Comments inline:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Glazier
> I'm pretty sure what you said was that you never got an Image of the
> "fully installed system" (with out extra software) after activation...
> Not good... (See last line, below.) (Sorry for length.)
Exactly. I wanted a backup with the basic WinXP installation and no
extraneous software. That's the basis of the "GOTCHA." Don't activate before
adding additional software, and your might have problems using the image.
Wait until you add all the software (and PERHAPS create a problem for later
you want to CORRECT), and you don't have the clean install. So now, I throw
caution to the wind and activate immediately. Then, my clean image will not
cause activation problems on its own. BTW, I have never had an activation
issue when adding hardware or installing my (retail upgrade version) Win XP
Pro on a new system.
> There can also a "problem" with where the different hard drives are
> during making and/or restoring an Image. The physical locations on the
> ports sometimes comes back to bite you. I never checked into that in
> depth, but used to be able to repeat it, if I wanted to... Images take me
> two hours now (because of size), so I can't test things for fun anymore...
> FWIW, I use Ultra ATA controller cards, but never boot from them,
> and never attach a bootable drive to them EXCEPT as non-bootable
> Data drive(s). I never do a "from scratch" XP install, (or
> massive repair of
> Windows) with one of those "data type drives" connected either...
I used a Promise TX133 driver as a boot drive on one system without issue.
> Back to problems with Images:
> I have learned to always give a description of the hardware
> present (in the
> description part of Ghost or Acronis TrueImage during the building of the
> Image), of what "special" drivers are installed, and if
> activation has taken place,
Great Tip!
> The biggest part of "all this" is what every good discussion of
> "back-ups" or
> Images should include... TESTING your Image from start to finish
> on the same
> exact hardware (admittedly with a different hard drive as the "target")...
Actually, I have done that and found that the image was useless when needed.
But, it was due to my hardware. I built a new system with a SATA RAID as the
boot system. Ghost (from SystemWorks Pro 2003) had some issues -- wouldn't
work from Windows, but would from boot disk. I decided to give Acronis
TrueImage a try. They had a Ghost upgrade for only $10, IIRC. TrueImage (I
believe version 6.0) would image the SATA RAID from within Windows. I
restored the image to another drive without a problem. The problem reared
its ugly head when I tried to use the image to restore my system. TrueImage
balked (understandable) at restoring the boot system from within WinXP and
said to use the boot disk. Unfortunately, that did not see the SATA RAID (or
the IDE RAID of my data disk). Proved to be a useless image. I was lucky
that I had a Ghost image from a similar time period that worked.
> Images take me two hours now (because of size)
I have no idea of your system, and perhaps I am preaching to the choir, but
I found the 2 hour time excessive (to me). I have my system set up with the
"C" boot drive of about 10 GB (only 2 GB free) and "E" programs drive of
about 20 GB (but with 16 GB free). It only takes about 15-20 minutes to
image these two drives to another hard drive. With this image, I can restore
my system to working in less than half an hour. My other drives I back up in
various ways -- important files are backed up to another hard drive and
ultimately CD/DVD via DataKeeper and Nero, downloads are not backup up since
they are readily available on the internet. Other files are stored on
CD/DVD. Important files are also backed up off site so in the event of a
catastrophic failure, my data is still accessable.
> I "track" my WPA status with a program made by people that write product
> activation software - (They sell theirs to vendors/authors of programs).
> http://www.licenturion.com/xp/ You have to know some of the
> "points rules",
> like how many each are worth (like NIC=3) and what number
> triggers activation.
> (Either 7, or less than 7, I forget which...)
I am always making changes to my system but have yet to have an activation
issue (short of the one that prompted this thread). Perhaps it is because I
rarely change the NIC or video card. I rarely remove a drive but rather add
additional drives. And I rarely do completely new systems more that once a
year.
> BTW, the SHORTEST time I ran a system and then had to re-activate
> was 2 1/2 years...
> It was totally automatic (with my permission) and did it on the WEB...
I have had the same experience even when installing on a completely new
system.
> (That IS what Images are for, right? <grin>...)
>
> Rick Glazier
Saved my butt on numerous occasions. When it works, its great. Up and
running in no time. When the image fails . . .
Jim Maki
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The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
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