-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Backup and latest Ghost (12.0)
- From: RMB White <roguer@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:58:39 +1300
GMan!
there is SOME progress to report. For ease of reference I have reverted
to YOUR original instructions as under and assigned LETTERS to each
paragraph
I have done two more complete restores (each time improving on the
previous) and need to make three points
Firstly due to my arthritic and clumsy fingers I have difficulty
dragging. Often I find I have dropped something important half-way
across the drag, it has disappeared into a black hole and I have to
spend many minutes searching for and recovering it. I have therefore
changed your instructions as you will see.
Secondly, re my "sense of adventure and threshold for pain" the answer
is "unlimited and robust". I AGREE entirely with your caution AND that
the Order of Service should be FULL BACKUP>test result>if satisfactory,
FORMAT Drive 0>RESTORE backup.
Alternatively use WinXP installation Disc (if I can acquire one) for
DUAL Boot on ONE of the External Drive PARTITIONS (please confirm this
is feasible and will NOT wipe all partitions)
Secondly I seem to lose the plot around your paras S,T, and U about
which more anon.
Thirdly I have constructed the following based on your instructions
_BACKUP "Menu du Jour"._
1. a) take Grabzilla Screenshot of Desktop AND print it, so if all else
goes pear-shaped, you can put it on the wall to remember what life USED
to be like!
b) REBOOT COMPUTER IN SAFE MODE .... V. Important
2. Open Win Explorer>Tools>Folder Options>View tab>
CHECK
a) Show hidden Files
b) Display the contents of system folders>
UNCHECK
c) Display Simple Folder view in Explorers folder list
d) Hide extensions for unknown File types
e) Hide protected Operating system Files (Recommended)
3. Ignore Files starting with $ sign
4. Make a) Folder "C drive SPECIAL at 17.2.08" in H Drive (this becomes
TARGET file).
b) sub-folders of a) for Documents and Settings, "All
users" and "User" + Program Files + Windows
5. In Win Explorer uncheck "-" for "My Docs"> check "+" for "My
Computer"> check "+" for "C"> single click "Documents and Settings">"All
users" "Edit" (this becomes SOURCE folder) Copy to folder">C drive
SPECIAL...."> H>Docs and settings>"All users">"Copy"
6. watch little folders flying across screen until sleepy; have brandy.
7. Return to find copying halted, with message "Cannot copy User.dat. It
is in use by another person or program"> "OK"
8. Open TARGET file>track to last file copied>enter it's name and
address +"Pest 1" in Navigator's Log Book (= hard copy)
9. Open SOURCE file>find Pest(which surprisingly is in "C/Docs and
settings/User" ONLY)>highlight (single click) REMAINDER of SOURCE
file>"Edit">"Copy to folder">TARGET File>"Copy"
10. See flying folders again; have another brandy
11. Return to see copying halted again
12. Repeat steps 8 to 10 (naming this "Pest 2")
13 Continue for Pests 3 to ??
14. Repeat with Program Files
15. Repeat with Drive E and F
16. Have LARGE brandy
NOTE (for me) TARGET FILE WILL BE REDUNDANT AS SOON AS YOU MAKE
/SEND/RECEIVE/EMAIL,DOCS,PICS (ANYTHING) so must REPEAT backup
immediately BEFORE FORMAT/NEW boot.
16. Other Pests discovered were
a) UsrClass.dat/.dat.LOG/.dat.rmbak/.tmp.LOG (all in C/Docs and
settings/local settings/Application Data/Microsoft/windows)
b) default, Sam,Security,Software (except .BAK), system,system.LOG
(all in C/Windows/system32/config)
17. NOW, a BIG question please:- Because we are not copying these files
to the TARGET folder, does this mean that they are not neccessary to the
RESTORE, because they are produced by the OS new boot??
NOW, I realise I have committed a capital crime in NOT following you in
your S, and T, about which I have some questions, please
Q1. in S (line 1) are you referring to the username folder in the SOURCE
Folder or the TARGET Folder??
Q2. in S (line 4) if I press Enter I am told there is already a folder
of that name. If I call it a different name, then ...
Q3. in S (line 5) do you want me to Move "this new folder" (which I will
do using the alternative to "dragging" I have already described) to the
TARGET Docs and settings folder??
Q4. in T, MY ntuser.dat (and other ntuser files) appear in the middle of
about 150 eml files in folder (C/Docs and settings/user" (ONLY)
Q5. my general query is that I cannot understand HOW the Pest is isolated
I hope you can follow my tortuous peregrinations, without tearing out
too much hair!
Roger W
On 14/02/2008 10:53 p.m., GMan wrote:
> Roger,
> A. 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.
>
> B. 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.
>
> C. 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).
>
> D. 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.
>
> E. 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.
>
> F. 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.
>
> G. 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.
>
> H. 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.
>
> I. 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).
>
> J. 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)"
>
> K. 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).
>
> L. 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.
>
> M. 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.
>
> N. 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
>
> O. 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.
>
> P. 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.
>
> Q. 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).
>
> R. 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).
>
> S. 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.
>
> T. 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.
>
> U. 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
>
> V. 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.
>
> W. 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)
>
> X. 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.
>
> Y. 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.
>
> Z. 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!"
>
>
>
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