back up - a new strange novel experimentation

Respected techs, geeks, nerds, and dear fellow friends,

In the past i have always taken a backup of my valuable data and content on my pc by invariably writing on to a cd be it R or RE.

However, the problem that always arose subsequently was that I always find it very time consuming when ever i have to format my hard disk or reload the operating system (i use windows xp) for various reasons (say too much spyware or virus intrusion, deletion by mistake say of system files etc etc).

But I was in the past never able to take say back up of windows xp or for that matter any other program which was installed on my computer.

Now before i proceed further to come to my problem / question on which ur valuable advice / suggestion is sought...I want to confirm that I understand the installation concept of programs properly...

First of all I am basically from field of finance and therefore have very very limited technical knowledge about internet computers and how it functions. I love internet and computers but as a total end user who is oblivious of what happens internally.

Now to me installation of any program (say for example spybot search and destroy etc) means i download the SETUP box of that program from internet or a Cd and then double click (or run) that program to actually get it installed on my computer to get it work. In some cases however the setup box is not available and we have to run from cd directly ( eg windows xp).

BUT i was wondering how do we take back up of say those programs which we have installed by double clicking but for which later on the corresponding setup box or cd is not available ???????????????????????????

I understand that if we have the original CD or say the setup box we can reinstall program innumerable times but what say if ur cd is misplaced after installation of program or say setup box gets deleted after installation of the program.

In that case how can i take a backup of such installed programs on my pc for which i have no setupbox or cd ???????????????????

I am asking this bcz of following reasons...

1. I have lost my windows xp original CD and fear what would happen if i ever have to format my hard disk or reinstall windows xp...

2. I have over last 3 years used many accounting software and financial softwares and although they are installed on my pc...their cd is misplaced or the setup box is not there...

3. Over the years i have worked in many organisations and had the privilege of having costly financial software programs being installed on my pc for work and would not want to lose them in future (and i have no CDs or setup boxes for them)...

4. If i wish to transfer all my data and installed programs to a new hard disk from my old hard disk which i am currently using and which sounds a lot...(and i fear it may crash some day)...

I know i have written a very very long story but I definitely appreciate ur time, effort and patience and would be really grateful if someone can throw some light as to how such issues are resolved and what is the easiest / best way to get this around...

I know there are many knowledgeable and helping individuals on this forum and am sure someone will be kind enough to share his wisdom or experience....

Thanks again in advance...

Most sincerely,

sunando

sunandoghosh at rediffmail dot com

p.s.

a. i use windows xp
b. i use nero for back up of my cd

Hi sunandoghosh,

There are very few programs that will run properly without using an installer...

Some needs the installer to be registered, others have registry files that can be entered manually, but it's always a hard job and may eventualy result in serious troubles.

I'm affraid that you will only be able to restore the data from them, but not running the original softwares you backed up.

Chris

If you want to transfer/backup your current installation, you can do this with some relatively inexpensive tools:

1. Partition Magic 8
2. Norton Ghost 2003

First the "backup" - it's not really a backup in the traditional sense, but taking an image of the entire installation - faults & all. To make this image you would use the image creation program, Norton Ghost. I recommend making images of each partition instead of imaging the entire drive. This image can then be restored to any harddrive that has a partition that's large enough to hold the image but not less than about 60% of the original space. When making this image, you can save it to CD, DVD, Hard Drive, etc. I normally use an external USB DVD burner to make this image for long term storage - for temporary storage and quicker creation/restoration, I use a hard drive to store the image

Then for the resoration, you would use Partition Magic to prepare your hard drive configuration. You can do without this tool (Partition Manager), but the whole process of restoration is very simple with it. Once the hard drive is configured with at least one partition (this would be a Primary Active partition), you can use Norton Ghost to load the image - you now have a clone of the original installation.

You can use other methods:

1. Norton Ghost also allows you to transfer the contents of one drive to another.
2. Hard drive manufacturer's provide utilities to transfer/migrate the contents from one drive to another as well.
3. Various system backup programs, including Microsoft Backup, can create a full backup of an installation, but this is normally requires a few of the basic installation CDs to get the restoration started properly.

Other methods are also available, but the ones I've mentioned are the safest and most reliable.

Since you're concerned with 'time-consuming' backups, follow Alfons' advice above and get yourself an external USB/FireWire hard drive. As long as your system is USB 2.0 or FireWire capable, you'll find that a complete system backup or restore only takes a few minutes. Keep this drive in a safe place when not in use, along with the Norton Ghost and Partition Magic discs.

Once again. True image will copy your old drive to new, in my case a usb drive. If your new drive is larger you'll have unused space that you can format and use anyway you wish. BB