Backing up Question

[loop2kil]

In windows xp pro there is a feature under the 'system tools' section called 'Backup'. My problem is i ahve to rma my new hard drive as it is fubard and was wondering if this 'backup' feature will work like Ghost and backup an entire drive to another hard drive while i wait for the new one to come in? and will it completely restore it back to the way it was when i backed it up.
also, if it does do this how will i initiate the restore...from the cd or a boot disk of somekind?

[loop2kil]

Anyone???

[Noevo]

Pretty sure it won't do what you want it to do. Windows backups have always been just document type back ups. It doesn't pull the registry info and other stuff that a program needs to run.

The only things I know of that do what you need are Drive Image and Ghost.

[loop2kil]

hmm, prolly right but it was worth a shot....however it did have an option to backup 'System State' which includes the registry.

[Noevo]

Originally posted by loop2kil
hmm, prolly right but it was worth a shot....however it did have an option to backup 'System State' which includes the registry.

huh, did not know that

[cyberskye]

Ya that can do a fullsystem backup. If you don't have access to disk imaging software I would say that is your best bet. I had used this successfully to swap disks before.

It DOES NOT record partition info and the like so you will get a bunch of folders in a single partition when you restore. You can incrementaly restore if you back up each partition as a separate file it makes life a lot easier.

Skye

[loop2kil]

ok, when i install the new drive, how do i access the and restore the image...with the boot cd?

[Noevo]

woohoo! I learned somthin' today :)

[cyberskye]

That's the kicker. You have to install the base OS then restore from backup. Source can be anywhere as you have a fully-functional (at least as close as M$ comes to such) OS.

Skye

[loop2kil]

cool, thx for the info.