Re: What is 'encryption' in RIP Act?

On Thu, 25 May 2006 00:39:37 +0100, <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If one was concerned there maybe something naughty on the HD where all the
program etc are could the programs, documents etc just be transfered to a
new HD without anything else following on?

Not sure what you mean. New programs for the Dreambox are typically
compiled on another system, or downloaded as an image from the
Internet, and then transferred to the Dreambox's Flash via a serial or
Ethernet cable (though the ethernet transfer is defective as stated).

No I was referring to an ordinary win xp os.

I see what you mean. Transferring a system from one HDD to another is
a bit problematic unless you either transfer *all* the active files
with a backup program, or you know *exactly* what files are needed by
the OS and applications and transfer only those ones. A simple copy
will not work, because it will not transfer the boot block, and if
done from the OS being copied may well exclude certain system files
that are in use at the time.

If you know what files are needed to be kept, the easiest is to delete
everything else, then run a disk wiping program that writes random
data to all parts of the disk that is not in use. The program "PGP"
is freeware and has the facility to do that. If you do not know which
files are needed to be kept and which are not, you are a bit stuck
whichever method you choose to use.

You can get various HDD backup programs (I use "Acronis"), that has a
boot disk which allows you to make a complete backup of the active
sectors of a HDD or partition. It's a good idea to make such a backup
regularly (I do so about every 3 months), and keep the backup on DVDs.
That way, when you get a HDD failure (note "when" not "if"), you won't
have to install everything from scratch but can get up & running very
quickly - a complete restore onto a new HDD takes me 1 minute 25
seconds for my small boot partition with maintainance OS, and about
1.5 hours each for my working OS partitions. My data drives are
backed up as files in the conventional way, mostly only to another HDD
(too much data to burn onto DVDs), or I rely only on the RAID to keep
it safe.

*Burning* all those DVDs however takes several days, so it's easy to
put off doing it. Whether it's worth the effort depends upon how much
you have customised the OS. It may be quicker to reload a fresh OS
and just make backups of all your data files and application install
files.

Whenever I get a new bit of hardware or install a new application or
driver update, I make a backup ISO image of the installation CD, or a
backup of the installation program, not forgetting to include a text
file with the activation key when necessary, and ensuring that the
filename is very descriptive of what the installation is for. Those
all then get added to a directory that I copy to 2 different physical
HDDs (one being an external USB drive that is seldom used and is
specifically for backups). When the directory grows to 4.7GB, it gets
burnt onto 2 DVDs (in case one goes faulty), and stored in my
"backups" case. The directory contents can then be deleted from the
HDDs ready to hold the next lot of applications & drivers.

Which means that if I install a new OS from scratch for whatever
reason, I have all the applications and drivers I have ever used
readily available. Very handy when upgrading the motherboard or
changing to a different OS, for example.

--
Cynic

.

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