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What do you use to back up your OS?

Guest garybear

By Guest garybear
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Guest garybear

Guest garybear

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Hi! I tried this before and didn't get any responses. I'll try a different approach. I use a freeware program called Macrium Reflect. I back up my OS(C Drive) at least once a month. I have 4 different rescue CD's. I really only need the one Linux CD. I know Windows 7 has its own back up partition. Not sure how that works. If your HD dies, can you still use the back up image? I put my images on a external USB. That is all I put on it. I can stick a brand new cold HD in and be back up and running in less than an hour. Virus free and exactly like the day I created that image. That's a good feeling to have. I have Windows Home XP3. I wish everyone could have that feeling. I really feel sorry for these people that call in and can't even get to the net to down load MBAM. If they had their OS backed up like I do, they could restore their image and be back up and running in no time. My program also allows me to mount my back up image in Windows Explorer and copy and paste individual apps. files, ect. I know there are different programs to do this. What do you use?? I started this topic because I think it's the most important thing you need to do before it's to late, and I like to hear what other members are using. I'm always learning and sharing what little I know.

Garybear

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Guest garybear

Guest garybear

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Hi Firefox!!

Thanks for your post. Could you elaborate just a little bit more. Are they paid programs? Have you restored your image? Do you have a copy and paste feature. Do you use a USB to store your images? Do you have a rescue CD to boot your PC, in case you want to restore your image to your working C drive?

Garybear!

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Firefox

Firefox

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Hi Firefox!!

Thanks for your post. Could you elaborate just a little bit more. Are they paid programs? Have you restored your image? Do you have a copy and paste feature. Do you use a USB to store your images? Do you have a rescue CD to boot your PC, in case you want to restore your image to your working C drive?

Garybear!

Yes they are paid programs.

Yes I have restored images.

Yes I can mount the images and copy and paste from them.

Yes I can create a rescue CD.

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Guest garybear

Guest garybear

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Thanks Firefox! My advice to those that posted here and are counting on Windows restore to an earlier time and not backing up their OS to a USB or a different place than your operating drive are asking for serious problems. Restore to an earlier time can become infected and be useless. Only backing up your registry is not good enough IMHO. You need to be able to recover from a major failure. The only way to do that is to have a backup image of your OS(C DRIVE). This is why I started this topic to inform others how important this is. I welcome comments from all members and please correct me if I'm wrong.

Garybear!

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Amethyst

Amethyst

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@Buttons:

I also have a WD MyBook External HD. It's only 300 Gb, though. :) On my desktop, I use the WD software (which is quite similar to the Windows backup program) and I just back up Documents and Settings once a week. I keep a few backups and delete the oldest one each week. I use the same HD to back up Documents and Settings on my laptop as well, same method, but I just use the Windows backup program for that. I like this system because although it would still be a lot of work if a catastrophe occurred (having to reinstall everything) these backup programs allow one to go into the backup and find and restore an individual file if need be, and I've done that occasionally.

The Macrium system does look interesting, but it looks like I would need a lot more external HD space than what I have.

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DarkSnakeKobra

DarkSnakeKobra

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@Buttons:

I also have a WD MyBook External HD. It's only 300 Gb, though. :) On my desktop, I use the WD software (which is quite similar to the Windows backup program) and I just back up Documents and Settings once a week. I keep a few backups and delete the oldest one each week. I use the same HD to back up Documents and Settings on my laptop as well, same method, but I just use the Windows backup program for that. I like this system because although it would still be a lot of work if a catastrophe occurred (having to reinstall everything) these backup programs allow one to go into the backup and find and restore an individual file if need be, and I've done that occasionally.

The Macrium system does look interesting, but it looks like I would need a lot more external HD space than what I have.

Mine came with some trials. But I never used them. I use to just keep backup copies of programs and other things. Now I backup the entire system with Comodo Backup.:)

Personally, I think Comodo Backup does better then reflect. Don't need to burn disks(my laptops disadvantage) just create an image file that comodo can reboot and run just like a fresh install of windows.:)

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  • Root Admin
AdvancedSetup

AdvancedSetup

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Here is an old backup type script I wrote about 5 years ago.

Here is one I wrote that Saves the SYSTEM STATE on Windows XP Pro or Home that has installed Windows NTBACKUP from the CD or download. I've actually recovered a couple of systems that were infected by restoring from this backup. I would not trust the System Restore feature of Windows XP to get you back. Microsoft changed this on Vista and Windows 7 so it cannot be done this way.

Dim $SO
$SO=SetOption('Explicit','On')
$SO=SetOption('NoVarsInStrings','On')
$SO=SetOption('NoMacrosInStrings','On')
$SO=SetOption('WrapAtEOL','On')


Dim $Folder,$Cleaned,$File
$Folder='C:\Backup\'
;Check if the folder exists, if not create it otherwise continue on.
If GetFileAttr($Folder) & 16
 ;Folder found do nothing
Else
  MD $Folder
  If @ERROR
	Quit @ERROR
  EndIf
EndIf
$Cleaned=CleanDirectory($Folder,'*.bkf',30)
;Change the 30 to the number of days you want to save the backup files
;If you only want to save 15 days then change to 15 anything older than the
;specified date will be deleted when this script runs.
;Note though that each backup takes about 500MB of disk space.
;So 30 days of backups would take about 15GB of disk space storage.
BackupSystemState($Folder)


Function BackupSystemState($Folder)
  Dim $Job
  If Not InStr(Right($Folder,1),'\') Exit 3 EndIf
  $Job = Trim(Join(Split(@DATE,'/'),'-'))+'_'+Trim(Join(Split(@TIME,':'),''))+'-SystemState'
  SHELL 'ntbackup backup systemstate /j '+ $Job +' /f ' + $Folder + $Job+'.bkf'
  Exit @ERROR
EndFunction

Function CleanDirectory($directories, $filter, optional $olderas, optional $countonly)
  Dim $rc, $timediff, $filename, $filefilter, $tempdir
  Dim $filecount, $dircount
  $dircount=0
  $filecount=0
  $olderas=IIf(Val($olderas)>0,Val($olderas),0)
  $countonly=IIf(Val($countonly),1,0)
  If Not (VarType($directories) & 8192)
	$directories=Split($directories,'')
  EndIf
  If Not (VarType($filter) & 8192)
	$filter=IIf(Trim($filter),$filter,'*.*')
	$filter=Split($filter,'')
  EndIf
  For Each $tempdir In $directories
	If $tempdir<>'' And Exist($tempdir)
	  For Each $filefilter In $filter
		If $filefilter<>''
		  $filefilter=fullfile($tempdir,$filefilter)
		  $filename=Dir($filefilter,1)
		  While $filename<>'' And @ERROR = 0
			If $filename<>'.' And $filename<>'..'
			  $filename=fullfile($tempdir,$filename)
			  If GetFileAttr($filename) & 16
				$rc=cleandirectory($filename,$filter,$olderas,$countonly)
				If InStr($rc,',')
				  $rc=Split($rc,',')
				  $dircount=$dircount+$rc[0]
				  $filecount=$filecount+$rc[1]
				EndIf
				$rc=SetFileAttr($filename,128)
				If Not $countonly
				  RD $filename
				  If Not @ERROR
					$dircount=$dircount+1
				  EndIf
				EndIf
			  Else
				$timediff=datemath(@DATE,Left(GetFileTime($filename),10))
				If $timediff>=$olderas
				  If $countonly
					$filecount=$filecount+1
				  Else
					$rc=SetFileAttr($filename,128)
					Del $filename /c /f /h
					If Not @ERROR
					  $filecount=$filecount+1
					EndIf
				  EndIf
				EndIf
			  EndIf
			EndIf
			$filename=Dir('',1)
		  Loop
		EndIf
	  Next
	EndIf
  Next
  $cleandirectory=''+$dircount+','+$filecount
EndFunction

Function FullFile($path1, optional $path2)
  Dim $a, $path3
  $a=UBound($path1)
  if $a>0
	$path3=$path1[$a]
	ReDim Preserve $path1[$a-1]
	$path1=fullfile($path1,$path3)
  EndIf
  If UBound($path1)=0
	$path1=$path1[0]
  EndIf
  If Right($path1,1)='\'
	$path1=Left($path1,Len($path1)-1)
  EndIf
  If $path2
	If Left($path2,1)='\'
	  $path2=Right($path2,Len($path2)-1)
	EndIf
	$fullfile=LCase($path1+'\'+$path2)
  Else
	$fullfile=$path1
  EndIf
EndFunction

Function DateMath($ExpD1,$ExpD2)
  Select
	Case InStr($ExpD1,'/') And InStr($ExpD2,'/')
	 ; two date passed - return daysbetween integer
	  $DateMath=SerialDate($ExpD1)-SerialDate($ExpD2)
	  If $DateMath<0
		$DateMath=$DateMath*-1
	  EndIf
	Case InStr($ExpD1,'/') and 1-InStr($ExpD2,'/')
	 ; date and a number passed - return date
	  $ExpD2=0+$ExpD2
	  $Datemath=SerialDate(SerialDate($ExpD1)+$ExpD2)
	Case 1; incorrect parameters passed
  EndSelect
EndFunction

Function SerialDate($ExpD)
  Dim $z,$h,$a,$b,$c,$y,$m,$d
  If InStr($ExpD,'/'); date passed
	$y=Val(SubStr($ExpD,1,4))
	$m=Val(SubStr($ExpD,6,2))
	$d=Val(SubStr($ExpD,9,2))
	If $m<3
	  $m=$m+12
	  $y=$y-1
	EndIf
   ; return an integer
	$SerialDate=$d+(153*$m-457)/5+365*$y+$y/4-$y/100+$y/400-306
  Else; integer passed
	$z=0+$ExpD+306; cast numeric
	$h=100*$z-25
	$a=$h/3652425
	$b=$a-$a/4
	$y=(100*$b+$h)/36525
	$c=$b+$z-365*$y-$y/4
	$m=(5*$c+456)/153
	$d=$c-(153*$m-457)/5
	If $m>12
	  $y=$y+1
	  $m=$m-12
	EndIf
	$m=Right('0'+$m,2)
	$d=Right('0'+$d,2)
   ; return a string date
	$SerialDate=''+$y+'/'+$m+'/'+$d
  EndIf
EndFunction

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yardbird

yardbird

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@ AdvancedSetup

Besides a Maxtor USB Ext. 200GB HD I've been using the 2 programs we talked about over a yr. ago.

ERUNT and NTREGOPT

In regards to Ntregopt I found my answer in the docs about how many times to run it.

"use the NTREGOPT utility regularly, but especially after installing

or uninstalling a program, to minimize the size of the registry files

and optimize registry access."

As for Erunt, theres a cmd line that I can't seem to get to work. I'd like to get the no. of auto-backup files maybe? down to 15 days?

There are 30 files in there now. giving me 968MB of used space. wanted your help on the command line please.

From the FAQ's

Question: I want to change the number of days from which ERUNT AutoBackup keeps restore folders.

Answer: Click "Start"

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Guest garybear

Guest garybear

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Wow! Very impressive everyone. I wasn't expecting all this. I hope this helps our members and visitors. I think I'll stay with Macrium Reflect. It's never let me down and I know how it works. I think Ron gets first prize. He's way past this old man's brain. Thank you everyone for posting on this topic. I know it will help someone. I just can't express how important it is to have your OS backed up. It will save you a lot of grief and money. Once again a big thank you to everyone.

Garybear

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yardbird

yardbird

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Have not really tried myself but guessing it should probably look something like this

"C:\Program Files\ERUNT\AUTOBACK.EXE" %SystemRoot%\ERDNT\AutoBackup\#Date# /noconfirmdelete /noprogresswindow /days:15

Thank you for the Cmd Line AdvancedSetup, we will give it a try & report back in 2 weeks+ regards

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DarkSnakeKobra

DarkSnakeKobra

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Here is an old backup type script I would not trust the System Restore feature of Windows XP to get you back. Microsoft changed this on Vista and Windows 7 so it cannot be done this way.

System Restore has always made a mess of my computer. Wouldn't trust for anything. Now Comodo Backup or Time Machine I would.:)

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yardbird

yardbird

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@ Buttons

You should think about this site: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ AdvancedSetup turned me on to it a couple of yrs. ago. Great Registry Backup - I just feel a little safe. If I make a change if I ran it past Ron or the experts. It saves 30 days of backup files, I wanted to change that to 15 days. after 30 days it overwrites the old days.

but 30 days was just under 1000MB of space for me. regards...

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Guest garybear

Guest garybear

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@ Buttons

You should think about this site: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ AdvancedSetup turned me on to it a couple of yrs. ago. Great Registry Backup - I just feel a little safe. If I make a change if I ran it past Ron or the experts. It saves 30 days of backup files, I wanted to change that to 15 days. after 30 days it overwrites the old days.

but 30 days was just under 1000MB of space for me. regards...

Hi yardbird. I know this was for Buttons but he won't mind me posting to you. Those are great Apps. Thank you! I have used them in the past. Sense I found Macrium, I use it instead. With it I back up my entire OS not just the registry. I can restore my compete OS in less that 11 minutes if I have to. It's just like reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows, but with all the updates and Apps. already there. If you don't have a way to store and create backups of your C drive, ERUNT is a great program. Thank you. Sorry for jumping in Buttons.

Garybear

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yardbird

yardbird

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Hi yardbird. I know this was for Buttons but he won't mind me posting to you. Those are great Apps. Thank you! I have used them in the past. Sense I found Macrium, I use it instead. With it I back up my entire OS not just the registry. I can restore my compete OS in less that 11 minutes if I have to. It's just like reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows, but with all the updates and Apps. already there. If you don't have a way to store and create backups of your C drive, ERUNT is a great program. Thank you. Sorry for jumping in Buttons.

Garybear

no problem :)

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DarkSnakeKobra

DarkSnakeKobra

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@ Buttons

You should think about this site: http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/ AdvancedSetup turned me on to it a couple of yrs. ago. Great Registry Backup - I just feel a little safe. If I make a change if I ran it past Ron or the experts. It saves 30 days of backup files, I wanted to change that to 15 days. after 30 days it overwrites the old days.

but 30 days was just under 1000MB of space for me. regards...

I love ERUNT! Use at least once a day(or try to).:welcome:

@garybear

No problem.

Now Windows Server Backup does a nice job for a built in app.;) That is if you have Windows Server 2008 R2.:lol:

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