Best Environment for Restore
if i ever need to restore which is the preferred starting point, assuming all are available?
1. start acronis through windows
2. use F11 upon reboot
3. use the rescue disc i created
I'll add to Pat L's recommendation to use the recovery CD for restoration. One of the issues with starting a recovery from Windows is that you are "flying blind". A recovery started in Windows has to reboot the PC into Windows Native Mode (the mode used when you schedule a chkdsk operation and reboot) and while there are some messages displayed on-screen, if something goes wrong you generally have no idea what went wrong and why since there is no feedback from Native Mode back into Windows.
Instead if you run from the recovery CD you can see error messages (if any) and will have a much easier time figuring out what's happening.
Further, the best recovery environment is Windows PE since it uses the full library of Windows hardware drivers, and usually performs faster than the Linux recovery environment on the recovery CD. So it is highly recommended to create a Windows PE recovery environment (available in the PlusPack) if you want the widest hardware support and the fastest restore times and the fewest problems. I commend Acronis for finally making a PE recovery solution available after years of prodding. There are too many little glitches and problems posted on this forum that are caused by the Linux recovery environment; most of them hardware driver related. PE is much better.
thank you pat and mark
i think ill forgo the PE thing for now
ive had enough computer headaches recently
the disc it is
feivel,
Don't wait until you have a crisis to test your recovery procedures. Get yourself an extra hard drive and prove that you can restore properly using your TI Rescue CD.
In order to have a proper restore, you must first have a proper backup. The type of backup that will most easily enable you to restore to your existiing hard drive or to create a new hard drive is the type referred to as a complete backup of your disk. A complete backup is one that includes all partitonos including non-lettered and/or diagnostic or manufacturder partitions. While other options exist, having this type backup provides the most restore options.
Not all your backups need to include all partitions but you do need to have one complete disk backup around when you want to replace your existing disk to a new or larger disk.
grover i have a complete disk backup
and i have a rescue cd which i made after your advice on an earlier thread
as far as buying another drive, its not in the cards right now
thanks for your help
At the very least, pick any of your personal files and use the CD to restore the file to a Flash drive or other location so you know it can be done.
that sounds like something i can do