Vista - Backup and Restore Question in Ultimate

Hi,

I have a quick question about the backup/restore utility in Vista Ultimate.

In the past, under XP, i would install a clean image of the OS, update
drivers and preferences and then make a GHOST 2003 image of the HD. Every
few months i would reformat the HD and then Ghost the image back and reload
my apps.

The reason for making the image... so that when i do the restore i would not
have to reactivate windows every time.

I can no longer do this under Vista Ultimate. Ghost is not compatible.

I did do a FULL PC Backup in Vista Ultimate, however, it took only 6 minutes
to complete and 6 minutes to verify. Additionally, it all fit on only 1 DVD.

That just seems a little fast and that maybe it didn't back up EVERYTHING.

So my question is is three-fold.

First: Is this the correct way to backup my PC? (Does 1 disk sound right
to back up the entire OS?)

Second: How would I do a full restore later on? (Would i have to reinstall
Vista and then perform the backup?)

Third: If I did a "restore" would that put back the settings that Windows
was already activated or would i still need to reactivate the product?

I sure would appreciate any help with these questions.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Answered inline.


"Terster" <Terster@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:218FD7C0-0886-4AA6-B344-099BE0821A75@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have a quick question about the backup/restore utility in Vista
> Ultimate.
>
> In the past, under XP, i would install a clean image of the OS, update
> drivers and preferences and then make a GHOST 2003 image of the HD. Every
> few months i would reformat the HD and then Ghost the image back and
> reload
> my apps.
>
> The reason for making the image... so that when i do the restore i would
> not
> have to reactivate windows every time.
>
> I can no longer do this under Vista Ultimate. Ghost is not compatible.
>
> I did do a FULL PC Backup in Vista Ultimate, however, it took only 6
> minutes
> to complete and 6 minutes to verify. Additionally, it all fit on only 1
> DVD.
>
> That just seems a little fast and that maybe it didn't back up EVERYTHING.
>
> So my question is is three-fold.
>
> First: Is this the correct way to backup my PC? (Does 1 disk sound right
> to back up the entire OS?)

Yes. If this was a fresh install of just Vista, the Backup to DVD is
compressed, so 1 DVD sounds feasible.
>
> Second: How would I do a full restore later on? (Would i have to
> reinstall
> Vista and then perform the backup?)

You would boot with the Vista DVD and select Restore My Computer, following
the prompts for restoring Complete PC Backup. Your backup is on the DVD
that you created using Complete PC Backup.
>
> Third: If I did a "restore" would that put back the settings that Windows
> was already activated or would i still need to reactivate the product?

I recently tested out a Complete PC Backup, and my activation status was
retained. If you had activated before making the backup, then you won't
need to reactivate after restoring said backup.
>
> I sure would appreciate any help with these questions.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>
--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled :-)
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)

Hi,

I did a full pc backup... and then did a restore/repair by booting up via
the Windows Disk. I did my restore and then went to the system applet to see
if my version of windows was still activated.

For some reason, it was not. It said that i now have 3 days to reactivate.

I do not understand why this is.

Why is it so difficult to just get a clean image of my HD? XP was sooo much
easier... ghost and many other applications all worked great... in getting
clean backups.

Any idea's on what other program i could use to get a backup image of my HD?

Thanks again for the help.



"Jane C" wrote:

> Answered inline.
>
>
> "Terster" <Terster@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:218FD7C0-0886-4AA6-B344-099BE0821A75@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I have a quick question about the backup/restore utility in Vista
> > Ultimate.
> >
> > In the past, under XP, i would install a clean image of the OS, update
> > drivers and preferences and then make a GHOST 2003 image of the HD. Every
> > few months i would reformat the HD and then Ghost the image back and
> > reload
> > my apps.
> >
> > The reason for making the image... so that when i do the restore i would
> > not
> > have to reactivate windows every time.
> >
> > I can no longer do this under Vista Ultimate. Ghost is not compatible.
> >
> > I did do a FULL PC Backup in Vista Ultimate, however, it took only 6
> > minutes
> > to complete and 6 minutes to verify. Additionally, it all fit on only 1
> > DVD.
> >
> > That just seems a little fast and that maybe it didn't back up EVERYTHING.
> >
> > So my question is is three-fold.
> >
> > First: Is this the correct way to backup my PC? (Does 1 disk sound right
> > to back up the entire OS?)
>
> Yes. If this was a fresh install of just Vista, the Backup to DVD is
> compressed, so 1 DVD sounds feasible.
> >
> > Second: How would I do a full restore later on? (Would i have to
> > reinstall
> > Vista and then perform the backup?)
>
> You would boot with the Vista DVD and select Restore My Computer, following
> the prompts for restoring Complete PC Backup. Your backup is on the DVD
> that you created using Complete PC Backup.
> >
> > Third: If I did a "restore" would that put back the settings that Windows
> > was already activated or would i still need to reactivate the product?
>
> I recently tested out a Complete PC Backup, and my activation status was
> retained. If you had activated before making the backup, then you won't
> need to reactivate after restoring said backup.
> >
> > I sure would appreciate any help with these questions.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your help.
> >
> >
> --
> Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled :-)
> Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)
>
>