any helpful words of wisdom appreciated.

 

[Andrew Bailey]

I have purchased a lovely new Dell Latitude D620 with all bells and
whistles
including burner but didn't include floppy drive as I thought it to be
defunct.
BUT, when trying to use System Tools > Backup to create a recovery disc, I
get a message that after backup disc is created I will be prompted to
enter a
floppy disc and that both backup and floppy will be required to recover.
HELP!
Does this mean I HAVE to purchase a floppy drive?
Any helpful words of wisdom appreciated.

Hi Jod,

Instead of using the "Automated System Recovery Wizard" just use the
standard Backup" tab.

The Automated method has pros and cons... It's real easy to restore your PC
as the process alters the WindowsXP installation to recreate your C: drive
exactly how it was automatically BUT (as you know) you need a floppy drive
AND if your primary hard drive is partitioned (say C: and D: drive) you will
loose all data on the D: drive too as the first part of the Automated
Recovery procedure is to format the drive... AND let's say that your
original primary hard drive is 100GB in size but because of a failure you
had to replace it with a new one and upgraded to a 200GB new drive, the
Automated Recovery system will still recreate the drive exactly as it was
before so you end up with your new 200GB drive showing as a 100GB drive!!!
so you then have to use a program like Partition Magic to get the lost 100GB
back.

This is what you need to do...

Use Backup to backup your C: drive and System State (listed underneath all
the other drives in your system in the Backup tab)... easy... job done. If
you ever need to restore the C: drive (even on a new/different sized hard
drive) just re-install WindowsXP and fire up the Backup program, then select
restore and point the program to your backup file. Your system will be
restored to exactly how it was.

WARNING:

There is a "gotcha" which took me a whole day to figure out and it's that
you MUST ensure that when you re-install WindowsXP you have to update it to
the same service pack (eg: SP2) as the backup... no problem if your
WindowsXP installation disc is already at SP2.

Hope that helps

Andy

 

[Vanguard]

in message

There is a "gotcha" which took me a whole day to figure out and it's
that you MUST ensure that when you re-install WindowsXP you have to
update it to the same service pack (eg: SP2) as the backup... no
problem if your WindowsXP installation disc is already at SP2.

To JOd:

And if your install CD is at SP-1 but you had SP-2 installed (which is
likely) then you need to create a new install CD that has SP-2
slipstreamed into it. Google should find you plenty of articles on how
to slipstream.

http://www.google.com/search?q=+slipstream++Windows++"SP-2"

JOd didn't mention using EFS but if he did then he will still need a
copy of the exported EFS certificate in order to use those EFS-protected
files after the file restore.


To Andrew:

So the "gotcha" is that ntbackup.exe won't run from SP-1 to do a restore
of files that were saved in the .bkf file by the SP-2 version of
ntbackup? Doesn't make sense. These are logical backups; i.e., it
reads files using the file system and saves them into another file using
the file system (as opposed to reading disk sectors to save physical
partition images). Are you saying SP-2 ntbackup cannot read the .bkf
files created by SP-1 ntbackup?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

in message




To JOd:

And if your install CD is at SP-1 but you had SP-2 installed (which is
likely) then you need to create a new install CD that has SP-2
slipstreamed into it. Google should find you plenty of articles on how to
slipstream.

One might note that some install CDs can't be easily (or at all)
slipstreamed if they have other service packs applied. Many Dell install
CDs are like this, and so you can't update them.

http://www.google.com/search?q=+slipstream++Windows++"SP-2"

JOd didn't mention using EFS but if he did then he will still need a copy
of the exported EFS certificate in order to use those EFS-protected files
after the file restore.

Yes, it's very common for users to invoke EFS without understanding the
implications or requirements for exporting and verifying these
certificates.. and it's never good news when that happens.

-pk

 

[Andrew Bailey]

One might note that some install CDs can't be easily (or at all)
slipstreamed if they have other service packs applied. Many Dell install
CDs are like this, and so you can't update them.


Yes, it's very common for users to invoke EFS without understanding the
implications or requirements for exporting and verifying these
certificates.. and it's never good news when that happens.

-pk

Hi Guys,

As luck would have it, yesterday I had to perform this very same task on a
friend's PC.

He had one hard drive partitioned into C: and D: his standard backup file
which included all of C: plus SYSTEM STATE was located on the D: partition.
Using his PRE-SP1 (ie: version 1.00) WindowsXP Pro installation disc I
formatted C: and installed a fresh copy of Windows.

Once installation had completed and booted into the desktop for the first
time I used his ISP install disc to make a connection to the internet and
then went straight to the Windows Update site (PS: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO
SLIPSTREAM ANYTHING) and installed only recommended files (so not "optional"
or "hardware"), restarted then repeat until Windows Update offers the SP2
major update. Once that was installed I was ready to restore the backup (TO
REITERATE, YES YOU DO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SP OF THE OS AND THE BACKUP
ARE THE SAME).

Once the restore process had finished I restarted and viola his system was
back to how it was.

Hope this helps

Andy