A backup/restore of Windows XP that actually works?

[kaborka]

I finally had occasion to test my Windows backup and recovery strategy when migrating to a new hdd. I've been making ASR backups of C regularly, stored on an external USB2 hdd. With a different hdd installed in the system, I decided to do an ASR recovery to restore my working Windows setup to the new hdd. No dice -- ASR restore complained about the partitioning of the replacement disk and refused to restore. The disk was already partitioned, as it had been used as a data disk in a different system. There was useful data in the other partitions, so I didn't want to wipe that disk. I tried to restore the ASR backup to partition 1, which had more than enough room to hold my saved C partition from the old disk.

As a second approach, I wiped p1 on the replacement disk and did a fresh install of XP Pro in p1. I then used Windows Backup to restore a backup of the old system, which included a backup of the "System State". I got warnings about Windows FIle Protection during the restore process, but let it replace the Dlls from the backup. After the restore was complete, I rebooted, and promptly got a BSOD. I did not try a repair install to try to make it bootable -- I figured that would defeat the purpose to the restore, since the "repaired" dll's would be out of date.

As a third approach, I got a copy of Acronis True Image 9.1. Their stand-alone recovery boot disk doesn't even see the SATA drives on my NF4 system. Useless.

Is there any Windows system backup solution that actually works when it comes to restoring the system partition, should the original hdd fail? It seems the only sure approach is to do a clean install and reinstall all the apps? Personal files can then be recovered from a backup.

 

[33wogo]

my system restore is not working. i am looking for a simple way to back up everything and haven't found anything yet that works. if anyone knows something easy that doesn't cost money, please link me to it. my op sys is xp home. pcchips mb 768 mb ram. sempron processor 1.26 ghtz

kaborka, i found your post when i did a search for backup xp home. good luck

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: kaborka
Is there any Windows system backup solution that actually works when it comes to restoring the system partition, should the original hdd fail? It seems the only sure approach is to do a clean install and reinstall all the apps? Personal files can then be recovered from a backup.

Buy a second drive the same size as your main drive and a moble rack, and use Norton Ghost to clone your drive. Ghost can boot to a floppy drive with the main Ghost proram to make a complete, functional copy of your hard drive. If your main drive gets corrupted or infected, you can format it (including a low level format, if necessary) and put it back to where it was on the day you last backed it up. If your drive dies, your Ghost copy plugs in and runs with no modification, other than setting the jumper, if necessary, and all you're out is the cost of a new backup drive.

I always Ghost my drive after every virus and spyware sweep and before installing ANY new program or software update. If the installation fails, I can go back to where I started and try again. It also allows me to try non-standard installations because the worst that can happen is, it won't work, and I can start over in just a few minutes.

I can Ghost my 80 GB ATA133 drives in around 10 - 12 minutes. I built a new system for a friend with a pair of 250 GB SATA2 drives. That system Ghosts in 6 - 8 minutes. Either way, you can't do "The Three S's" (sh8, shower and shave) that fast, and you're always as good as your last Ghost backup. 😎

 

[Navid]

I have been using Drive Image 2002, which is considered old now!
It works perfectly.
I have an image of my C drive. I restore it on many occasions not just for disaster recovery.

It works!

I am surprised that True Image is not working for you. You can post in their forums to find out how to do it.

 

[bruceb]

I do not see how you can get such fast Ghost speeds ... I use Ghost from Norton Systemworks 2003 Pro
on a 120GB Drive with about 60% free space on the drive to Ghost it to another 120GB Drive (both WD ATA IDE)
on a Dell DImension 8200 P4 1.8Ghz ... 512MB RAM ... when I ghost, I set for Fast Compression ... it usually takes
about 45 minutes or so to make the image

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: bruceb
I do not see how you can get such fast Ghost speeds ... I use Ghost from Norton Systemworks 2003 Pro
on a 120GB Drive with about 60% free space on the drive to Ghost it to another 120GB Drive (both WD ATA IDE)
on a Dell DImension 8200 P4 1.8Ghz ... 512MB RAM ... when I ghost, I set for Fast Compression ... it usually takes
about 45 minutes or so to make the image

It all depends on how much data you have on the disk. The image only stores data. If your disk is almost empty, the image will be very small and super fast to create!

 

[RebateMonger]

I've used the built-in NTBackup in Windows XP and Server 2003 many times to restore systems (mostly servers). They do work. Be sure to follow Microsoft's restoration procedures exactly, although with XP it's much simpler than with a Windows 2003 Domain Controller.

ASR recovery is tricky. There are some known limitations - such as requiring the removal of a USB backup drive from its housing, so you can make it a local (internal) drive on the PC you are trying to restore. Additionally, there's a known issue that basically makes it easiest to do the ASR recovery on a drive that's LARGER than the original drive. Part of the ASR process is a re-partitioning of the target drive, so it matches the original drive partitions. I wouldn't attempt an ASR recovery on a drive that has data on it.

Personally, I no longer attempt ASR recoveries, prefering to re-install Windows first and then doing a System State and data recovery. It really doesn't take much longer. But be sure to patch the recovery system FIRST to the same Service Pack level as the system you're trying to restore.