The Importance of an Image of your Hard Drive

richc46

richc46

Vista Guru
Gold Member
To all my friends old and new.

Please download and use software to create an image of your hard drive. I use Macrium Reflect and luckily after not upadating for several months, I did so yesterday. Well this morning I was notified about all the updates from Update Tuesday. One of them froze during the restart and I was frozen at loading Windows. I waited and waited until finally I performed the dreaded forced shutdown. Well my OS was gone, I got the message no OS found. I tried repair with my Installation DVD, well I still could not boot. Finally, with Macrium Reflect, I restored fully to yesterday. If you do not take any of my other advice, please take this advice seriously.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
OUCH!
Timely advice - although if I know most people, they'll carry on with whatever they were (not) doing before :)

Just as a FWIW - what fixes did you attempt from the RE boot?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 8930G
Thanks Rich for alerting us. I have to check my wife's system. She just ran the updates 10 minutes ago. I did not yet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Actually, when the problem first occurred, I was quite calm, since I felt that I could do a repair install from my install DVD, but no dice. I had used the Windows SP1 (I have Seven) clean up tool and could not uninstall SP1. Since my DVD is sans SP1, it could not be used. I even tried to so with System restore, but said that I had none, when I have at least a dozen. This is probably due to the SP1 situation.
When I booted from the OS, had the opportunity only once, I went with the suggestion to select starup repair. I was notified that if all repairs could not be made it would restart. It completed its repair, did not restart and I was still out of luck.
At this point, I felt why take time to try other methods, I had an updated image, went with it and it worked like a charm. From now on, after every update Tuesday, I am making a copy with Reflect, every two weeks after an update Tuesday, I am making a system image (this is native to Windows Seven)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
On my main system, I run an image 3 times per week - takes only 8 minutes to an external eSata.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Wolfgang,
You always mention that you image frequently, and to be honest, I thought it was a bit excessive. I thought that these things didnt happen to the pros, but I found out I was wrong. I will probably image once a week now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I do one once a week and keep two deleting the oldest each week
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
Thanks for the reminder. :)
I'm not a person that backs up really.
But I figure once a month won't hurt since I have an external with plenty of space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built( I will never "buy" a PC)
    CPU
    AMD Phenom2 XII 560
    Motherboard
    Biostar A780L3L
    Memory
    4GB DDR3-1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    xfx 9800 GT
    Sound Card
    Creative X-FI Xtreme Gamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    320GB
    Cooling
    2 front, 2 back,one side
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless LX310
    Internet Speed
    18/2 cable
    Other Info
    Opera/Chrome / EPSON Stylus nx420 / Microsoft Security Essentials / CCleaner / Malwarebytes / OpenDNS / Paint.NET / 7-Zip / Windows Live Mail Client
Fortunately, you didn't have a rather expensive door-stop on your hands because you had a back up. Now a bit of advice to folks on Windows Updates:

1) You don't have to install the updates the day they are released but don't wait too long either.

2) When updates include .NET Framework, install them separately and then do a shutdown/restart. For some reason some computers have problems with .NET Framework updates.
 
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My Computer

System One

richc46 said:
Wolfgang,
You always mention that you image frequently, and to be honest, I thought it was a bit excessive. I thought that these things didnt happen to the pros, but I found out I was wrong. I will probably image once a week now.
Click to expand...

Rich, I learned that the hard way. Maybe I do too much 'experimental processing' (another way of saying that I srew around with the system). And once in a while something goes AWOL. An image is always a welcome means to get me back.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
NoelDP said:
whs said:
On my main system, I run an image 3 times per week - takes only 8 minutes to an external eSata.
Click to expand...

That has to be a pretty minimalist System drive - what size is the image?
Click to expand...
C:\ has 44.2GB of data and the Macrium image is 25.2GB. The write speed for the image hovers between 600 and 700Mb/sec.

There is no user data in C:\ - only Windows 7 as the host and 2 virtual partitions (Windows 8 and Ubuntu) plus a lot of programs in the host and the guests.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
whs said:
C:\ has 44.2GB of data and the Macrium image is 25.2GB. The write speed for the image hovers between 600 and 700Mb/sec.

There is no user data in C:\ - only Windows 7 as the host and 2 virtual partitions (Windows 8 and Ubuntu) plus a lot of programs in the host and the guests.
Click to expand...

That's a very impressive transfer rate! - ~50MB/s
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 8930G
I think I lucked out. When it installed the first batch of updates and I rebooted, it said it couldn't find the "User Profile" so I had nothing in my taskbar but the Desktop was okay. I restarted and everything went back to normal. Last night it installed the rest of the updates and did the same thing and a restart fixed it again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
Listen guys, the writing is on the wall. Before each update make sure that we have a very current updated image. I lucked out, I made one the day before the updates.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Really good warning, Rich. I just used Macrium Reflect to back up my system. It took a little over 3 hours, but that's because my volume took up 200Gb! Medium compression resulted in a 170Gb file. This was a test back-up, as I'm going to pare down my volume quite a bit, taking off lots of video media which I don't need backed up more than once.

Also, I strongly recommend getting a new external hard drive. Prices have come down quite a bit and USB 3.0 is now available. A laptop supporting USB 2.0 can be facilitated with USB 3.0 by inserting an adapter in the ExpressCard slot. I don't think you get the absolute full benefits of 3.0, but it's definitely better than 2.0.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion dv5t
    CPU
    Intel Core Duo 2.53GHz
    Memory
    4Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9600M GT 512Mb
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 32bit
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Momentus XT 500Gb
    Hitachi Travelstar HTS543225L9A300 250Gb
    Mouse
    Microsoft 4000
If you want speed for the imaging, use an eSata drive. My measured backup of 44GBs took 8 minutes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
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