-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Backup and latest Ghost (12.0)
- From: GMan <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "PCTechTalk" <PCTechTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:53:09 -0500
Roger,
I am at a bit of a crossroads here. The brunt of my dilemma is in the
fact that I do not know the full extent of your sense of adventure nor your
threshold for pain. Although I have spent quite a bit of time detailing
nearly everything that "I" would do with your system if it were right in
front of me, I am also well aware of the amount of work it would involve.
While the "work" itself is not necessarily a reason to give pause, the
possible pitfalls you may experience, coupled with the fact that you will be
without the means to readily communicate with us during a significant
portion of this 'work', makes me strongly question if attacking all of this
at once is truly the best approach. Most significant is that I chose to
consider all of these options without even asking you if you wanted to
tackle such a large scale conversion of your computing environment. My
humblest apologies for that. While I have always had (and will continue to
always have) your best long term interests at heart, I have to admit in
retrospect that this was not fair to you. As a result, I am basically
slamming on the brakes and rethinking the entire project (even though you
haven't seen any of my numerous drafts to this point). By all accounts,
every part of my 'master plan' will take you closer to computing nirvana,
but it will most definitely serve you best if we examine each part in turn
only when you are ready to consider its individual merits. In my defense,
my experience is that it's much easier to teach a new operating system to
work with items that are already organized than it is to organize them after
the OS installation. It's just that now is not the best time to attack all
of it.
As I see it, your main priority right now is to get Windows reinstalled
so that you have a 'clean' operating system with plenty of room to breathe.
Although that could be nearly as easy as popping in the disk and letting it
rip (after backing up of course), there are still a couple of suggestions I
wish to share with you regarding how best to proceed.
A secondary concern is to set up a dual-boot configuration so that you
can easily use one to troubleshoot/backup the other. This part of the
project is only slightly complicated by the possession of a Recovery disk
set instead of the full WinXP install disk, so that is not a problem and
something we can attack as soon as your main system is up, running, patched
and otherwise complete (but not beforehand).
The vast majority of the rest of it can be debated and acted upon
whenever you see fit to proceed. From all appearances, you have plenty of
room available to you on your external once you organize the data and toying
too much with it would only serve to complicate matters right now.
Getting ready for a systemwide Restore:
The first thing you need to do is to get all of your stuff backed up.
Since I now know the extent of your hard drive letters and the amount of
space on each, I can honestly tell you that you have been doing everything
right so far. Your main focus needs to be on making a copy of everything
you want to save that is currently on ANY of the drives that belong to
Drive0. This would include drives C, E & F. Once everything you want to
save is copied to the external, you'll be fully ready to run the Recovery
disk.
One point I need to make perfectly clear is that Windows is always in a
state of saving new data. Translation: If you backup all of your email
files (or copy the part of your C drive that happens to contain them), and
then send or receive any new email messages, those new ones will NOT be a
part of your backup and therefore will be lost when you run the recovery
disk. As a result, the entire Backup/Recovery procedure must be done with
no computing sessions occurring in between. It is preferred that nothing
else be running that could distract or deter you from completing either
task. Since I have a satellite connection to the internet (which is
automatically activated whenever I boot up the system), I have to manually
disable it before starting the backup. As a dial-up user, you simply have
to resist the urge to connect. It is also preferable that any programs that
normally run in the background be prevented from starting, so it is best to
perform your backup in Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode, just reboot your
machine and hold down the CTRL key until a boot menu appears. Then, use
your arrow keys to choose "Safe Mode" from the list and press Enter.
As I mentioned before, you don't need to backup any files that refuse to
be copied, but they will still force you to work around them. My own
approach to this annoying bug is a bit difficult to explain, but not all
that difficult to implement.
The first thing to do is to decide where you are going to store the new
backup and create a folder for it. I already have a main folder on an
external drive to hold all of my backups called "Backups" (and I saw that
you do too), so I go inside it and create a subfolder for this new backup.
The name of this new folder will be today's date, starting with the year.
In the US, we normally write the date as Month-Day-Year, so my folder for
today's backup would simply be called "2008-02-13". Adjust the syntax as
necessary for your location (2008-13-02). By using the date as the name, it
makes it very easy to keep all of your backups readily distinguishable.
Since you already have a copy of the 'folders' zip file I uploaded to
our YahooGroups Files area, you'll want to uncompress it inside this new
"date" folder. The only reliable method for extracting empty folders from a
Zip file is to drag the zip file with your right mouse button from its
current location to the new folder. When the new folder appears to become
highlighted (or once you're inside it), let go of the mouse button and
select "Extract to here" from the context menu. Go inside the new folder
and make sure all of the folders are now there. If the folders are now
there, you're ready to start creating your manual backup. I want to stress
here that the folders I have supplied are more important to restoring your
backup files than for saving them in the first place. My approach has
always been to save everything that can possibly be saved and then sort out
the good from the worthless later. The Zip file folders will help you to
sort them easier. You are probably already aware that I avoid anything I
already know to be worthless, but that trick should only be employed once
you have plenty of experience with this procedure (and have already
accidentally destroyed Windows more times than you care to admit).
Finally, you will need to make absolutely sure that Windows is set to
display ALL files and folders, including those marked as Hidden, System or
otherwise. The simplest way to go about this is to open Windows Explorer
and got to Tools > Folder Options > View tab. In the middle of this
Property Sheet, you'll see a scrollable list of options. Within this list,
the "Show hidden files and folders" option must be ticked (a small dot just
prior to the line). If you do not see a check next to "Display the contents
of system folders", place one there. Conversely, each of the following
lines should have empty check boxes (click on the small box to remove any
existing check marks).
"Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folders list"
"Hide extensions for known file types"
"Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"
When you're finished, click OK at the bottom to set these options in
stone. If these options were not already set this way, you will most likely
be astounded at the number of additional files you will see that you didn't
realize existed (since they were hidden, of course).
I do all of my manual backup work using a single Windows Explorer
window, which you should still have open before you. There should be no
other windows or programs open at this time.
When you first open Windows Explorer, you will most likely be greeted by
a vision of your My Documents folder. If this is the case, Explorer's left
pane will show that the My Documents folder is highlighted (or at least the
MyDocs folder icon will appear open compared to the rest) and the immediate
contents of that folder will be on display in the right pane. This would be
terrific if this was where we needed to be. Unfortunately, that's not the
case here. So, click on the small minus sign (-) just before the MyDocs
folder icon in the left pane to close up those folders and then click
directly on the icon (or the words) for your C drive. There is no need to
click on the plus (+) sign to the left of it because you will access the
immediate contents of the C drive from the right pane. Therefore, step one
is to make and keep the contents of your C drive in the right pane. While
we will be adjusting this view as needed below, it will always need to be
kept on at least some aspect of the C drive. If you later accidentally
click on some other location, simply click on Explorer's Back button to
return to it.
In the left pane of Explorer, you'll want to set it up so that you can
see both the backup folder (2008-02-13) AND most of the subfolders you just
extracted. To set it this way, I simply click on the plus sign next to the
drive letter that houses my backups folder to expose it's subfolders. I
then do the same with the plus sign next to the "Backups" folder and then
for the new "2008-02-13" folder. I would then do it again to just the
Documents & Settings folder When you're done, it should look something like
this:
+DRIVENAME (A)
+DRIVENAME (C)
+DRIVENAME (D)
+DRIVENAME (E)
-DRIVENAME (Z)
+ARCHIVES
-BACKUPS
+2007-02-25
+2007-12-17
-2008-02-13
+Documents and Settings
+All Users
+yourusername
+otherusernames
+Program Files
+WINDOWS
+OTHER STUFF
At this point, you should see the root contents of the C drive in the
right pane and the available backup folders in the left pane. Now comes the
tricky part.
Double click on your Program Files folder in the right pane to see
inside it. While holding down your CTRL key, tap the A key once to
highlight everything in there. Next, use your Right mouse button to grab
and drag one of those items (it matters not which one) to the Backup
folder's Program Files folder showing in the left pane. when you're at the
right spot (anywhere above the words or icon for that folder), you'll see it
change color to reflect that it has been selected as the recipient of
whatever is coming to it. While it's highlighted, let go of the mouse
button and select Copy from the context menu that appears. Unless your
computer is crazy fast, you will see a progress meter to show how things are
moving along. Once that disappears, you have successfully made a backup of
your Program Files folder. As I know you are already aware, that particular
folder is easy compared to what comes next.
Click on your Back button to return to your original C drive view in the
right pane and then double click on the Documents and Settings folder. As
long as you are that only user on this computer, you'll have only two
subfolders to back up from here (Windows uses the rest of them and they will
be recreated during the subsequent Windows reinstallation). If there are
more users than just yourself, each other user will have their own folder in
here that will also need to be included in the back up. The only folder
that I suspect will give you any complaints is your own username folder.
So, go ahead and select the rest of what needs to be copied ("All Users" and
any other username folders other than your own) and get those out of the
way. The way to select several non-contiguous files &/or folders is to
click on one of them and then hold down the CTRL key as you individually
click on the others. When all of the pertinent ones have been selected, use
your Right mouse button to carry them to their destination. Your Right drag
target will be the backup Documents and Settings folder. When you tell it
to Copy, you will be told that the folder already exists because I included
one in that Zip file. Select "Yes to all" and the copying will commence.
When it has completed, we can move onto one of the pests (an affectionate
term I like to use for those folders that complain when you try to copy
them).
The last folder we need to copy from here is your own username folder.
Since I made the Zip file generic, your backup folder collection will not
include one of these. Therefore, it will not initially complain that
there's already a folder by that name. However, as you've already
experienced, it WILL complain when it gets to a system file that is
currently in use. Unfortunately, the entire Copy procedure is stopped once
you hit one of these (that's the "pest" part of it). As previously stated,
you do not need a backup of any file that complains like this, but you will
need to work around them to get all of the other files. So, here comes the
fun part (heavy sarcasm intentional).
Double click on your own username folder to get inside it. Immediately
right click an empty area of the right pane and select New > Folder from the
menu. When the new folder appears, name it exactly the same as your
username folder and press Enter to seal its fate. Finally, Right drag this
new folder to the backup area and place it in the backup Documents and
Settings folder. For this one (and only this one), you will select Move
from the context menu you get when you let go of the mouse button. When
you're done, it should appear alongside the All Users and any other username
folders that you have previously copied there. This new folder now becomes
your target for Copying the rest of the stuff in your username folder.
Still with me? Assuming you are, Great! Here's some good news. You
have just effectively bypassed one of the two pests lurking in this area.
That NTUSER.DAT file showing near the bottom of the right pane is one of
them and we're about to go completely around it. Are you as excited as I
am? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Actually, there's absolutely no value to saving any of the bare files at
this level, so we're only going to focus on the folders in here. Select all
of the folders you see except for "Local Settings" (the one with the other
pest) and Copy them to your new username folder in the backups area. The
easiest way to accomplish this is to select the top folder, hold down your
SHIFT key and then select the last folder. The use of the SHIFT key tells
Windows to select the entire range between two selections. Since you don't
want the Local Settings folder, hold down the CTRL key and click that one to
unselect it from the group. Simple, no? After you're finished Copying the
selected group to the backup, double click on the Local Settings folder to
get inside it. Once in, create a new folder and name it "Local Settings"
after the one you're in. As before, Move this new folder to the inside of
your backup username folder so it can become your new target. The only
folder we need from in here is the Application Data folder. The pest is
still inside there somewhere, so double click on it to get inside it, create
a new folder and call it "Application Data". Move this one to inside the
last one you Moved in your backup area so that IT can become your new
target. Just so there is no confusion with all of the new folders I had you
make and Move, here's what your left pane should now look like:
+DRIVENAME (A)
+DRIVENAME (C)
+DRIVENAME (D)
+DRIVENAME (E)
-DRIVENAME (Z)
+ARCHIVES
-BACKUPS
+2007-02-25
+2007-12-17
-2008-02-13
+Documents and Settings
+All Users
-yourusername (using your actual username)
+Application Data
+Cookies
+Desktop
+Favorites
+username's Documents
-Local Settings
+Application Data
+Recent Documents
+Send To
+Start Menu
+etc.
+otherusername
+yetanotherusername
+Program Files
+WINDOWS
The pest is located deeper inside the "Microsoft" folder, so that means
that all of the other folders can be Copied to that new Application Data
folder in your backups. Once that's out of the way, double click on the
Microsoft folder, create a new Microsoft folder and Move it to where you
copied the last set of folders. The pest is now confined to inside the
Windows folder, so go ahead and Copy the rest of them over. Double click on
the Windows folder to get inside and you'll finally see the Pest in all its
gory glory. There should only be one other file in here and we don't need
either of them for your backup. This means you're completely finished
backing up your entire Documents and Settings area. Click the Back button
until you arrive back at the root of your C drive.
By now, you should be seeing the pattern here. The only catch is that I
already know where the landmines are located. Once you also have them
memorized or written down in a place you're remember, you will be able to
run through this procedure just about as fast as you can type. :O)
Assuming you understand the pattern, I'll leave you to duplicate the
above success with your main C:\Windows folder which sports at least two
pests (I just found 3 on mine, but I don't believe the third applies to
every install) as well as any other folders you may have under C: that I
failed to represent in the Zip file. To accommodate common decency rules of
friendship, I will even provide to you their locations to assist in this
effort. The "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution" folder is only used by
Windows Updates and can be completely ignored as it contains nothing you
need to save (one of the pests is buried deep inside this beast). The other
is located at "C:\WINDOWS\system32\config" which is also not needed for your
backup and can be avoided without regret. The third pest I found was in
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers". The problem file in there turns out to be
two files by the name of fidbox.dat & fidbox.idx. I don't believe these are
on everyone's computers, so you may or may not need this advice. Still, the
rest of this folder qualifies for saving just in case you need anything from
it after reinstalling Windows (after all, it does contain some of your most
recently used driver files), so the workaround may apply. Try just copying
the entire folder by itself before you do the rest of the system32 folder.
If it balks you'll need to use the workaround. If not, you're in the clear.
The files inside the System32 folder that are not in already inside
subfolders can be completely ignored and they will be replaced by your
Windows reinstall as needed. Therefore, your focus will be entirely on the
folders you find inside. This same statement normally applies to the bare
files directly under C:\Windows, but I always go through the list to make
sure, as there are occasionally exceptions to this rule.
I almost forgot to mention that there is no reason to back up any of the
main folders that start with a $ symbol, as these are nothing more than
uninstall files for various Windows Updates.
Even with the rest of my master plan removed, this still turned into
quite a novel. There's a lot of info here and much of it is somewhat
convoluted due to the email medium itself. If you have any questions about
anything at all, please do not hesitate to send them in so I can at least
attempt a little clarification. Have fun, my friend. :O)
Peace,
GMan
http://tinyurl.com/2s8x23
"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "RMB White" <roguer@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:27 PM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Backup and latest Ghost (12.0)
> GMan!
>
> Answers to your questions have been entered as requested in the "Current
> Size" column in YOUR message below.
>
> The 3 separate Documents Folders are for ease of Desktop operation but
> do include some duplication (which I want to retain until I have got the
> reboot up and running in a comfortable environment (AFTER which I may
> weed out SOME duplicates)
>
> Roger W
---------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything
below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary.
To unsubscribe or change your email settings:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk
To access our Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/
//www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/
To contact only the PCTT Mod Squad, write to:
pctechtalk-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
---------------------------------------------------------------
Other related posts:
