Re: Files and transfer Cabling

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:03:06 -0700, "Kevin W. Miller"
<i09172strudelyahoo.com> wrote:

In news:29uue2925u530evucinbmgqav19ie8hrla@xxxxxxx,
Bob Giddings <bobg@xxxxxxxxxxxx> typed:

<snip>

I think cloning and a spare USB drive is the answer. I'm waiting
on the parts now.

Thanks,

Bob

It sounds like that's the answer for you. It sounds like you want to be able
to do what bill horne wants to be able to do: swap the drive when you have a
failure and keep on truckin' ( or Nerdafariin', as the case may be). There
is a difference between applications and data. That isn't the only solution
for backups of data is what I was trying to get across in my own fumbling
way. As I said, for my own purposes, I see no reason for backing up files
that I can easily restore from the original installation disks. The only
data I want to back up is my (to me) irreplaceable data. There are simply a
multitude of ways to do that depending upon how siimple, complex or
automated that you want to make it. It was a problem that NTBackup couldn't
backup to CDs or DVDs and they should have been clear that you couldn't do
so. But, working within those bounds, it's still a very robust and
configurable application. And, on a Windows Server, the fact that it makes
use of the shadow copy options makes it a very good (and cheap) option for
backing up open files. Something that even a major brand name piece of
backup software won't do without an expensive add on.

I appear to have given the wrong impression.

In times past, I made batch files pulling out files from all over
the place that had updated data on it, like bookmark files, and
settings of various types. I understood the programs that well.

Over the years, that stuff has drifted around, and I lost track
of it. And the list of programs grew. Still, I kept updates of
all really essential files, like the Windows folder, and Quicken,
and Agent, etc.

My plan was as yours, to use installation disks for everything
else and overwrite the backed up setting files.

And that is what I did when it crashed. It didn't work as well
as I hoped. There are lots of settings that are not in obvious
places. My main problem was I was working on a laptop that had
preinstalled software, and nothing in the way of installations
disks per se. The software was backed up to C:, but all that was
destroyed by the Restore CDs. I don't know why.

The restore program even threatened to take out my documents. The
ones, mostly pictures, that were not backed up. At least it
warned me they were in danger, and so I installed to something
other than the Windows directory so that wouldn't happen. I then
started the new version of Windows and copied them to a
flashdrive. But now I have two iterations of Windows operating
system. I got rid of one of them by deletion, but the system
thinks they are both still there, and makes me chose between them
at start up. At least it defaults to the right one.

It would have gone better if I had Windows installation disks.
Not so much would have been changed. Just writing my backups
over the new installation did not cure everything. The Restore
disks from HP made lots of changes that I wasn't expecting. And
some that I still don't understand.

I admit I didn't have a recent copy of settings - maybe 6 months
old. And even after copying them over, programs didn't work
right--- or look right - and some didn't work at all, even though
all the files were there.

I suspect registry problems.

IOW, my backup plan, and yours (the way you describe it) , didn't
work all that well. Lots of little stuff, and then whole
programs missing. Roxio, for instance. I had originally a copy
that worked, and even upgraded it. But afterwards none of it
would work, and I didn't have the installation disks. All the
files were there, but the exe file wouldn't start it up. And
Roxio was not only one program in that fix.

Another example: I lost all my Firefox bookmarks, and there was
a load of them.

I lost a lot of improvements.

I see now that just data backup is not enough. Good, but not
enough. I need the whole disk to make it seamless, and
preferable a bootable disk.

And that's what I'm going to have, if it ever gets here.

Bob


http://www.arcatapet.net/bobgiddings
.

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