New computer set-up

[mikels45]

What can I do protect my new computer's operating system (XP MCE with no OS disk) and other files. Can I make usable a copy of the OS from the hard drive or a recovery disk to restore the computer to its original state?

 

[Sival]

Lots of folks use Norton's Ghost to make an image of their hard drive. Some motherboard disks come with Ghost on them. There are other similar free programs you can get off the net, too.

 

[wahnula]

Get a small USB drive (I buy the components I like and assemble myself, save $$$) and go to Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Backup and choose the ASR option. This will create a snapshot of your data and system state. You will need a floppy disk drive for this procedure but it allows a 'bare metal' restore of the system. It is only as good as its last run, so you should not use this for data, just system state and apps and you should update weekly.

Choose a backup program like SyncBackSE or Acronis for the daily-modified data and back it up daily to the USB drive. I alternate weekly between two USB drives and one stays with me at all times.

It is refreshing to see a member posting about how to prevent data loss rather than how to recover from it. Best of luck.

Tony

 

[gargoyle47]

You said:

XP MCE with no OS disk and other files

What did you mean by this statement?
What are other files
How was the system originally installed? Preinstalled??
How is the machine configured now? What are your partitions?

Never Say Never (Romeio Void)

Homebuilt MSI MD5000MD-5000 M-ATX, 2.4Gig, 393mb, WinXp Pro
Homebuilt Iwill KK266R-Plus, 768mb, WinXp Pro

 

[mainegeek]

mikels45,

"(XP MCE with no OS disk)"

Why no OS CD?

 

[mikels45]

Computer is a new Dell which did not come with a Windows XP disk (OS was pre-installed). Dell instructions tell you to use system restore, Dell restore or IF your PC came with an OS disk you can re-install Windows. Dell restore restores your system to it's original state. The only trouble with Dell restore is you lose everthing that you did after you got the PC. Dell says you do not need an OS disk and if you WOULD need an OS disk in the future they will send me one if they determain I need on. You don't even get an owners manual. The 134 page manual is installed on the computer. PC also doesn't have a floppy disk.
Hard drive doesn't have a seperate partition with the OS on it. There is just the C Drive with no other partitions.

Dell 820 D (Dual CPU) 2.8 GHZ, 1Gig Memory, WinXP MCE,
250 GB Hard Drive, 256MB ATI Radeon X600SE Graphics Card, no floppy drive.