Sequence/Strategy For Building XP System?

[(PeteCresswell)]

My XP Pro system has become such a dog at startup that I'm thinking
of just rebuilding from scratch instead of falling back to an earlier image.

Never did capture a virgin XP image.

Upgraded from Win2000 instead.

Can anybody suggest a proven strategy for building an XP
system from scratch?

Off the top of my head I come up with:
-----------------------------------------------------
01) Unplug the PC from the router/internet connection

02) Install XP Pro, partitioning C: as 40 gigs of NTFS.
(which is what I have currently - 27 of which are used)

Assign drive letters to "Data" and "Work" drives

03) Apply SP2

04) Install video drivers

05) Install keyboard/mouse/tablet drivers

06) Install printer/scanner drivers

07) Install UPS driver/software

08) Motherboard-specific drivers/utilities

09) Plug in each USB and each FireWire device
one-at-a-time, installing drivers as needed.

10) Set Explorer's Tools | Folder options as desired

11) Configure desktop shortcuts to taste

12) Configure task bar as desired

13) Record some metrics - like time needed to boot
and memory used once boot is complete

14) Capture "Image001"
i.e. the base image tb restored if/when we
want to rebuild the system again

15) Add virus protection of choice

16) Install email program of choice

17) Install IE7 if that's your thing.

18) Install the MS Office suite.

19) Install file backup utilities of choice

20) Install music management app of choice (i.e. iTunes)

21) Configure task bar to taste

22) Configure desktop to taste

23) Ensure firewall active

24) Ensure virus protection turned on

25) Record some metrics - like time needed to boot
and memory used once boot is complete

26) Capture "Image002"

27) Connect to the internet

28) Install Windows' Auto-Update facility - choosing
options to the effect of "Automatically notify user
of new updates, but do not install them until user
chooses to do so"

29) Let the system run for a day or two to accumulate
all system updates to date.

30) Install the updates that look like they need tb installed

31) Capture a couple of metrics like time needed to boot
and memory used once boot is complete

32) Record some metrics - like time needed to boot
and memory used once boot is complete

33) Capture "Image003"

34) Install all the other software that was actually being used
on the old system

35) Record some metrics - like time needed to boot
and memory used once boot is complete

36) Decide whether or not performance is acceptable.
If acceptable, capture "Image004". If not,
restore Image003, loop back to step 34, and
install subsets of the software until happy.


From then on, base all installs on Image004.

Keep a record of each install and then periodically
restore Image004, re-install the new software, capture
another image (e.g. "Image005") and use that as the
basis going forward.
-----------------------------------------------------

This is sort of what I've been doing all along - except
I started out with Win2000, upgraded it to XP, ran low
on backup disk space, and trashed the earlier images.

Can anybody suggest a different sequence?

How about some more meaningful metrics?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Your approach is very methodical and very throrough.
Just a couple of comments - see below.

My XP Pro system has become such a dog at startup that I'm thinking
of just rebuilding from scratch instead of falling back to an earlier image.

Never did capture a virgin XP image.

Upgraded from Win2000 instead.

Can anybody suggest a proven strategy for building an XP
system from scratch?

Off the top of my head I come up with:
-----------------------------------------------------
01) Unplug the PC from the router/internet connection

02) Install XP Pro, partitioning C: as 40 gigs of NTFS.
(which is what I have currently - 27 of which are used)

*** Why? 20 GBytes is ample for the system partition if you store
*** your data elsewhere. How did you manage to clock up 27 GB?

Assign drive letters to "Data" and "Work" drives

03) Apply SP2

04) Install video drivers

05) Install keyboard/mouse/tablet drivers

06) Install printer/scanner drivers

07) Install UPS driver/software

08) Motherboard-specific drivers/utilities

*** They get loaded automatically at install time. Make sure
*** to have your motherboard CD handy.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Pegasus (MVP):

*** Why? 20 GBytes is ample for the system partition if you store
*** your data elsewhere. How did you manage to clock up 27 GB?

That was bothering me too for awhile and then I just sort of let it go.
My off-the-top-of-my-head guess is that various apps (like GoogleEarth) are
caching somewhere in C:\Documents And Settings\{UserID}.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I guess there's a registry setting somewhere
that would let me point that directory to some other drive.

Seems like a worthwhile move if only to preserve said stuff without having to
restore it from backup if/when the PC is re-imaged.

*** They get loaded automatically at install time. Make sure
*** to have your motherboard CD handy.

I guess that settles the issue that somebody else brought up - of installing
them first, especially before the video driver.

Thanks.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You need to do a little homework to find out what's eating
up your disk space on drive C:. I suspect it's "My Documents",
which you can move anywhere you like with a simple
right-click to its desktop shortcut.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Pegasus (MVP):

You need to do a little homework to find out what's eating
up your disk space on drive C:. I suspect it's "My Documents",
which you can move anywhere you like with a simple
right-click to its desktop shortcut.

It's already pointing to my "Data" drive.

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Is the data drive a different physical disk or have you partitioned one disk
into several partitions?

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Isaac Hunt:

Is the data drive a different physical disk or have you partitioned one disk
into several partitions?

Both and all of the above.

The physical drive that the system is on is partitioned into C: (system) and W:
(work/temp).

Another internal SATA drive is used for data and it's dedicated - i.e. has just
got one partition named "D:".

 

[Isaac Hunt]

My own opinion is not to use multiple partitions on disks, but to use dirs
instead.
Dirs are dynamic but partitions are limited.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Isaac Hunt:

My own opinion is not to use multiple partitions on disks, but to use dirs
instead.
Dirs are dynamic but partitions are limited.

But if there's a lot of junk in location "A" and the system is in location "B"
and both A and B are on the same volume, how do you keep the junk from taking
space when you make an image backup of the sys?

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Per Isaac Hunt:

But if there's a lot of junk in location "A" and the system is in location
"B"
and both A and B are on the same volume, how do you keep the junk from
taking
space when you make an image backup of the sys?

I don't have "junk" on my computers at all.
I backup my entire hard disk in Acronis when I create an image, that means
all MP3's & videos etc.
I leave it backing up at night & it is done in the morning.
Using compression on the image & a inexpensive 500gb usb disk for backup, I
have plenty of room for backups & I know my entire system is restoreable at
the click of a few buttons.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Isaac Hunt:

I don't have "junk" on my computers at all.

A poor choice of words on my part. "Junk" SHB "files you do not care to back
up".... as in WinZip work files that didn't get deleted, or any one of hundreds
of little work files that various applications leave behind.

I just opened my "Temp" directory and there are 189 files and folders there -
and I purge it fairly often.

If somebody's "Temp" or "TMP" system variable is pointing to C:, I would say
that they've got files they don't care to back up on their system drive.

Also, some applications cache data in a subdirectory in Program Files. If I
recall correctly GoogleEarth is one of those - and it's cache can be large, like
a couple of gigs.

I backup my entire hard disk in Acronis when I create an image, that means
all MP3's & videos etc.
I leave it backing up at night & it is done in the morning.
Using compression on the image & a inexpensive 500gb usb disk for backup, I
have plenty of room for backups & I know my entire system is restoreable at
the click of a few buttons.

But one might reasonably argue "what's a few gigs - or even a hundred gigs -
when backup drives are so big and so cheap?" Based on that, the "junk"
argument becomes moot.


Think about this, though:
----------------------------------------------------------------
On day 1 your system picks up some sort of malware but the effects are not
immediately obvious. One of the effects, however, is to corrupt and/or
delete stuff on your system drive.

On days 3-5, you accumulate new data - maybe rip a CD or two, file away some
images that somebody sent to you via eMail, work on some MS Word documents... or
maybe spend 40-50 hours working on a project whose deadline is looming.

On day 6, the malware manifests itself by rendering your system unusable. You're
still not sure why the thing won't work, but you're dead in the water.

Later on day 6, in a state of some desperation, you do a restore from day 5's
image.

Now you've got day 5's system drive back - but some of the files are corrupted
and other files have been deleted by the malware.

Which files were affected? You have no way of knowing....and you've got
roughly 10,000 files in your "Photos" directory and another 4,000 in your
"Music" directory, not to mention hundreds of MS Word documents, spreadsheets,
and source code modules.

And finally, you've still got a system that has the same malware lurking and is
probably going down the tubes tomorrow. Not only that, but you still do not
know when the problems began - so if you've been saving system images
day-after-day you don't know which one to fall back to.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The alternative scenario is that you've separated your data from your system.
System is on C: and all data is on D:.

Instead of imaging the system every night, you do an incremental data backup
every night.

You only imaged the system at a time when you were as sure as you could be that
it contained no viruses/malware. i.e. your system images are all known good
systems.

Now when your system goes South, you re-image C: with one of those trusted
images and the data becomes a separate issue. There's still a chance that data
may have been corrupted/lost, but it's a lot less than the near certainty that
it was if it were on C:.

If anybody thinks this is a little obsessive, I'd congratulate them on their
good luck so far. You don't even need a virus - just a disk controller on the
way out or a bad AC power source.

Might take five years to happen... but when it does.....

 

[Isaac Hunt]

Per Isaac Hunt:

A poor choice of words on my part. "Junk" SHB "files you do not care to
back
up".... as in WinZip work files that didn't get deleted, or any one of
hundreds
of little work files that various applications leave behind.

I just opened my "Temp" directory and there are 189 files and folders
there -
and I purge it fairly often.

If somebody's "Temp" or "TMP" system variable is pointing to C:, I would
say
that they've got files they don't care to back up on their system drive.

Also, some applications cache data in a subdirectory in Program Files. If
I
recall correctly GoogleEarth is one of those - and it's cache can be
large, like
a couple of gigs.



But one might reasonably argue "what's a few gigs - or even a hundred
gigs -
when backup drives are so big and so cheap?" Based on that, the "junk"
argument becomes moot.


Think about this, though:
----------------------------------------------------------------
On day 1 your system picks up some sort of malware but the effects are not
immediately obvious. One of the effects, however, is to corrupt and/or
delete stuff on your system drive.

On days 3-5, you accumulate new data - maybe rip a CD or two, file away
some
images that somebody sent to you via eMail, work on some MS Word
documents... or
maybe spend 40-50 hours working on a project whose deadline is looming.

On day 6, the malware manifests itself by rendering your system unusable.
You're
still not sure why the thing won't work, but you're dead in the water.

Later on day 6, in a state of some desperation, you do a restore from day
5's
image.

Now you've got day 5's system drive back - but some of the files are
corrupted
and other files have been deleted by the malware.

Which files were affected? You have no way of knowing....and you've got
roughly 10,000 files in your "Photos" directory and another 4,000 in your
"Music" directory, not to mention hundreds of MS Word documents,
spreadsheets,
and source code modules.

And finally, you've still got a system that has the same malware lurking
and is
probably going down the tubes tomorrow. Not only that, but you still do
not
know when the problems began - so if you've been saving system images
day-after-day you don't know which one to fall back to.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The alternative scenario is that you've separated your data from your
system.
System is on C: and all data is on D:.

Instead of imaging the system every night, you do an incremental data
backup
every night.

You only imaged the system at a time when you were as sure as you could be
that
it contained no viruses/malware. i.e. your system images are all known
good
systems.

Now when your system goes South, you re-image C: with one of those trusted
images and the data becomes a separate issue. There's still a chance
that data
may have been corrupted/lost, but it's a lot less than the near certainty
that
it was if it were on C:.

If anybody thinks this is a little obsessive, I'd congratulate them on
their
good luck so far. You don't even need a virus - just a disk controller
on the
way out or a bad AC power source.

Might take five years to happen... but when it does.....

I've had discs go south before but never malware.
I'm not saying i'm bulletproof but I run AVG anti-malware, Windows defender
& spybots sdhelper in the background.
I do a full scan using all three every day or so.

I should have pointed out that I use synctoy to copy my work/email at the
end of every day to a series of usb flash drives.
The disk I use for backup is also unplugged after the backup, so is not
fixed to the computer when it may become infected.
Before a backup I do a scan with all the aforementioned apps & flick the
wireless switch on my laptop to off in order to start the backup.

I think I have my bases pretty much covered.

I could go back to an image 12 months old & probably have about an hours
worth of inconvenience.
All my music can be copied back to the laptop from my mp3 player in WMP & as
I still use the same apps in XP, I just need to install the latest versions
for those updated.

Touch wood, I have had lots of hardware failures over the years but have
never lost a byte through negligence, error or virus/malware.

Lets hope that continues

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Isaac Hunt:

I should have pointed out that I use synctoy to copy my work/email at the
end of every day to a series of usb flash drives.
The disk I use for backup...

I think I have my bases pretty much covered.

The plural flash drive(s) is good.

But if you have only a single disc for those images, you're exposed to a rogue
USB2 card. Happened to me once. Fried two or three drives before it dawned
on me that the card was bad.

What're the chances of an internal driver failure coinciding with that scenario?
Dunno, but it's got to be slim.... my problem came at a time when I was foolish
enough tb keeping my regular data on an external drive too.... same card....

Now I keep at least one backup disc offsite - usually at my desk at some
client's place - where I just can't get to it quickly....in hopes that I'll
remember to dupe it onto another PC before plugging it in to my own PC...

To me, the *real* answer for data is to FTP it to some commercial site - as well
as having my own discs. Haven't even gotten to first base on that one yet bc
my bandwidth won't support it. Tried something from WinZip called "Carbon"
that did just that and it looked encouraging... just took too long (as in days
upon days...) on my wimpy little connection.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Pegasus (MVP):

*** Why? 20 GBytes is ample for the system partition if you store
*** your data elsewhere. How did you manage to clock up 27 GB?

I suspect it was something to do with the Recycle Bin. Emptied it a few times
(I empty it rather regularly though....) and now C: is at 15.4 gigs.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Pegasus (MVP):

You need to do a little homework to find out what's eating
up your disk space on drive C:.

Instead of homework, I rebuilt the system from scratch.

Probably a good thing anyhow bc I had never done that in the first place, having
upgraded from Win2000.

Spent pretty much all day incrementally adding things on and taking images.

Right now I think I have pretty much everything on it that I had before and
resource usage is waaaayyyyy down.

C: drive down to 8.3 gigs (from 27)

Memory used at startup once the sys quiesces: 226 megs (down from well over 300
and sometimes almost 500)

Boot time: down to about a minute until all the dust settles. That's down from
4-5 minutes.

45 processes running after startup (probably a couple less because I've got my
eMail program open right now as I'm checking. But that's down from 63 before.

 

[Poprivet]

Per Pegasus (MVP):

Instead of homework, I rebuilt the system from scratch.

Probably a good thing anyhow bc I had never done that in the first
place, having upgraded from Win2000.

Spent pretty much all day incrementally adding things on and taking
images.

Right now I think I have pretty much everything on it that I had
before and resource usage is waaaayyyyy down.

C: drive down to 8.3 gigs (from 27)

Memory used at startup once the sys quiesces: 226 megs (down from
well over 300 and sometimes almost 500)

Boot time: down to about a minute until all the dust settles. That's
down from 4-5 minutes.

45 processes running after startup (probably a couple less because
I've got my eMail program open right now as I'm checking. But
that's down from 63 before.

Typical outcome; and you're right, it's a worthwhile exercise to do. Don't
forget to do the updates and SP2, etc.

Pop`

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Poprivet:

Typical outcome; and you're right, it's a worthwhile exercise to do. Don't
forget to do the updates and SP2, etc.

Done for now. Got an image of the build.

My long term plan is to keep notes on changes I make (as in installing new apps,
removing old ones, changing various app's options, and so-forth.

Then periodically I'll unplug the router,; restore the image I burned from the
new build; re-apply those adds/deletes/parm changes; burn a revised image; then
plug in the router again; and let the restored/revised version of the system
come up to date via Windows' Automatic Updates.