Guest David Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 I just spent a few days re-installing the OS, drivers, apps, etc on my kid's laptop. I really don't want to have to do it again so I'd like to completely backup the install using XP's native backup utility. It seems, however, that I need a floppy drive to create a boot disk!?!? How crazy is that in this day and age where many systems (most laptops) are sold without floppy drives. Is there a way to use the XP backup utility without the floppy? Why can't I create a CD boot disk? What other (very) low cost alternatives are there? TIA, David
Guest Jim Posted August 22, 2007 Posted August 22, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups "David" <davids58@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1187826451.374999.3970@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com... >I just spent a few days re-installing the OS, drivers, apps, etc on my > kid's laptop. I really don't want to have to do it again so I'd like > to completely backup the install using XP's native backup utility. It > seems, however, that I need a floppy drive to create a boot disk!?!? > How crazy is that in this day and age where many systems (most > laptops) are sold without floppy drives. > > Is there a way to use the XP backup utility without the floppy? Why > can't I create a CD boot disk? What other (very) low cost alternatives > are there? > > TIA, > David > NTbackup is written to use the floppy, and there is no way to change the program. You of course could if you only had access to the source code . I use Acronis True Image. Others use Ghost. Either one will do the backup and will create a recovery CD. I don't know what you consider "(very) low cost" hence I can't comment. Jim
Guest Malke Posted August 23, 2007 Posted August 23, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups David wrote: > I just spent a few days re-installing the OS, drivers, apps, etc on my > kid's laptop. I really don't want to have to do it again so I'd like > to completely backup the install using XP's native backup utility. It > seems, however, that I need a floppy drive to create a boot disk!?!? > How crazy is that in this day and age where many systems (most > laptops) are sold without floppy drives. > > Is there a way to use the XP backup utility without the floppy? Why > can't I create a CD boot disk? What other (very) low cost alternatives > are there? You don't want to do this with XP's native backup utility anyway. Get an imaging program and an external hard drive. I prefer Acronis True Image. You can create an image of the system as it is now and store that image on the external hard drive. After you install Acronis, use the Bootable Media Creator to make a bootable CD. If you want to restore your saved image, boot with the Acronis CD you made and point it to the file on the external hard drive. You can also do incremental backups with True Image. Malke -- Elephant Boy Computers http://www.elephantboycomputers.com "Don't Panic!" MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted August 23, 2007 Posted August 23, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups That NTBACKUP is a really poor way to do this. What you really want to do is an Imaging tool to create an image that you store on CD/DVD. BootIt NG has such a tool, and for your one-time use it's free. http://www.bootitng.com. Get BootIt, not Image. BootIt NG includes an imaging tool that will work just fine. You download the app, run it to create a bootable CD or floppy, boot to that, CANCEL the installation and then use Partition Work. Highlight the partition, click Image, change to the CD drive and Paste the image. It will span however many CDs or DVDs is required. When you want to restore the image, you first delete the existing partition, then go to the CD, click Image again, then back to the HD and Paste. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "David" <davids58@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1187826451.374999.3970@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com... >I just spent a few days re-installing the OS, drivers, apps, etc on my > kid's laptop. I really don't want to have to do it again so I'd like > to completely backup the install using XP's native backup utility. It > seems, however, that I need a floppy drive to create a boot disk!?!? > How crazy is that in this day and age where many systems (most > laptops) are sold without floppy drives. > > Is there a way to use the XP backup utility without the floppy? Why > can't I create a CD boot disk? What other (very) low cost alternatives > are there? > > TIA, > David >
Guest David Posted August 23, 2007 Posted August 23, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups Thanks to all for the info!! :> David
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted August 23, 2007 Posted August 23, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups Just remember to save all your personal data before doing a Restore. Murphy's Law applies, especially since the storage media is CDs. Might even make copies of the CDs using a disk copier. And try a restore operation immediately after making the image. If it fails, all you'll have to do is reinstall. Wouldn't want to do that after you've been using it a while. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "David" <davids58@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1187881025.021390.248820@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com... > Thanks to all for the info!! :> > > David >
Guest philosoph2b@gmail.com Posted September 8, 2007 Posted September 8, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups On Aug 22, 5:17 pm, "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote: > That NTBACKUP is a really poor way to do this. What you really want to do is > an Imaging tool to create an image that you store on CD/DVD. BootIt NG has > such a tool, and for your one-time use it's free. > > http://www.bootitng.com. Get BootIt, not Image. BootIt NG includes an imaging tool > that will work just fine. You download the app, run it to create a bootable > CD or floppy, boot to that, CANCEL the installation and then use Partition > Work. Highlight the partition, click Image, change to the CD drive and Paste > the image. It will span however many CDs or DVDs is required. When you want > to restore the image, you first delete the existing partition, then go to > the CD, click Image again, then back to the HD and Paste. > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/Userwww.grystmill.com > > "David" <david...@gmail.com> wrote in message > > news:1187826451.374999.3970@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com... > > Ive made the disk. Rebooted. Ive cancelled the install and selected partitions and nothing has happened. what is going on? what am i supposed to do?-
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted September 9, 2007 Posted September 9, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups What do you mean "selected partitions"? That you clicked on Partition Work and nothing happened, or that you got into Partition Work and then selected a partition (you can only select one)? Once you select a partition, you choose a task to perform from the right column. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com <philosoph2b@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1189215358.065237.279240@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com... Ive made the disk. Rebooted. Ive cancelled the install and selected partitions and nothing has happened. what is going on? what am i supposed to do?- > >
Guest David Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 Re: non-diskette backups > http://www.bootitng.com. Get BootIt, not Image. BootIt NG includes an imaging tool > that will work just fine. You download the app, run it to create a bootable > CD or floppy, boot to that, CANCEL the installation and then use Partition > Work. Highlight the partition, click Image, change to the CD drive and Paste > the image. It will span however many CDs or DVDs is required. When you want > to restore the image, you first delete the existing partition, then go to > the CD, click Image again, then back to the HD and Paste. When I boot with the BootIt NG disk, I am asked whether I want to continue with the install. I respond no and then am left in what appears to be a desktop with numerous buttons. When I select Partition Work, the desktop loses the button and there are three pullo-down menus: Boot(It?) Utilities and Help. Nothing other than the mouse is operational at this point. Can't access any menu via mouse or keyboard. Any thoughts? TIA, David
Recommended Posts