Need Help Using ASR

[HOESan]

I have been guilty in the past not backing up my system so I decided
to learn about Automated System Recovery ASR

I have Windows XP Professional Installed on a new Desktop with very
large C: drive.

When I follow the instructions I have pasted below for reference I run
into the immediate problem that my new Dell has no System Partition on
its immense Hard Drive. ASR seems to try to backup all files on the
C drive which is virtually impossible.

My question is "Where have I gone wrong ?"

I see there is an opportunity to select certain files but I need help
making that selection. Wish there were an essential files button or
something.

Just what files are essential to a full System Recovery. I will use
other techniques to back up my essential data files but need a System
Recovery technique that would restore the registry and other essential
settings on the computer but ASR seems to want to do a lot more than
that - rendering it useless.

My problem is with the statement - Only those system files necessary
for starting up your system will be backed up by this procedure

That does not seem to be TRUE in my case as ASR is trying to backup
everything on my C: drive which was not partitioned as delivered by
Dell.

Any help in defining which files to backup would be appreciated.

=======

 

[Cari \(MS MVP\)]

You need either a second hard drive or to have partitioned the first drive
into two or more partitions.

The ideal situation is to have a smallish C: drive onto which you install
Windows, then every subsequent program you install onto D: (or other drive
or partition) so the only entries it puts on C: are the Windows Registry
entries and some Common Files.

In the ASR, the WHOLE of the C: drive is backed up to one of the other
drives or partitions.

In the event of an ASR being 'used' it will format the C: drive, the pull
the backup file from wherever it put it and in effect recreate the C: drive
from scratch.

If you have a single drive in a single partition you cannot use ASR.

If you have more than one drive and/or multiple partitions it is a
lifesaver. Provided, as always, you regularly run the backup!