Making and restoring an 'Image'

[AntonioAnsell]

Hey...

I'm thinking of wiping my PC's hard drive back to factory condition (with Windows XP Pro pre-installed) and then reinstall my existing data from a back up - but I want to check a couple of things before I proceed.

1) If I do a complete back up to an external drive as an 'image', when I go to restore the data to my PC will it also reinstall the software I currently have (Adobe etc) or will I have to install these from scratch..?

2) With restoring an image, will all my documents and settings prefrences be how I had set them to my custom preferences or will I have to start all over again with pointing certain data to be saved to certain files...?

3) Lastly, the reason why I thinking of doing this is as my PC is now over 3 years old, I wanted to flush out the Registry and bits that can slow down the system. I'm thinking that backing up an Image won't restore obsolete registry entries too..?

Sorry if any of this sounds dumb - but I've never had to restore data or an image before...

My PC is an HP xw6000 Workstation, Xeon 3,06 Ghz, 2MB RAM, 512MB Graphics, 'C' Drive is a 36GB, with 2 additional 72GB hard drives internally and an external 500GB USB2 drive.

Thank you for your help and time in advance...
Antonio.

 

[gbaughma]

An image is exactly that. A "Snapshot" of your computer right now.

If you make an image (such as using Ghost), then re-format, reinstall windows, then restore the image... guess what? Your reformat and re-install were for nothing, because restoring the image is going to put things back *exactly* as they were.

If you're not having computer problems, there are several things you can do. I almost *never* have to reformat a machine and "start over". And shame on techs that do that; they're giving up on the problem instead of understanding and fixing it.

Try a registry cleaner like ccleaner

http://www.ccleaner.com

(it's a great little free program, but watch the installer, it will want to install google desktop and stuff if you don't tell it not to).

It will go and clean your registry, get rid of "old" installation files, temp files, and so forth. Then it will let you uninstall just about anything (even things that don't show up in your add/remove programs by default).

After you've done all that, defrag.

See if that doesn't make a difference.



Just my 2¢
-ARRGH! All my clothes are wrinkled! Oh, the irony!

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[LawnBoy]

And shame on techs that do that;

Gimme a break, Greg. Maybe you've got all day to spend screwing around with Windows, but I'm too busy. MS hides things from you, making it impossible to 'understand' most windows issues.

We try to operate on the 30 minute helpdesk; if the helldesk can't fix it in 30 minutes it gets reimaged.

There's nothing at all wrong with simply reloading Windows. Everybody does it, it's the unofficial fixall for desktops.

 

[mainegeek]

gbaughma,

"I almost *never* have to reformat a machine and "start over". And shame on techs that do that; they're giving up on the problem instead of understanding and fixing it."



I couldn't agree with you more......

 

[AntonioAnsell]

Hey guys...

Thank you for your feedback so far...

I'm usung CCleaner, HDValet (a fantasic little program I got off the cover CD of a US computer magazine a few years ago, AD-Aware SE and have de-fragmented using XP's defrag software...

That all sound good - or anything else you can recommend? I've ditched using Norton and completely uninstalled its software (anti-virus, internet security & utilities) using its Norton Removal Tool from its website after it became so annoying throwing up silly pop-ups all the time for permisson to do things that i already ticked the tick box to continue with and not ask me again!

 

[SteveLord]

I dont like to have to re-format employee computers here, but I also cant spend all day troubleshooting a stupid problem when they are on my backs wanting their computer up and running ASAP.


IT Admin (PBX Newbie)
Nortel Option11
Version 1411
Release 21
Issue 7+
MerMail 10.7.2

 

[wahnula]

I am not getting involved in the "to reformat or not to reformat" debate. The idea of imaging to repair is possible IF...you do a clean install, get all your apps installed and configured exactly as you want them, THEN take the "snapshot".

You can then recover your system to its pristine state at any time in the future, run Windows Update, and speed off.

Of course files and saved games, etc. are backed up and recovered separately from your routine backup...and you DO have a routine backup and disaster recovery plan, don't you?

Tony

 

[branchtom]

I had a problem once when my computer was running really slow, and I went into the Temp folder, and there were a million files that Adobe reader had created. Once I deleted them all, it started running fast again.
You have to hunt for the temp folder under C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\
You can change the Temp folder to an easy-to-find folder at C:\TEMP

Control Panel
System
Advanced
Environment Variables
Edit both variables TEMP and TMP to point to C:\TEMP

 

[kmcferrin]

And shame on techs that do that; they're giving up on the problem instead of understanding and fixing it.

That depends on the circumstance.

In a business setting, if you can't quickly figure out what is wrong with a person's PC then it is often times much faster and more cost effective to either re-image their PC or replace it with a fresh one. This assumes, of course, that the image includes all of the applications that the user needs and that the user was actually storing their files on a network drive, like they're supposed to. I'm in favor of that.

In a personal setting, you might not have time to tunnel through all of the intricacies of Windows and find the eventual root of the problem. If you can re-image and be up and running within an hour with no data loss, why not? The purpose of a computer is to make life easier, not more frustrating.

Where I do have a problem with this is when you purchase a PC from a company, then take it in for tech support during the warranty period, and their solution to the problem is to re-image, possibly causing data loss (because home users rarely back up). Does it fix the problem? Yes. Is it quick? Yes. Does it save the computer company money, undoubtedly, but it also hurts their customer. Unfortunately, because warranty support is on the vendors' dime they will choose the fastest and cheapest solution to solving the problem. But on the other hand, if they have to spend 4-5 hours working on a box then they've probably already eaten up their entire profit margin for that PC. Of course, it also generates a certain amount of ill will towards the company. Unless they blame it on Microsoft ("Windows screwed up your computer so bad that we had to wipe it and start from sratch!"), in which case Windows gets the ill will and hit the reputation.

 

[MaxEd]

I'm all for blasting the darn thing and putting a fresh install unless getting data out of it is critical or some legacy application. Instead of spending 5 hours on it and your customer could have bought himself a computer for the cost of you fixing their pc I'd just reimage it and reinstall unless you like to be the tech who took a week to fix any computer. If money is no object and your client has all the time in the world have a ball take a month to clean the spyware/viruses/ectware out of the machine.

-Laughter works miracles.