system recovery

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tay
  • Start date Start date
Tay said:
If I do a system recovery on my computer, will i lose all my music, pics, and
documents?
Click to expand...

If by "system recovery" you mean that you run either the built-in
recovery option provided by your manufacturer (selected before Windows
loads) or you boot to the recovery CD, the answer is YES.

You need to save those to another hard drive or to CD/DVD before you
do either.
 
If you means using the recovery CD or recovery
partition on your hard disk, then yes you will loose all
your personal information (Pics, Music, Docs, Etc) as
the recovery process restores/installs Windows back
to the day when you first turned on the computer
after you purchased it.

If you mean a 'System Restore' the answer is no,
your music, pics and docs will still be on the hard drive.

What seams to be the problem with your computer?
 
JS said:
If you means using the recovery CD or recovery
partition on your hard disk, then yes you will loose all
your personal information (Pics, Music, Docs, Etc) as
the recovery process restores/installs Windows back
to the day when you first turned on the computer
after you purchased it.

If you mean a 'System Restore' the answer is no,
your music, pics and docs will still be on the hard drive.

What seams to be the problem with your computer?
Click to expand...

Your spell-checker has failed you.

"means" should have been "meant".

"loose" is the opposite of "tight". You meant "lose".

"seams" are where two items are joined together. You meant "seems".

No charge ;-)
 
If I do a system recovery on my computer, will i lose all my music, pics, and
documents?
Click to expand...


Exactly what do you mean by "system recovery"?

If you are asking about restoring Windows using the Restore CD
provided by the OEM who built your computer, yes you will lose
*everything* on the drive that Windows is on.

Why do you want to do this? It's very seldom necessary, and very
seldom even a good idea.
 
JS said:
If you means using the recovery CD or recovery
partition on your hard disk, then yes you will loose all
your personal information (Pics, Music, Docs, Etc) as
the recovery process restores/installs Windows back
to the day when you first turned on the computer
after you purchased it.

If you mean a 'System Restore' the answer is no,
your music, pics and docs will still be on the hard drive.

What seams to be the problem with your computer?

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com






My computer is moving extremely slow. Half of the programs don't seem be working properly. I keep getting booted off the internet. And there are all sorts of strange things popping up. It was fine up until yesterday.
Click to expand...
 
Tay said:
If I do a system recovery on my computer, will i lose all my music, pics,
and
documents?
Click to expand...

Depends what you mean by "System Recovery", but I would say you should
cleanup your machine first - see if your problems 'go away'...

Fix your file/registry permissions...

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
(* will take time)

Reboot and ...

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Reboot.

and...

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Then follow the instructions here:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Reboot.

CHKDSK
How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
(* will take time)

Defragment
How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848
(* will take time)

Ensure your hardware drivers are up to date (from the hardware
manufacturer's respective web pages.)

Reboot...

Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer
and visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a
CUSTOM scan...

Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time. Rebooting as needed.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones or
"Windows Live" ones fornow. I would completely avoid the
Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do not see any urgent need to install
Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
 
Tay said:
My computer is moving extremely slow. Half of the programs don't seem be
working properly. I keep getting booted off the internet. And there are all
sorts of strange things popping up. It was fine up until yesterday.
Click to expand...

You want to do a SYSTEM RESTORE - and that's a Windows tool. Restore
your system to a point prior to yesterday. If you have restore points
- and if nothing there is scrambled - it might take care of your
problem.

Check this out, and scroll down to "Restoring Windows XP to a previous
State"

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial56.html
 
Tay said:
If I do a system recovery on my computer, will i lose all my music, pics,
and documents?
Click to expand...

Tay wrote
My computer is moving extremely slow. Half of the programs
don't seem be working properly. I keep getting booted off the
internet. And there are all sorts of strange things popping up.
It was fine up until yesterday.
Click to expand...

Bennett said:
You want to do a SYSTEM RESTORE - and that's a Windows tool. Restore
your system to a point prior to yesterday. If you have restore points
- and if nothing there is scrambled - it might take care of your
problem.

Check this out, and scroll down to "Restoring Windows XP to a previous
State"
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial56.html
Click to expand...


System Restore is not a cure-all and it will not fix infestation/infections.
In fact - depending on what has been done - it can make things worse. I
think they would be better off cleaning up the machine and getting it up to
date...

Fix your file/registry permissions...

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under "Advanced Troubleshooting"
titled, "Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
(* will take time)

Reboot and ...

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Reboot.

and...

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Then follow the instructions here:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Reboot.

CHKDSK
How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
(* will take time)

Defragment
How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848
(* will take time)

Ensure your hardware drivers are up to date (from the hardware
manufacturer's respective web pages.)

Reboot...

Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer
and visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a
CUSTOM scan...

Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time. Rebooting as needed.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones or
"Windows Live" ones fornow. I would completely avoid the
Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do not see any urgent need to install
Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
 
You'll need to backup your personal data (which may not be trustworthy),
format and use either the hidden Recovery partition or the CDs that came
with your computer to do a clean install of Windows. Please note that a
Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade) will NOT fix this!

cf. http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps

After the clean install, you'll have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a network and before using a USB key that
isn't brand-new or hasn't been freshly formatted:

5 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b

Also see:

Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/spyware/prevent.mspx

Rogue Security Software - Microsoft Security:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/rogue.mspx
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002


Tay wrote:
 
Tay said:
If I do a system recovery on my computer, will i lose all my music,
pics, and documents?
Click to expand...

The "system restore" kind, found at start;programs;system tools; system
restore: NO.
You will not lose any information on your computer. It only restores
operating system files.

A manufacturer or other type of system restore program: Very likely!
Any good one will warn you before you destroy your data and give you a
chance to quit, but not all of them.

Your first task, since you didn't say you're having any problems, needs
to be to learn how and USE a reliable backup method! One should never
let anything run that touches the operating system without first having
done a backup; one that's kept up to date.

If you're having problems, then it's a different story and you'll have
to explain further, or go ahead and try the system restore in the first
para and THEN after the fix, get a backup strategy in place for next
time! Techincally you should have it first, but if things aren't
working, well ... you gave no indication of anything to make judgements
on there.

Twayne`
 
PA Bear said:
Why are you considering doing a "system recovery"?
Click to expand...

That's not your business and holding solution hostage to stupid
questions like that is a big shot at your credibility. At least give
the OP some idea of what you're asking about!

Twayne
 
C'mon Twayne, give it a rest please. The question was obviously asked because the OP
probably has an issue which if posts it can be rectified without doing a System
Restore. You got your way of posting and others have their way.Live and let live

--
Peter

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