What good is XP System Restore if you cannot boot?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

The problem I have with Windows XP is that recovery options are very limited
compared to previous versions of Windows (unless I am missing something). If
your XP loaded computer is crashing on boot, even in the safe mode, and "last
known good" doesn't work, there is no good way to restore your system.
Apparently, "System Restore" only works within Windows, which makes it
useless in such situations, as one must be able to boot successfully in order
for it to work! In previous Operating Systems like 2K and NT, there was a
"Repair Disk" feature which effetely made copies of the registry hives which
were stored somewhere in the windows directory. Also in previous versions of
Windows, Regedt32 included a save option, and you could save entire hives. In
2K, assuming I was regularly backing up the registry by running the Repair
Disk option or using the save option in Regedt32,, I could recover from a
fatal situation by logging on using the Recovery Console, rename the hives,
and copy previous versions of the hives to the \winnt\system32\config folder.
That usually fixed the problem. Without the "Repair Disk� or save options in
XP, I see know easy way to make backup copies of the hives! One, of course,
can backup the hives using the recovery console, but that is cumbersome. I
suppose it would be a little easier to boot to a third party software and
copy the hives over to another location, but doing this on a regular basis,
is just not convenient. What good is System Restore if you cannot boot? What
happened to the repair disk option?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

damox wrote:
> The problem I have with Windows XP is that recovery options are very
> limited compared to previous versions of Windows (unless I am missing
> something). If your XP loaded computer is crashing on boot, even in
> the safe mode, and "last known good" doesn't work, there is no good
> way to restore your system. Apparently, "System Restore" only works
> within Windows, which makes it useless in such situations, as one
> must be able to boot successfully in order for it to work! In
> previous Operating Systems like 2K and NT, there was a "Repair Disk"
> feature which effetely made copies of the registry hives which were
> stored somewhere in the windows directory. Also in previous versions
> of Windows, Regedt32 included a save option, and you could save
> entire hives. In 2K, assuming I was regularly backing up the registry
> by running the Repair Disk option or using the save option in
> Regedt32,, I could recover from a fatal situation by logging on using
> the Recovery Console, rename the hives, and copy previous versions of
> the hives to the \winnt\system32\config folder. That usually fixed
> the problem. Without the "Repair Disk" or save options in XP, I see
> know easy way to make backup copies of the hives! One, of course, can
> backup the hives using the recovery console, but that is cumbersome.
> I suppose it would be a little easier to boot to a third party
> software and copy the hives over to another location, but doing this
> on a regular basis, is just not convenient. What good is System
> Restore if you cannot boot? What happened to the repair disk option?

You still have the repair console. XP is NT/2000 - in the next rendition.
Boot with your Retail Windows XP CD..

--
<- Shenan ->
--
The information is provided "as is", it is suggested you research for
yourself before you take any advice - you are the one ultimately
responsible for your actions/problems/solutions. Know what you are
getting into before you jump in with both feet.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

You still have the repair console. XP is NT/2000 - in the next rendition.
Boot with your Retail Windows XP CD..

<- Shenan ->

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we still have the Recovery Console (and I
mentioned it in my post), but the point of my post is that unless there is
someway to back up the registry which is then accessible from the Recovery
Console, there is no way to restore previous versions of the registry!

 

[Jerry]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

You boot from the retail CD and do a Repair Install. This is not the same as
using the Recovery Console and it will repair your existing installation.

"damox" <damox@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C28F1826-1DAB-4419-867A-1DA6E42EF22F@microsoft.com...
> "Shenan Stanley" wrote:
>
> You still have the repair console. XP is NT/2000 - in the next rendition.
> Boot with your Retail Windows XP CD..
>
> <- Shenan ->
>
> Thanks for your reply. Yes, we still have the Recovery Console (and I
> mentioned it in my post), but the point of my post is that unless there is
> someway to back up the registry which is then accessible from the Recovery
> Console, there is no way to restore previous versions of the registry!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"The problem I have with Windows XP is that recovery options are very
limited compared to previous versions of Windows (unless I am missing
something)."

You are missing something - backing up. Backup is the ultimate recovery. Do
not expect Windows to do for you what you should be doing yourself. You can
recover a backup even if Windows can't boot.

Ted Zieglar

"damox" <damox@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:98C81F3F-3031-4D05-A3D5-3B51D87E0E25@microsoft.com...
> The problem I have with Windows XP is that recovery options are very
> limited
> compared to previous versions of Windows (unless I am missing something).
> If
> your XP loaded computer is crashing on boot, even in the safe mode, and
> "last
> known good" doesn't work, there is no good way to restore your system.
> Apparently, "System Restore" only works within Windows, which makes it
> useless in such situations, as one must be able to boot successfully in
> order
> for it to work! In previous Operating Systems like 2K and NT, there was a
> "Repair Disk" feature which effetely made copies of the registry hives
> which
> were stored somewhere in the windows directory. Also in previous versions
> of
> Windows, Regedt32 included a save option, and you could save entire hives.
> In
> 2K, assuming I was regularly backing up the registry by running the Repair
> Disk option or using the save option in Regedt32,, I could recover from a
> fatal situation by logging on using the Recovery Console, rename the
> hives,
> and copy previous versions of the hives to the \winnt\system32\config
> folder.
> That usually fixed the problem. Without the "Repair Disk� or save options
> in
> XP, I see know easy way to make backup copies of the hives! One, of
> course,
> can backup the hives using the recovery console, but that is cumbersome. I
> suppose it would be a little easier to boot to a third party software and
> copy the hives over to another location, but doing this on a regular
> basis,
> is just not convenient. What good is System Restore if you cannot boot?
> What
> happened to the repair disk option?
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"Jerry" wrote:

You boot from the retail CD and do a Repair Install. This is not the same as
using the Recovery Console and it will repair your existing installation.

Jerry,

Thanks for the reminder. I had run the repair option, using the recovery
console, but admittedly I’d forgotten that there was an Installation Repair
Option. When I ran the repair of the previous installation, it did leave my
installation in tact, but it took just about as long as a full install 30 -
40 minutes, and of course I had to reinstall Service Pack 2 which took
another 30 minutes because it used the files from the CD (XP SP1). I probably
could have avoided that had slipstream the original CD with Service Pack 2
and burned it to a CD. I also had to rerun the latest updates which took
another 20 minutes or so.

I would still like a way in which to restore an older version of the
registry from outside of Windows, or at least, go back to a previous restore
point (98 had this feature which allowed you to go back to a previous version
of the registry. In 98 it really wasn't needed because it was easy enough to
access the drive and copy the registry files)! That would make life so much
simpler. Thanks again for the reminder about repairing the installation. In
my mind running the installation CD and selecting the option to repair the
previous installation, should not be the only option, nor should it be the
first option for restoring a broken installation.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"Ted Zieglar" wrote:

You are missing something - backing up. Backup is the ultimate recovery. Do
not expect Windows to do for you what you should be doing yourself. You can
recover a backup even if Windows can't boot.

Ted Zieglar


That's true, backup would be a way. However, the Repair Disk option was part
of "Backup" in Win 2k, and also the option to save the hives in Regedt32 was
a way of backing up the registry. Normally on workstations we use the Backup
utility to backup data, not the installation itself. That is how most people
use backup except for critical servers. I would like to know how to restore
from backup on a dead installation, other then to reinstall XP and restore
over the new installation! That would be extremely cumbersome, when previous
version of Windows had much simpler means of restoring an installation! It
would be much easier to run the install CD select the "Repair the previous
installation" option.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

damox:

Although I think System Restore has some useful features, I leave it turned
off on all my computers. I run Norton GoBack. It accomplishes all that
I've ever needed, with less disk overhead. On one occasion I did a Repair
Install and that worked well. I agree with the comment re backups. I
regularly use Ghost to save an image of each of my drives. Thus, in the
worst case, I can install a new HD and install an exact copy of the failed
drive.

cheers,

don r
---------------------------------------------------------
"damox" <damox@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:98C81F3F-3031-4D05-A3D5-3B51D87E0E25@microsoft.com...
> The problem I have with Windows XP is that recovery options are very
> limited
> compared to previous versions of Windows (unless I am missing something).
> If
> your XP loaded computer is crashing on boot, even in the safe mode, and
> "last
> known good" doesn't work, there is no good way to restore your system.
> Apparently, "System Restore" only works within Windows, which makes it
> useless in such situations, as one must be able to boot successfully in
> order
> for it to work! In previous Operating Systems like 2K and NT, there was a
> "Repair Disk" feature which effetely made copies of the registry hives
> which
> were stored somewhere in the windows directory. Also in previous versions
> of
> Windows, Regedt32 included a save option, and you could save entire hives.
> In
> 2K, assuming I was regularly backing up the registry by running the Repair
> Disk option or using the save option in Regedt32,, I could recover from a
> fatal situation by logging on using the Recovery Console, rename the
> hives,
> and copy previous versions of the hives to the \winnt\system32\config
> folder.
> That usually fixed the problem. Without the "Repair Diskâ?? or save
> options in
> XP, I see know easy way to make backup copies of the hives! One, of
> course,
> can backup the hives using the recovery console, but that is cumbersome. I
> suppose it would be a little easier to boot to a third party software and
> copy the hives over to another location, but doing this on a regular
> basis,
> is just not convenient. What good is System Restore if you cannot boot?
> What
> happened to the repair disk option?
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"Don R" wrote:

damox:

Although I think System Restore has some useful features, I leave it turned
off on all my computers. I run Norton GoBack. It accomplishes all that I've
ever needed, with less disk overhead. On one occasion I did a Repair Install
and that worked well. I agree with the comment re backups. I
regularly use Ghost to save an image of each of my drives. Thus, in the
worst case, I can install a new HD and install an exact copy of the failed
drive.

cheers,

don r


Thanks for the info Don. I hadn't thought about ghost for home us. We use
the corporate version of ghost at work, and store our images on a server. We
have images of all of our labs and classrooms, as well as basic and special
loads of all our workstations. In a home/small office environment however, it
is not that easy. When using the personal edition of ghost, where do you
store the image so you can restore it to a replacement drive? Locally, I
presume. I haven't used the personal version of ghost, nor have I used Norton
Go Back. Am I correct in assuming they offer restore options at Boot?

Still, as technologically advanced as XP supposedly is, IMO, Microsoft went
backwards in some respects. My point is Microsoft has made it harder to
recover a crashed installation.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"That is how most people use backup except for critical servers."
Wrong.

"I would like to know how to restore from backup on a dead installation,
other then to reinstall XP and restore over the new installation!"

Norton Ghost 9.0
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/

Acronis True Image 8.0
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Image for Windows 1.49
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/imagew.html

Ted Zieglar

"damox" <damox@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4273F9B3-3C19-4033-B374-722FBC13D529@microsoft.com...
> "Ted Zieglar" wrote:
>
> You are missing something - backing up. Backup is the ultimate recovery.
> Do
> not expect Windows to do for you what you should be doing yourself. You
> can
> recover a backup even if Windows can't boot.
>
> Ted Zieglar
>
>
> That's true, backup would be a way. However, the Repair Disk option was
> part
> of "Backup" in Win 2k, and also the option to save the hives in Regedt32
> was
> a way of backing up the registry. Normally on workstations we use the
> Backup
> utility to backup data, not the installation itself. That is how most
> people
> use backup except for critical servers. I would like to know how to
> restore
> from backup on a dead installation, other then to reinstall XP and restore
> over the new installation! That would be extremely cumbersome, when
> previous
> version of Windows had much simpler means of restoring an installation! It
> would be much easier to run the install CD select the "Repair the previous
> installation" option.
>
>

 

[Jennifer]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Jennifer wrote:

How can I recover my Restore Console? It effects all downloads and updates
because it is missing it prevents the down load completing properly.

Do I have to rebuild my computer from scratch to reinsert the recover/create
recoveery point program or can it be 'repaired'?

Any help is appreciated.

Jennifer


"damox" wrote:

> "Don R" wrote:
>
> damox:
>
> Although I think System Restore has some useful features, I leave it turned
> off on all my computers. I run Norton GoBack. It accomplishes all that I've
> ever needed, with less disk overhead. On one occasion I did a Repair Install
> and that worked well. I agree with the comment re backups. I
> regularly use Ghost to save an image of each of my drives. Thus, in the
> worst case, I can install a new HD and install an exact copy of the failed
> drive.
>
> cheers,
>
> don r
>
>
> Thanks for the info Don. I hadn't thought about ghost for home us. We use
> the corporate version of ghost at work, and store our images on a server. We
> have images of all of our labs and classrooms, as well as basic and special
> loads of all our workstations. In a home/small office environment however, it
> is not that easy. When using the personal edition of ghost, where do you
> store the image so you can restore it to a replacement drive? Locally, I
> presume. I haven't used the personal version of ghost, nor have I used Norton
> Go Back. Am I correct in assuming they offer restore options at Boot?
>
> Still, as technologically advanced as XP supposedly is, IMO, Microsoft went
> backwards in some respects. My point is Microsoft has made it harder to
> recover a crashed installation.





>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Hi Jennifer,

To reinstall System Restore, go to Start>Run and key in:
%WINDIR%\inf
then click on OK or hit ENTER

Scroll to locate the file named sr.inf
Right-click on this file, then select Install
You may be required to insert your install CD, so have it ready.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

"Jennifer" <Jennifer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A96E9DFA-4181-4005-BFAF-79ECB40CDE9A@microsoft.com...
> Jennifer wrote:
>
> How can I recover my Restore Console? It effects all downloads and
updates
> because it is missing it prevents the down load completing properly.
>
> Do I have to rebuild my computer from scratch to reinsert the
recover/create
> recoveery point program or can it be 'repaired'?
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Jennifer
>
>
> "damox" wrote:
>
> > "Don R" wrote:
> >
> > damox:
> >
> > Although I think System Restore has some useful features, I leave it
turned
> > off on all my computers. I run Norton GoBack. It accomplishes all that
I've
> > ever needed, with less disk overhead. On one occasion I did a Repair
Install
> > and that worked well. I agree with the comment re backups. I
> > regularly use Ghost to save an image of each of my drives. Thus, in the
> > worst case, I can install a new HD and install an exact copy of the
failed
> > drive.
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > don r
> >
> >
> > Thanks for the info Don. I hadn't thought about ghost for home us. We
use
> > the corporate version of ghost at work, and store our images on a
server. We
> > have images of all of our labs and classrooms, as well as basic and
special
> > loads of all our workstations. In a home/small office environment
however, it
> > is not that easy. When using the personal edition of ghost, where do you
> > store the image so you can restore it to a replacement drive? Locally, I
> > presume. I haven't used the personal version of ghost, nor have I used
Norton
> > Go Back. Am I correct in assuming they offer restore options at Boot?
> >
> > Still, as technologically advanced as XP supposedly is, IMO, Microsoft
went
> > backwards in some respects. My point is Microsoft has made it harder to
> > recover a crashed installation.
>
>
>
>
>
> >