With partition-imaging software, you can create an image on DVD ...or...
(which I prefer to do), create the image on HDD & then copy it to DVD, or
flash drive, etc.) You can completely restore a hard drive partition from
an image file (on a 2nd hard drive, an external drive, a different partition
on the same drive, a DVD, a flash drive, or whatever) and it restores the
registry AND the programs TOGETHER as one unit, so you don't end up with a
non-matching mess - the registry thinking your installed program set is
different from what is in your Program Files folder.
You can restore your choice of C: partition images from ANY working drive or
DVD even if Windows won't boot at all. If your Documents and email folders
are not on a different partition, then you need to back them up before you
restore the image so you can copy the current ones back in after the image
is restored (since it overwrites EVERYTHING on the HD partition). Then you
can reinstall any missing applications (if any).
That said, ERUNT is absolutely dependable for what it does and it doesn't
mess with your documents or email folders. Just be aware that if you have
installed/uninstalled/reconfigured ANYthing since you made the ERUNT
backup, your registry will not be aware of it even though the appl. still
sits there in the Program Files folder (that's why a partition imager is
better, it keeps registry & programs exactly synchronized to one point in
time). Years ago, when I used System Restore, I found it undependable - it
can do some weird things if I remember correctly, plus the biggie is the
problem you mentioned - it keeps a few "points" and keeps dropping
everything else off the shelf, whereas, unless I toss an image file, I can
go back to any point in time since my original install. Whatever you use -
you may want to TRY a restoration right after a backup so you know how to do
it - and not wait till you're in a pickle (learned THAT the hard way - LOL).
This is one instance where you REALLY get what you pay for. Drive-Imaging
and backup software are well worth a little investment. You don't have to
keep updating it everytime a new version comes out. If it works today, it
will work next year, and the year after (unless you (or "they") make a
drastic OS upgrade/change on your end that breaks it).
--AnnaSummers
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Penlington
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 7:42 PM
Subject: [PCSOFT] System Restore
Has anyone come across a utility that burns System Restore Points to a
disk---then enables a restore from that data?
Something modelled along the lines of ERUNT would be nice.
I have done it manually, but it's a tricky procedure and hardly worth the
time and effort.
A simple challenge for any of our software programmers out there, perhaps.
Don Penlington
From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery, and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html
PCSOFT's List Owner's:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>
"Hold No Punches.." Rode brings you great shareware/freeware
programs with his honest opinions in this weekly column.
http://freepctech.com/rode
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