Have I backed up right?

Hi, I'm using TI9. I have just made my first full backup and saved it to my other harddrive (D and made the boot disk. D: is a seperate HD to my system Drive (C I have two questions,
1. Does the Full Backup I saved to D: drive contain all the system files including the registry and windows?
2. If for example I formatted C: drive and tried to recover from the backup file on D: would my system be back to the way it was when I created the Full Backup?
I download many files, programs, utilities etc. to play with which usually ends up with me corrupting my system, having then to reformat and instal my system 2-3 times a year.

 

1. Yes
2. Yes

An easier way to test programs and get your system back after un-installing the program is to save the Registry before you install the program then after you uninstall the program, restore that saved Registry file.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll go see how I do that.

Ramjet

 

Ok, I just backed up my registry, next question.
If I need to import it back in, I just import it, right?
I don't need to do anything to the old one, it just replaces the old one?

Ramjet

 

Not exactly. When you backed up your Registry you most likely did an export which placed a file [something.reg] somewhere on your computer. The default has been the My Documents folder. To restore it simply double-click on that file. See also this link.
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/registry.htm

 

Thanks Bruce, I didn't quite understand your reply but I'll check out the link tomorrow, bedtime now.

Cheers,
Ramjet

 

You can copy any portion of the registry to a file. Windows calls it exporting and the data is saved to a file with a reg extension.

If you double click on a such a file, windows adds the data in it to the registry.

If you export the whole registry to say, regback.reg, yyou can double click on that file and windows will load all the data in it into the registry. If any keys already exist in the registry, then it will overwrite them.

hope that helps,

 

>"If you double click on a such a file, windows adds the data in it to the registry."

What I'm was hoping for was to import the saved ?.reg file to replace the exsisting one, not add to it.

>"If you export the whole registry to say, regback.reg, yyou can double click on that file and windows will load all the data in it into the registry. If any keys already exist in the registry, then it will overwrite them."

So this means that any troublesome unknown entries will remain in the registry to continue creating havoc. As I said earlier, my idea is to replace the registry with a good one. I know I could acheive my goal by creating restore points, but I may not need to restore for say twelve months and the good restore point may no longer exsist.
I appreciate the help so far. Fiddling with the registry has always been a nomans-land but nonetheless interesting.

Thanks everyone.

 

Creating a Windows restore point and then restoring the machine to that point will put the entire registry back as it was. Since the registry actually compreises a handful of files, it's not easy to manually copy and replace without special tools like Windows Restore or other after-market registry manipulators.

 

Thanks for the replies guys,
My conclusion is...
1. Stick to using restore points.
2. Failing that and in an extreme situation, Format my C: drive;
and then recover using my Acronis boot disk and backup files which I guess will reinstal my system with windows xp including the validation and activation info together with the registry as it was when I made the Acronis backup.
yes?

Ramjet
Thanks for taking the trouble.

 

There is a free utitlity on the web that can automatically save your registry at every boot-up (or you could just do it manually through the program) and restores are simple. It's called ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT. Google if you're interested. I use it and it's very reliable.

 

But of course <slaps forehead> ... how could I forget that ... I use it everytime before I try out a new program.

 

As long as you selected to backup (image) the entire drive and partitions - not selecting the 'files and folders' option. You should try to mount the image as well and see if you can browse it-that will also help determine the chances if it will work on a recovery.

 

[QUOTE=Brigette]There is a free utitlity on the web that can automatically save your registry at every boot-up (or you could just do it manually through the program) and restores are simple. It's called ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT. Google if you're interested. I use it and it's very reliable.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Brigette, I've taken your advice (at my own risk) and downloaded it. I've also read the documentation at;
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt
It appears to be just what the doctor ordered, sounds terific!

Trust a woman (the master race) to come up with the right answer!!!

Thanks everyone

Ramjet

 

Yes, I selected 'Full Backup' which is the image right?

Thanks,
Ramjet.
P.s Sorry if I sound a bit lame but this backup stuff is very new to me.

 

In TI9 you select Backup on the main screen and then a Wizard appears and you should have the button selected for "The entire disk contents or individual partition. Click "Next" and the next screen you would place a check next to "Disk 1" which would copy all partitions on that disk (which should include your OS).

Then you should be fine.

 

Like Bridgett, I find using ERunt very helpful. Its use makes for an easy recovery of the registry--whether from Windows or SafeMode or a boot disk. Ir runs each bootup plus I have a Windows scheduled task to run it early each a.m. since my computer is on 24/7. Plus, I have a desktop shortcut which I can execute to run it manually (create new registry backup) prior to a program install.

I have a folder titled ERU Backups. Each time it runs, it creates a new sub-folder (date & time). At least monthly, I copy the ERU backup files folder to DVD plus the folder is also included in my regular Acronis full disk backups where all partitions is included in the backup. If I want a simple restore of the registry, I use the ERunt program rather than a full Acronis recovery. It works well with XP. I do not know about Vista.

Here's a link with a little more info about ERunt:
http://206.128.27.142/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/9/t/000145.html

Ramjet,
If you have not done so, I recommend that you invest some time and read my beginner guides. Links below. Plus rename your drives to something meaningful. When booting from an Acronis Rescue CD, the drive letter will differ from Windows. You need a positive identifier so there is no mistake as to which disk is involved in whatever procedure being performed. Links below.

 

Thanks Grover, shall do.

Ramjet

 

Your welcome, Ramjet. Glad to help.

 

Ok, one more question
Have I wasted my time? You know, I've had Acronis now for a long time way over a year and I never used it. To be trurhful, I think I wasn't confident enough to use it properly. I was unaware of this forum and all the friendly help from you guys and gals. I've downloaded all the help/instructions you gave me and now I'm wondering if I've done the right thing. The thing is, I'm so impressed with the program and all ther help you give that I'm considering upgrading from 9 to 11. So I'm wondering if all the material I've downloaded will be applicable to the version 11 product, probably not lol,lol !
I'm right aren't I...

You know why this world is such a wonderful place?
Because there is always someone like me to make you laugh

Have a nice day everyone.

Ramjet

 

Most of the "basic" procedures are same in 9, 10 and 11 so much of it applies. 10 and 11 added more features. After you've gone through the guides, read through the TI 11 PDF and you'll probably have a better understanding.

 

Why not begin using the program on a full time basis. By doing so, you can become familiar with its use. Later. you can make your choice as to upgrade or not.

Unless you are using some other backup program which can fully restore your system, you are taking big risks by not having up-to-date images of your system.

I know you have a second internal hard drive but I would suggest you add an external drive. If an electrical strike takes out your internal drives, your backups are gone--unless you have copies on an external which is not connected.

 

Thanks grover,
As I said in my original post, I'm trying to shorten the time re-installing my system, I've had lots of practice doing that!
I'm not really interested in making lots of backups. What my intention is, is to run the backup when I feel I need to re-install my system. Formatting and re-installing is such a pain with the installation disk and takes hours, especially after installing the O.S. and then you got to get the security and other updates from Microsoft and then my main programs. Usually takes me 6 to 10 hours all up. I suppose I could shorten this time a little but I'm hoping the Acronis backup retore will be much quicker.

Ramjet.

 

These two statement are at odds with each other. If you don't want to re-install your system, then you need backups which are up-to-date. When disaster strikes, most times you have NO advance notice. Over my many years, my experience has been that problems occur when least expected--so advance preparation is the key ingredient to avoiding a system re-install. I have never needed to re-install a system for lack of a currect backup.

Backups do not have to be a pain or a chore. You can schedule them to occur when your system is not in use. Rarely does one have to avoid using their system due to a backup occuring. The point that I am making is that you can have current backups without a lot of hassle. You do need multiple locations where you can store your backups so not all your backups are rendered should you have an electrical jolt or virus infection or a disk failure.

Restoring a system using TrueImage will depend upon the size of your used space but it will be certainly much much quicker than a fresh re-install.