Windows 7 Well I finally did it!

[MikeHawthorne]

I hopelessly crashed my computer.

I was trying to install the Windows 8 Preview and it did exactly what I was afraid it would do.

It started overwriting my Windows installation without asking me where I wanted to install it.

The Windows 8 install failed, so I tried the rollback option and that failed too.

So I put in my Ghost disk and tried restore my C:\ drive and that failed too.

Finally I had to go to the system restore disks that came with my computer.
That got it up and running and I can read all the stuff in my Ghost backups on my external drive.
So I can restore stuff from there, but I still have a lot of stuff to re-install.

All of my data is on my D:\ drive and wasn't effected so I haven't lost any files or anything and some of the software that I had installed there still runs.

But I've got a lot of work to do.

So I may be back with questions there are things I had installed that I can't even remember.

Does anyone know where the Google Chrome favorites are stored, I probably have them backed up it I can find them.

And I can't seem to find a restore for my desktop I had stuff there that may be lost unless I can find someplace else that it actually saved it.

Mike

 

[nmsuk]

If you have a backup image of your c: drive I think the chrome favs are kept in \users\youraccount\appdata\roaming\chrome maybe google. If not in there check in programdata on the root of C:. For you desktop if you have a system image you could check c:\users\youruser\desktop in the image.

HTH

NmsUK

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I found the desktop stuff where you suggested and it's restoring it right now.
I'll go look for my chrome data again.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

 

[nmsuk]

My pleasure Mike. Good luck with the restore.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi again.

I just finished installing Age of Conan and Adobe Photoshop CS2.

I had to install an earlier version first because it's an upgrade and wouldn't recognize my DVD when I put it in.

Nice that I can work on both installs at the same time, I put them on different drives and Conan installed and updated while I worked on other things.

Right now I'm downloading my video drivers.

Ah! they are done.

Mike

 

[OldTimer]

Mike,
You left me sitting here, scratching my head with that comment that your Ghost backup didn't restore. ???

What do you think went wrong? Eh?

I've been using Ghost since 1997, without ever seeing that problem.
But then, I don't use the new GUI versions of Ghost and I never shut down Ghost after a backup till the image file is Verified.

With Ghost, I put on the brakes at ver. 11.5, which is the last DOS based version that I can run from a DOS boot disk.
I have it on CD, Flash Drive and a SD flash memory card.

My standard process is to first make sure there are NO errors on my HD. Chkdsk C: /f usually takes care of that.
Then from my DOS boot disk, I run batch files to eliminate the pagefile, old restore points and of course, Junk Files, from my C:
drive. Finally I run Ghost 11.5 and do the backup (Partition to Image) to my backup 1TB drive.
Then I run a "Check" of the backup image file and finally the acid test...... I do a restore, using the file I just created.
If everything works as planned, I wind up with a newly written C: drive with NO errors on it, NO spaces in the data and NO fragmentation. It's almost step by step identical to what I used to do on the big main-frame computer I ran for the county.

With a known-good backup "in the can" you do all sorts of wild and crazy things with your OS, knowing that if you screw it up, you can always fix it.

* Before somebody says, you can't clean up a NTFS hard drive from a DOS boot disk,,,,,,,,, OH yes I can!
My DOS boot disk ain't your daddy's boot disk! Besides Ghost 11.5, and my cleanup batch files, it also contains "NTFS4DOS", which opens up the NTFS partition so I CAN access if from a DOS prompt. Every file on the C: partition is mine to do with as I please.
On my own PC, that's not even an issue, because I still run XP-Pro on a FAT-32 hard drive, which is easily accessed from DOS.
By doing my very thorough cleanup before running Ghost, I cut over 4 gig's from the size of my backup image file.

Cheers Mate!
OT

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I don't know what happened, I had already tried repair, and rollback and no luck.

So I started Ghost from my boot DVD.

It found the backup on my external drive and started the process, but after about a half hour a message came up on the screen, something like, "Ghost can't read a file, restore failed"!

I created and validated the image only about a week ago just in case I had a problem like this. And it validated it again just before it started restoring.

I finally got it back up and running by using my system image that came from Falcon Northwest.

That worked until after a couple of hours of re-installing things I decided to update my video drivers. My computer crashed again and wouldn't boot or repair.

Back to the System Image again, fortunately this only takes about 15 minutes.

This time I updated the video drivers first before I did anything else.

I got the blue screen again, but this time I was able to boot into safe mode and changed to the previous driver to the one I was trying to install and it's all working now.

I just finished installing all my Adobe software.
Now I'm going to start on the games and odds and ends.
I'm having problems installing Age of Conan, after the install I get a message that says msvcp100.dll is missing and won't start.

I just ran an installer for a C++ package that is supposed to include it.
I'll try and install AoC again after I get the rest of the stuff done.

Kind of tired I was up until about 4 am getting things up and running.

When I'm done installing everything I'm going to make a image file on my D:\ drive, where it's easy to get to, using Windows 7 backup.

Mike

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Ps.

On the plus side once I got into Windows 7 and re-installed Ghost I was able to access my backups and retrieve individual files.

I'm still trying to find my Windows Live Mail address book and my Google Chrome Favorites but at least I was able to find documents etc. Most important some stuff I had on the Desktop and wan't backed up anyplace else, that was a important.
I've now copied the stuff to my D:\drive.

Anyone know where the Windows Live Mail address book is saved?

 

[OldTimer]

Sorry Mike, I won't use Windows Live Mail.
I had to set that beast up one time and one time was more than enough for me.
What a crappy looking program!
And doing the setup is enough to make a freight train take off down a dirt road.

I just activate 'Windows Mail' and set it up just like Outlook Express and never have any regrets.

By the way, you said something about installing Ghost into your OS drive? Did I read that right?
I have not, do not and never will do that..... install Ghost into Windows. Why?

When it's running within Windows, it does not have control of your computer, Windows does.
That can throw all sorts of Crap into the Gap, so to speak.

I learned my lesson with that, clear back in the Ghost 2002 days.
Ghost running from a DOS boot disk, is dealing only with the ones and zeros (files) on the HD and doesn't
have to deal with an OS running in the background, accessing the HD, eating up RAM, etc.

I think I mentioned this, but I'm going to say it again, , , I run Ghost 11.5, from a DOS boot disk and
never have to deal with Windows at all. As long as I make sure that my HD is free of errors, Ghost just
never fails me. The way I run Ghost also eliminates the HD Bloat that Ghost itself creates when it's installed
on the HD.
Running your backup and restore program from withing Windows is just NOT the way it should be done,
not for the greatest safety anyway.

Ok.... I quit. Sorry if this post has offended anyone.
OT.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

No I have Ghost installed on my D:\Drive and my backups are on an external firewire drive.

I was running the restore from the Linux boot DVD.

I'm almost done, only a few more things to go.

And I've used Ghost many times in the past with good results.

Actually now that I'm almost done I'm kind of glad I did it this way.
My computer had so much stuff on it that I didn't need that it's running a lot better now.

I only installed the programs that I actually use. LOL

About the only thing I don't have running is Age of Conan.
I've installed several programs, Lord of the Rings Online for one that installed the software that AoC said it couldn't find do I'm gong to give it another go.

I think that Windows Live Mail client has changed since you used it.
I have three accounts on it, all on different services, Comcast, Gmail and Live.

All I had to do to set them up was type in my address and my password for each one only took 30 seconds.

Though I'm not that crazy about the interface.

Mike

 

[Medico]

I am unsure why you had the problem with Ghost, very strange. personally I use Acronis True Image Home, both 2010 (wife's PC) and 2011 (my PC). I store my Images on an ext USB HD. I have had to restore numerous times after "playing" with my OS left it in sad shape. Do you have a version of Ghost rated to work with Win 7?

I have read much about Ghost as well as Macrium Reflect and Acronis for Imaging. I like the 3rd party apps rather than Win 7 Backup and Restore because of the added feature set included with the 3rd party apps. I would definitely recommend a 3rd party app over the Win 7 app for Imaging.

Note: By the way it looks as though I am equally as old as you. It does at times take a little longer to get the old brain cell fired up in the morning.

 

[OldTimer]

Well, I finally did it, Again!

It's been a pretty busy week on the old PC so I did my weekly (not weakly) thing and performed another Ghost backup.

I realize that many people have their own way of doing backups and I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from doing it,
but, there are a lot of people reading these forums that have never done a backup in their life and are reading this to be
informed as to the proper way, and not fall into a tiger pit.

I read far too many people saying "I do my backups of data files only, or I do my backups to an internal drive, blah, blah, blah".

For instance having the Backup/Restore program on a non-booting HD and not on a recognized Boot Disk. Or thinking that their backup is going to get them going again, seamlessly, when their main drive has gone up in smoke.

Regardless of what Backup Program I would use, it must be on a Bootable media such as CD, Flash Drive, etc., that will boot up the PC with a brand new, empty, hard drive installed. And the Backup Image of the C: drive must also be on an external media, either an external hard drive or DVD's. The only SAFE backup is the backup of the entire C: drive and it must be stored on an external media, stored in a safe place. My own permanent backups, on DVD are in a Fireproof Vault, 20 miles away.

I've set up backup schemes for Banks, Business Offices and private homes and every one has to be handled just a little bit differently, depending on what media and what storage facilities are available. For instance, a Bank will have a Fireproof Vault, the average home will not. So the home PC user has to ask himself "where should I store my backups?".
The answer is simple, either at a friend or neighbors house, or in a bank safe deposit box.

Personally, I make my backups to different media at different times. It I want to do the quickest backup, I save the Backup Image File of my C: drive to the second partition of my SATA II drive, using FAST compression. A little slower but safer backup, I do to my second physical Internal HD (1TB, SATA II drive). My third and much slower choice is to an External USB drive. And finally the safest backup of all (and the slowest) is to DVD's which will go OFF SITE, so in case of fire or Hurricane, they are safe. I have data files going back twenty years, that I would really hate to loose and the way I have my own backup system set up, I will never loose them.

I would gladly work 'one on one' with anybody that does not currently have a backup scheme of their own, but wants to have one.
Very good Backup programs are readily available for FREE and are easy to set up. It's all so easy that no-one should be without a backup of their C: drive.

Sorry for the long post, but this a a topic near and dear to my heart and the business I've been in for over 30 years.

Cheers Mates!
The Old Guy

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Well I just installed Service Pack 1 and a few other updates and everything is up and running again.

Had a little problem with my internet connection not starting automatically after the updates, but use my desktop doctor to restore the settings and that's working now.

Now it's telling me there is an update for Net framework 4, I hope this is the last one!

Mike

 

[OldTimer]

Mike,

Now it's telling me there is an update for Net framework 4, I hope this is the last one!

I'm sure someone must have said that after the update to DotNetFramework 2.0. It wasn't, so I'm quite
sure you can look forward to #5 and then #6, etc.

Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Now I can't get Ghost to run, VPro Console error.

I finally used the removal tool to get rid of it, and for some reason that fixed the problem I was having with my computer connecting to the internet.

Ghost also left a zillion regestry intries behind and several thing hanging in Device Manager.
That's all cleaned up now and I have everything working perfect.

I want to back it up now!

I'm downloading Acronis True Image trial and I'm going to give that a try before I decide which way to go.
I don't mind paying for it if it works.

I found a lot of people having the VPro Console error but no real cut and dried solution.

Mike

 

[OldTimer]

Voila! That's probably another reason why I don't ever want my backup program loaded on my PC.

 

[Medico]

Mike, I use Acronis True Image Home, both 2010 (wife's PC) and 2011 (my PC). Some don't like the UI, But I am accustomed to it, and have NEVER been let down by it. I create a new Image when ever I make a change to my OS (updates, add/remove apps, etc) so that my Image is Up To Date when I need to restore. All my data is on a separate partition so it's unaffected by having to restore my C Drive.

I always store my Images on an ext HD. I suppose I could store them in the Data partition for quicker access, but do not at this time. I suppose I could also burn DVD's, but do not at this time.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi Ted

I'm making an image on both my D:\ drive and my external drive.
I like having it easy to get to on D but you can't be too safe.

What I would like to be able to do is create a set of free standing disks like the ones I got from Falcon NW that could be stuck in and automatically return my computer to just the way it is right now.

I see an option when you are saving the image for "Make this media bootable" I wonder if that means I could make a bootable set of Image Disks that would install themselves?

I'm updating one of the images I made yesterday right now, it's only going to take about 5 minutes pretty fast!

I'ts done.

Mike

 

[allenn]

Re: Ghost 15 cloning or copying Win 7

Ghost 15 does not work like previous versions. I tried cloning a WD 80 GB HDD to a WD 160 GB, and Ghost mucked up the drive. I could get the cloned drive to work by using Win 7 Pro Setup in repair mode. I ran Disk Manager on the clone, and I found only one partition which contained bootmgr and all the stuff normally in the 100 MB System partition. Next, I tried cloning the System partition and then the data portion. The HDD would not boot until I ran Win 7 in repair mode. I ran Disk Manager and found 2 allocated partitions and a 2 MB unallocated partition. After fooling around with Ghost 15, I could not get a good bootable clone or copy.I found a WD edition of Acronis on WD's web site. I ran the app, and it worked like previous versions of Ghost. Acronis made a bootable clone of Win 7 Pro and the partitions mirrored the original drive. I wish I could get a refund on Ghost 15.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I just decided today that I'm going to uninstall Ghost and just use Acronis.
I had backups made with both.

I already formated one of my external drives holding my Ghost images and backed both of my drives up to it using Acronis.

I'm going to do the same thing with the other one tomorrow.

The one thing I haven't been able to figure out with Acronis 2012 it how to browse through the backup and extract individual files.

I don't see an application in it that does that?

The one thing I do like is that the interface is pretty simple as far as backing up and restoring goes, Ghost has too many options.

Mike

I think I found it, you have to go to Mount Image.