Restoration

intel

So I have a laptop XP Home SP2 enough RAM and HDD..

It Originally Came with 40gb HDD which I still have but in the original config it was BOOT (C:\)17.7GB BACKUP (D:\)14.6GB RECOVER (E:\)4.86GB

Now Its (C:\)37.2GB Total Size after OS Install, reason being is that I deleted the partitions so that I just had the one drive the only problem with this is that If I do a restore I have to use the XP CD and Install the OS and then use the Application Support CD to install drivers etc.

Now this works Ok no problems as such apart from the time factor, i.e If using the Application Support CD from boot this would do a Power Quest Ghost.

As Youv'e guessed because I deleted the partitions I also killed the restore partition and folders, I did however know this and wasnt to worried as I new the work around would work.. so what I would like to know is.

If I purchase a bit of partition software and rebuild the original partitions will this work as I have just got access to another PC exactly the same as mine and have copied the Restore Files from the other PCs intact Recovery folder for Ghosting and put on disc ready to put on my PC.

Also I get the error message Cannot Find C:\cwsdpmi.swp file, I have however looked on the other PC exact to mine and via a search cannot find this file, Im pretty sure this is a swap file for Ghost inititialisation, but is it worth the hassle of trying to regenerate this file..

If folks have any ideas I would love to hear them. :beer:

redux

I have no idea, and might hope to ask your advice on things like this, but I have heard Partition Magic mentioned as one of the best programs. I'm sure you're already aware of that - apparently though there are trial versions available, but I don't know if they are fully functional.

Sorry not to be helpful enough.

intel

redux wrote:

I have no idea, and might hope to ask your advice on things like this, but I have heard Partition Magic mentioned as one of the best programs. I'm sure you're already aware of that - apparently though there are trial versions available, but I don't know if they are fully functional.

I tried Part Magic Tonite on the trial but its limited as a demo Browntoa very helpfully pointed out some programs as freebies but alas didnt work., I did however hear there was a freebie recently on a PC mag for something similar to Ghost It might of been Acronis True Image.

If I restored my PC with no Crap On I wouldnt mind doing a Ghost that way as its the time to do a manual restore that's a bit of a wind up.

redux

just browsing a stack of CDs ...

Paragon Merge Partition - PC Advisor Jan
Paragon Exact Image 7 SE - PC Pro Jan

the 2nd is a DVD, and I've been meaning to buy a player very soon, so I can't look at it yet for you - easy backup and upgrade it says on the blurb - well of course

http://www.exact-image.com/

I think I've seen Acronis on a while back, but dunno about recently

Toxteth_OGrady

Inters

I thought you said we're not allowed to ask questions here!

Anyway, I personally use Acronis and find it the absolute dog's danglies, so much so that it's one of the few utilities that I actually spend money on. It's so much easier to use than Ghost and Drive Image - both of which I previously used extensively.

The four big plusses for me are the ease of cross-network imaging, the image explorer, the scheduled incremental back-up that allows you to go back to any one of many images and finally the emergency boot/recovery disk that boots to Linux and presents exactly the same GUI and network support as if you were running normally in Windows - no messing about with DOS.

HTH

:cool:

TOG

intel

Hi TOG

I got Norton Partition Magic and did it, I mean I got my PC back
to factory settings after creating two new partitions and inserting
the files into the restore folder on the restore partition, now I can
ghost my PC in about 10mins instead of 3hrs.....

Dude

Just goes to show that even Norton can do something’s right....Ghost is amazing. The new version even works with external USB/Firewire drivers, for when you don't want to partition.

intel

Dude wrote:

Just goes to show that even Norton can do something’s right....Ghost is amazing. The new version even works with external USB/Firewire drivers, for when you don't want to partition.

I will say for Norton fair bloomin play they have made a top
notch bit of kit with this and well £39.99 isnt too bad a price to pay.

Dude

intel wrote:

I will say for Norton fair bloomin play they have made a top
notch bit of kit with this and well £39.99 isnt too bad a price to pay.

That's fine for a single user licence, however for a large organisation that wants to ghost a 100+ machines, it's very expensive....but does save loads of man hours

intel

Dude wrote:

That's fine for a single user licence, however for a large organisation that wants to ghost a 100+ machines, it's very expensive....but does save loads of man hours

Not when you keep Mum it dont...

Dude

intel wrote:

Not when you keep Mum it dont...

Mum's the word....;