William wrote:
>I feel that maybe my registry is the problem.
>I used a registry cleaner a couple weeks ago and I think that is when the 
>problem began.>>

I noticed a number of similar queries, and thought I'd share a system that has worked very well for me.


It is true that ERUNT does a great job of backing up the registry itself.  However, the registry is intricately entwined with so many other things, including installed programs, that these things should all be backed up as a single unit at a single point in time or they could get out of sync with one another.  ERUNT is perfect for a backup just before you fiddle with the registry, so you can put it right back again if your fiddle fails, but ALL the system information should be backed up (imaged) together for a fail-safe restore/recovery.  

The VERY BEST way to keep a clean registry is to use disk imaging software, something like Acronis True Image or Ghost.  It is easiest/fastest to have two internal hard drives (easy to install - instructions come with it) and use the larger one as your backup drive.  I create IMAGE FILES (rather than image clones, per se), so I can put many of them into one folder.  I still have my original, clean-machine image file that I can restore, if I wish.  Each week or so I restore my most recent image, redo any system changes I made (I keep a permanent log of any important system changes between images) and then make a new image.  (You could do it every morning, it takes maybe five minutes if you didn't make any changes to the system that you have to put back - it makes yesterday's surfing non-existent.)  I keep my original image and any key images and delete the interim images after a while, when I need the space.  When I restore my original clean-machine image, I can follow my log and bring it right back up to current.  (note below that I isolate My Documents and application data and email from this process)

To keep everything cleaner, I have partitioned both drives.   On my system drive, partition C is my system partition containing the OS, Registry, and all installed Applications.  Partition D holds my documents and data: I moved the My Documents folder from C to D (there is a particular way to do this so all the system pointers remain correct), as well as my Outlook Express "store" - a configuration choice within Outlook Express.  I also assign application data to D for all applications that allow this (such as Outlook Express, Office, etc. - most applications do if you poke around the settings).  This serves two purposes: 

    (1) It makes the image files much faster (less than 5 min) and smaller so I can keep more 
        of them on my backup internal hard drive (and can copy several to 1 DVD 
        (or 2GB flashdrive) if I wish)      

    (2) It keeps the data on D from getting clobbered with old stuff when I restore an image that
         is older than some of my documents and data, which includes my email.
         (I only "image" and restore C, so everything on D remains untouched).

My Backup drive (my largest internal drive) is partitioned also:  (E & F)  The F partition (by far my largest disk partition of all) has a folder for image files and a few other things I keep - a folder for things I have archived to DVD, but still keep for reference on the hard drive, etc..  I have Second Copy profiles for each of my flashdrives also, that cherry-pick the files I like to take with me when I travel so 1 click is all I need to renew a flash drive for traveling.

E is a little bigger than D and holds backups of my data - plus a few config files cherry-picked from C (also some things like the current QuickLaunch bar and Desktop folder, normal.dot & other templates, etc.).  I use Second Copy for this.  I have several profiles set up in a "group" in Second Copy and two mouse clicks run the entire group in the order I have them sorted.  I choose to keep in my "Documents" folder on this partition, an exact uncompressed duplicate of the "My Documents" folder from partition D.  Second Copy can MAINTAIN this copy, by adding and deleting files each time I run the profile.  It's faster than doing an entire backup every time, since it only makes, to this Documents folder on E, whatever changes I have made to My Document on D.  It requires no software to read these files because they are a plain straight copy on a FAT32 partition.   One of the profiles in Second Copy is set up to copy the Outlook Express Email Store from D to E - and a few other things I keep on D that I copy (I moved My Pictures out of My Documents into its own folder because it changes rarely and doesn't need to be included in daily backups - even though Second Copy only changes what has changed, it still has to LOOK THROUGH everything in the profile to see if it changed or not).  Every now and then, I make a COMPRESSED image of my data and put it onto DVDs.  I also put all the latest images and backups on a (larger yet) WD Passport external hard drive.

If I should get a virus or something (haven't, what with ZoneAlarm, Avast, Spywareblaster, Firefox guarding the henhouse), all I would have to do is restore an image prior to getting the malware and it's gone like it never existed.

None of my backups need to be encrypted or passworded because anything on my system drive partitions (C and D) that could possibly compromise me or my identity in any way are in folders that are already encrypted/compressed with WinZip 256-bit AES encryption.  I have an offline list of long, secure passwords to each of which I have assigned a number.  If I want to make a new password, I add it to the list - I never delete from the list in case I have an old file that used an older password.  WinZip allows me to "comment" each encrypted zip file where I enter the NUMBER I assigned to the password used for that file, which means nothing to any one but me.  So any files that need to be encrypted, live and travel that way.  Once you unencrypt ONE of the files, it unlocks ALL of the files in that particular set.

I also use EA (Express Assist) for Outlook Express for a different sort of email backup, that will let me peruse my email in a similar manner to OE.  You can restore all or restore selective things.  This neat little app. will also backup up your Accounts, Settings, Rules, Signatures - everything.  You can also configure it to backup up IE or Foxfire Favorites, IE Settings, Windows Address Book & things, your Desktop, QuickLaunch, etc.  The BEST use is if you use it right before you redo your whole machine - All you have to do is OPEN Outlook Express, click one thing and close it.  Then run EA with your latest backup file and it sets up EVERYTHING (contained in that backup file)  for you automatically, EXACTLY like it was on the old machine.  I have 12 gmail addresses that all come into one OE Inbox where I separate them into folders using OE Rules.  I have scads of rules to color and sort my emails and many signatures, so this is a biggie for me.

Because I restore/renew the system image every week or so, my 2-year-old PC thinks it has been on the internet for a total of 8 minutes.  Oh, and System Restore (not needed) is turned off on all drives, recovering that disk space.  And I actually have a third, tiny partition (G) for the pagefile on the backup drive with E and F, which is only in use during backups so is available for concurrent reading with the system drive for normal processing.  So the pagefile is never included in the system image files of C.  You can move (add/delete) this file from Windows (Control Panel, System, System Properties, Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced) and set the initial and maximum sizes to the same size number.

You can use this method to make consequences of internet surfing disappear, to make a virus disappear, or to make every trace of an installed/uninstalled program disappear, etc.  Restoring a partition image removes EVERYTHING from that particular partition and turns back the clock, making your system partition look exactly as it did the day the image was made.  It works more effectively and completely and more accurately than does System Restore.  PLUS, you aren't limited to the items System Restore chooses to keep; you keep what YOU want to keep and you can even put images you want to keep onto DVD or a Flashdrive or external backup harddrive.

Anna Summers

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