Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

[Guest John7]

Hi,

 

 

When Windows got damaged due to:

- disk / file corruption

- malware or it's removal

- bad driver(s)

- update flaw(s)

- other causes

it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of reparing,

a complete re-install is the better option.

 

Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

overall) Windows sanity check?

Tools that check essential Windows structures.

 

 

Kind regards,

John7

[Guest Touch Base]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

 

"John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote in message

news:48f85bd4$0$24401$5fc3050@news.tiscali.nl...

Hi,

 

 

When Windows got damaged due to:

- disk / file corruption

- malware or it's removal

- bad driver(s)

- update flaw(s)

- other causes

it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of reparing,

a complete re-install is the better option.

 

Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

overall) Windows sanity check?

Tools that check essential Windows structures.

 

 

Kind regards,

John7

 

"Tools that check essential Windows structures"

 

Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker

(Sfc.exe)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747

 

'System File Checker gives an administrator the ability to scan all

protected files to verify their versions'

 

 

--

Regards,

Touch Base

Report back on the results, good or bad so others may benefit

[Guest Ken Blake, MVP]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:32:57 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

> When Windows got damaged due to:

> - disk / file corruption

> - malware or it's removal

> - bad driver(s)

> - update flaw(s)

> - other causes

> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of reparing,

> a complete re-install is the better option.

>

> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

> overall) Windows sanity check?

> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

 

 

In my view, reinstalling is usually a mistake. With a modicum of care,

it should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other

version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows

98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now Windows Vista each for the

period of time before the next version came out, and each on two or

more machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never

had anything more than an occasional minor problem.

 

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

possess in any great degree).

 

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to

restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your

programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application

updates,you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for your

system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the

way you're comfortable with.

 

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may

have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?

Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data

backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and

tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you

like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve

that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far

between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for

troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all

other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.

 

And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without

finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the

behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the

same situation.

 

If you have problems, post the details of them here; it's likely that

someone can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.

 

 

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

[Guest Max Wachtel]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

John7 wrote:

> Hi,

>

>

> When Windows got damaged due to:

> - disk / file corruption

> - malware or it's removal

> - bad driver(s)

> - update flaw(s)

> - other causes

> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of reparing,

> a complete re-install is the better option.

>

> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

> overall) Windows sanity check?

> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

>

 

Something like Acronis True Image will give you peace of mind. Setup

your system just the way you like it and then create an image. If ever

you get in trouble you can just restore from the image(it's what I

do-works well).

--

Virus Removal http://max.shplink.com/removal.html

Keep Clean http://max.shplink.com/keepingclean.html

Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply by email.

nomail.afraid.org is for use in USENET-feel free to use it yourself.

[Guest John7]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

"Max Wachtel" <maxwachtel@nomail.afraid.org> schreef in bericht

news:%23H1mpMKMJHA.5660@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> John7 wrote:

>> Hi,

>>

>>

>> When Windows got damaged due to:

>> - disk / file corruption

>> - malware or it's removal

>> - bad driver(s)

>> - update flaw(s)

>> - other causes

>> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

>> reparing,

>> a complete re-install is the better option.

>>

>> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

>> overall) Windows sanity check?

>> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

>>

>

> Something like Acronis True Image will give you peace of mind. Setup your

> system just the way you like it and then create an image. If ever you get

> in trouble you can just restore from the image(it's what I do-works well).

> --

> Virus Removal http://max.shplink.com/removal.html

> Keep Clean http://max.shplink.com/keepingclean.html

> Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply by email.

> nomail.afraid.org is for use in USENET-feel free to use it yourself.

 

 

Thanks Max,

 

 

I use Ghost but plan to move to Acronis True Image.

 

The initial question was to find (partial) Windows Sanity Checkers that help

in

deciding wether it is worth while to attempt repairing a corrupted Windows

setup

or to re-install from fresh and migrate the data.

 

Some customers tend to discuss abouts costs of unsuccessful repairs when,

after all,

a re-install proved necessary.

 

John7

[Guest John7]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> schreef in bericht

news:8l8hf4hhucde4pfmou64vsuta3jb3pgvkp@4ax.com...

> On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:32:57 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

>

>> When Windows got damaged due to:

>> - disk / file corruption

>> - malware or it's removal

>> - bad driver(s)

>> - update flaw(s)

>> - other causes

>> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

>> reparing,

>> a complete re-install is the better option.

>>

>> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

>> overall) Windows sanity check?

>> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

>

>

> In my view, reinstalling is usually a mistake. With a modicum of care,

> it should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other

> version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows

> 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now Windows Vista each for the

> period of time before the next version came out, and each on two or

> more machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never

> had anything more than an occasional minor problem.

>

> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

> support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

> any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

> reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

> phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

> do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

> possess in any great degree).

>

> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to

> restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your

> programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application

> updates,you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for your

> system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the

> way you're comfortable with.

>

> Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may

> have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?

> Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data

> backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and

> tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you

> like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve

> that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far

> between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for

> troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all

> other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.

>

> And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without

> finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the

> behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the

> same situation.

>

> If you have problems, post the details of them here; it's likely that

> someone can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.

>

>

> --

> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

 

Thanks Ken to share your view with me.

 

Your story holds true for my systems as well.

Unfortunately, most customers are not as tech savvy as we are. Occasionally

they

succeed to mess up systems quite badly by stupid and/or unintentional

actions.

 

In general I disagree with most helpdesk's easy route to re-install Windows

etc.

On the other hand, to avoids discussions abouts costs of unsuccessful

repairs when

a re-install proved neccessary, it would be great to have some tools that

quickly check

Windows' internal structure. I searched but found nothing.

 

 

Kind regards,

John7

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

The problem with trying to validate Windows itself is that it is a

platform.

Most if not all major issues are due to drivers and applications that are

installed. Sometimes an issue only presents if a certain combination of

apps and drivers are installed ( even certain revisions within that ). The

reason that so many people opt for a fresh install is the fact that Windows

works best without any 3rd party apps and drivers. They don't realize

that as you load your apps and peripherals some performance will be

lost due to system loading. Sometimes the key to having a stable/fast

system is knowing what NOT to install.

 

It's tough to know when you've reached the fall over point where doing

more work to untangle a XP instance is worth it.

 

 

"John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote in message

news:48fdb509$0$24432$5fc3050@news.tiscali.nl...

> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> schreef in bericht

> news:8l8hf4hhucde4pfmou64vsuta3jb3pgvkp@4ax.com...

>> On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:32:57 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

>>

>>> When Windows got damaged due to:

>>> - disk / file corruption

>>> - malware or it's removal

>>> - bad driver(s)

>>> - update flaw(s)

>>> - other causes

>>> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

>>> reparing,

>>> a complete re-install is the better option.

>>>

>>> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

>>> overall) Windows sanity check?

>>> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

>>

>>

>> In my view, reinstalling is usually a mistake. With a modicum of care,

>> it should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other

>> version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows

>> 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now Windows Vista each for the

>> period of time before the next version came out, and each on two or

>> more machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never

>> had anything more than an occasional minor problem.

>>

>> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

>> support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

>> any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

>> reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

>> phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

>> do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

>> possess in any great degree).

>>

>> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to

>> restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your

>> programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application

>> updates,you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for your

>> system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the

>> way you're comfortable with.

>>

>> Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may

>> have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?

>> Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data

>> backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and

>> tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you

>> like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve

>> that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far

>> between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for

>> troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all

>> other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.

>>

>> And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without

>> finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the

>> behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the

>> same situation.

>>

>> If you have problems, post the details of them here; it's likely that

>> someone can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.

>>

>>

>> --

>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

>

> Thanks Ken to share your view with me.

>

> Your story holds true for my systems as well.

> Unfortunately, most customers are not as tech savvy as we are.

> Occasionally they

> succeed to mess up systems quite badly by stupid and/or unintentional

> actions.

>

> In general I disagree with most helpdesk's easy route to re-install

> Windows etc.

> On the other hand, to avoids discussions abouts costs of unsuccessful

> repairs when

> a re-install proved neccessary, it would be great to have some tools that

> quickly check

> Windows' internal structure. I searched but found nothing.

>

>

> Kind regards,

> John7

>

[Guest Ken Blake, MVP]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:55:01 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> schreef in bericht

> news:8l8hf4hhucde4pfmou64vsuta3jb3pgvkp@4ax.com...

> > On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:32:57 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

> >

> >> When Windows got damaged due to:

> >> - disk / file corruption

> >> - malware or it's removal

> >> - bad driver(s)

> >> - update flaw(s)

> >> - other causes

> >> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

> >> reparing,

> >> a complete re-install is the better option.

> >>

> >> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

> >> overall) Windows sanity check?

> >> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

> >

> >

> > In my view, reinstalling is usually a mistake. With a modicum of care,

> > it should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other

> > version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows

> > 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and now Windows Vista each for the

> > period of time before the next version came out, and each on two or

> > more machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never

> > had anything more than an occasional minor problem.

> >

> > It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

> > support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

> > any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

> > reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

> > phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

> > do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

> > possess in any great degree).

> >

> > But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to

> > restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your

> > programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and application

> > updates,you have to locate and install all the needed drivers for your

> > system, you have to recustomize Windows and all your apps to work the

> > way you're comfortable with.

> >

> > Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may

> > have trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?

> > Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data

> > backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations and

> > tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way you

> > like? Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve

> > that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and far

> > between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for

> > troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only after all

> > other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have failed.

> >

> > And perhaps most important: if you reformat and reinstall without

> > finding out what caused your problem, you will very likely repeat the

> > behavior that caused it, and quickly find your back in exactly the

> > same situation.

> >

> > If you have problems, post the details of them here; it's likely that

> > someone can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.

> >

> >

> > --

> > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

> > Please Reply to the Newsgroup

>

> Thanks Ken to share your view with me.

 

 

You're welcome. Glad to help.

>

> Your story holds true for my systems as well.

> Unfortunately, most customers are not as tech savvy as we are. Occasionally

> they

> succeed to mess up systems quite badly by stupid and/or unintentional

> actions.

 

 

 

It happens, I know. And if the system is messed up badly enough, there

may be no other reasonable choice besides reinstallation. But my

experience with most people who post messages about reinstallation

here, is that that's not the situation.

 

> In general I disagree with most helpdesk's easy route to re-install Windows

> etc.

 

 

Yep! Note the paragraph quoted above, beginning "It's my belief that

this mistaken notion stems from the technical support people at many

of the larger OEMs.

 

 

 

> On the other hand, to avoids discussions abouts costs of unsuccessful

> repairs when

> a re-install proved neccessary, it would be great to have some tools that

> quickly check

> Windows' internal structure. I searched but found nothing.

>

>

> Kind regards,

> John7

>

 

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

[Guest Swifty]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:

> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

> support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

> any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

> reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

> phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

> do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

> possess in any great degree).

>

> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems...

 

Ken, thanks! You've just given me a good idea. I'm in one of these

"larger" organisations, and reinstall is the mantra. The help desk

actually charges (our manager) a significant price for each help ticket

opened. I'm going to propose that we should get a rebate for every

"re-install" solution proposed and acted upon, proportionate to the

scale of the effort. An OS would cost the most; perhaps a day's work.

Reinstalling something with no settings/data might be costed at 30 minutes.

 

That should put the help desk people off suggesting reloads!

 

--

Steve Swift

http://www.swiftys.org.uk/swifty.html

http://www.ringers.org.uk

[Guest Tecknomage]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:44:18 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

> "Max Wachtel" <maxwachtel@nomail.afraid.org> schreef in bericht

> news:%23H1mpMKMJHA.5660@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> > John7 wrote:

> >> Hi,

> >>

> >>

> >> When Windows got damaged due to:

> >> - disk / file corruption

> >> - malware or it's removal

> >> - bad driver(s)

> >> - update flaw(s)

> >> - other causes

> >> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

> >> reparing,

> >> a complete re-install is the better option.

> >>

> >> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick (partial /

> >> overall) Windows sanity check?

> >> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

> >>

> >

> > Something like Acronis True Image will give you peace of mind. Setup your

> > system just the way you like it and then create an image. If ever you get

> > in trouble you can just restore from the image(it's what I do-works well).

> > --

> > Virus Removal http://max.shplink.com/removal.html

> > Keep Clean http://max.shplink.com/keepingclean.html

> > Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply by email.

> > nomail.afraid.org is for use in USENET-feel free to use it yourself.

>

>

> Thanks Max,

>

>

> I use Ghost but plan to move to Acronis True Image.

 

 

You may want to look at O&O DiskImage

http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodiskimage/

 

I'm a very happy user. You download an ISO file that you write to CD

and you have a O&O DiskImage boot CD that run the entire program,

create and recover images. Then download the installer. Option to

buy an additional all-in-one (boot + installer) CD. It sees my

external Firewire HD where I keep the backup images.

 

 

Many, many people are very satisfied users of Acronis True Image.

 

But I had problems using it. Especially with verification of Full

Hard Drive images, where you can not select what to skip.

 

The worst thing was, when a verification failed, the backup just

stopped AND absolutely no details on what caused the failure. Other

backup programs I've used verify the entire image/backup then give you

a report at the end WITH details. Hopefully Acronis has corrected

this in their latest version.

 

With O&O DiskImage I have never had a problem. I use the O&O

DiskImage Boot CD so I get a full image of my hard drives INCLUDING

those folders that are skipped (like System Volume Information) if you

run O&O from the desktop. This is a true Disaster Recovery backup

because I can write the Full Hard Drive image to a blank hard drive

and it will boot.

 

 

>

> The initial question was to find (partial) Windows Sanity Checkers that help

> in

> deciding wether it is worth while to attempt repairing a corrupted Windows

> setup

> or to re-install from fresh and migrate the data.

>

> Some customers tend to discuss abouts costs of unsuccessful repairs when,

> after all,

> a re-install proved necessary.

>

> John7

>

--

======== Tecknomage ========

Computer Systems Specialist

San Diego, CA

[Guest Tecknomage]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:58:34 +0100, Swifty <Steve.J.Swift@gmail.com>

wrote:

> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:

> > It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical

> > support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost

> > any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and

> > reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them. It gets you off the

> > phone quickly, it almost always works, and it doesn't require them to

> > do any real troubleshooting (a skill that most of them obviously don't

> > possess in any great degree).

> >

> > But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems...

>

> Ken, thanks! You've just given me a good idea. I'm in one of these

> "larger" organisations, and reinstall is the mantra. The help desk

> actually charges (our manager) a significant price for each help ticket

> opened. I'm going to propose that we should get a rebate for every

> "re-install" solution proposed and acted upon, proportionate to the

> scale of the effort. An OS would cost the most; perhaps a day's work.

> Reinstalling something with no settings/data might be costed at 30 minutes.

>

> That should put the help desk people off suggesting reloads!

 

 

They also tend to forget about a Repair Reinstall, the 2nd Repair

option when booting to the Setup CD. The Repair option AFTER you

select to install Windows AND it sees you already have Windows

installed. That Repair option launches a Repair Reinstall that keeps

you settings and apps as is. All you have to do is reinstall all Win

Updates.

 

This method is a problem if you have installed SP3 since you likely do

not have a WinXp SP3 Setup CD. By the way, I have one for personal

use only, the OEM WinXP Pro SP3 CD via Amazon.

 

 

--

======== Tecknomage ========

Computer Systems Specialist

San Diego, CA

[Guest Frank-FL]

Re: Quick Windows sanity check tools ?

 

SPAM-SPAM-SPAM

 

"Tecknomage" <tecknode@NOSPAM.com> wrote in message

news:te0uf4l5s1gvqsscq3cn6dhh6lvqljgp8f@4ax.com...

> On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:44:18 +0200, "John7" <NoSp@m.No> wrote:

>

>> "Max Wachtel" <maxwachtel@nomail.afraid.org> schreef in bericht

>> news:%23H1mpMKMJHA.5660@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>> > John7 wrote:

>> >> Hi,

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> When Windows got damaged due to:

>> >> - disk / file corruption

>> >> - malware or it's removal

>> >> - bad driver(s)

>> >> - update flaw(s)

>> >> - other causes

>> >> it is always had to tell when to decide that after some hours of

>> >> reparing,

>> >> a complete re-install is the better option.

>> >>

>> >> Can you advice (MS / 3rd party) tools that provide a quick

>> >> (partial /

>> >> overall) Windows sanity check?

>> >> Tools that check essential Windows structures.

>> >>

>> >

>> > Something like Acronis True Image will give you peace of mind.

>> > Setup your

>> > system just the way you like it and then create an image. If ever

>> > you get

>> > in trouble you can just restore from the image(it's what I

>> > do-works well).

>> > --

>> > Virus Removal http://max.shplink.com/removal.html

>> > Keep Clean http://max.shplink.com/keepingclean.html

>> > Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply by email.

>> > nomail.afraid.org is for use in USENET-feel free to use it

>> > yourself.

>>

>>

>> Thanks Max,

>>

>>

>> I use Ghost but plan to move to Acronis True Image.

>

>

> You may want to look at O&O DiskImage

> http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodiskimage/

>

> I'm a very happy user. You download an ISO file that you write to

> CD

> and you have a O&O DiskImage boot CD that run the entire program,

> create and recover images. Then download the installer. Option to

> buy an additional all-in-one (boot + installer) CD. It sees my

> external Firewire HD where I keep the backup images.

>

>

> Many, many people are very satisfied users of Acronis True Image.

>

> But I had problems using it. Especially with verification of Full

> Hard Drive images, where you can not select what to skip.

>

> The worst thing was, when a verification failed, the backup just

> stopped AND absolutely no details on what caused the failure. Other

> backup programs I've used verify the entire image/backup then give

> you

> a report at the end WITH details. Hopefully Acronis has corrected

> this in their latest version.

>

> With O&O DiskImage I have never had a problem. I use the O&O

> DiskImage Boot CD so I get a full image of my hard drives INCLUDING

> those folders that are skipped (like System Volume Information) if

> you

> run O&O from the desktop. This is a true Disaster Recovery backup

> because I can write the Full Hard Drive image to a blank hard drive

> and it will boot.

>

>

>

>>

>> The initial question was to find (partial) Windows Sanity Checkers

>> that help

>> in

>> deciding wether it is worth while to attempt repairing a corrupted

>> Windows

>> setup

>> or to re-install from fresh and migrate the data.

>>

>> Some customers tend to discuss abouts costs of unsuccessful repairs

>> when,

>> after all,

>> a re-install proved necessary.

>>

>> John7

>>

> --

> ======== Tecknomage ========

> Computer Systems Specialist

> San Diego, CA