unable to back up

s.gerrard

hi i need some help please!

my packard bell windows xp has been playing up latelty (pc turns itself off etc) this has got worse and eventually i was unable to get into windows. i have no back ups but i do have the XP cd (but i havent got my product key!?)

i have been able to get into windows again (pure fluke) and now im in again i want to back up my system. However i tried installing the back up program via the cd (as discussed on this board) but the ntbackup.msi file is not on the cd and i cant find the back up program anywhere?! i need this back up program to create an "sutomated system recovery disk"

can anybody help me here? do i need this windows xp back up program, or can i use something different?! also do i need the automated windows system recovery disk or can i create my own boot/recovery disk??

i have tried to create the ubcd4win (http://www.ubcd4win.com/) but this was complicated and i was unable to do it.

What i would ideally like is some sort of software tool to create a back up and boot disk all in one, so i can just burn off a cd and lock it away in case i have problems again??

also any advice on what anti-virus, firewall, pop up blocker malware products would be great (preferably free ones!) i just downloaded AVG but it only found 1 threat after its scan, and after the way my pc has been acting i think there must be more! (i have deleted all programs that could be harmful i just need something to sweep and clean my hard drive now)

any help would be greatly appreciated

thank you all in advance.

espresso

Read this invisible sticky here.

s.gerrard

Thanks for your speedy reply

but ive already stated in my post that ive read that article and i was unable to back up in the way iy suggests.

i need some sort of software tool to do it all for me, and a boot cd would be great also

Thanks

superscaper

You can at least start backing up critical stuff by simply copying and pasting My Documents onto CD, or using the CD burning software you have. Worrying about settings should be secondary. If your PC is in such a poor state, installing more software and relying on something automatic is probably a mistake at this late stage. These are things that should really be normal routine when things are running smoothly not after things start to go wrong. It's a big risk trying to involve new programs when there are already problems as they may simply exacerbate the situation and make things more difficult to attempt backing up. Don't wait until you have some perfect "all in one" solution, start backing things up now!

espresso

s.gerrard wrote: »

Thanks for your speedy reply

but ive already stated in my post that ive read that article and i was unable to back up in the way iy suggests.

You didn't actually but as superscaper has said, get your important data off ASAP while you can. If it is turning itself off, it may well be overheating, so investigate the cause of the shutdown. Monitor your temperatures using a program like Speedfan here.

bookduck

the license key might just be already withing the CD, like dell's xp CD that only work on Dell Computers. Do a backup first though and don't find out the hard way. You could phone the supplier to check?

superscaper

bookduck wrote: »

the license key might just be already withing the CD, like dell's xp CD that only work on Dell Computers. Do a backup first though and don't find out the hard way. You could phone the supplier to check?

Or a COA sticker on the PC somewhere, or failing that use http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml to find out the serial number of your current installation. But I only advise using if you can't find the genuine COA and assuming it is a legal copy.