Wanted: Howto on creating your own system-restore CD

I just had a minor disaster occurring here, day before yesterday, lost my
i-net connection, sound and the Win2K installation complained about the
RAID - gave me an excellent oportunity to try out the Restore-Point
facility. Going backwards, the three first attempts failed miserably, each
attempt consuming apprx. ½ hour, then the RP of the 20th, had everything up
and running within 2 minutes. 'nother days work and all is now O.K.

Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience have
left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having your own
CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while ago - the one
that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is painfully simple
to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction to get started with
that one, but I would love to hear if other's have solved this matter in
other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.

And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system is
tucked away safely.


Tony. . .

John
Sun Nov 27 07:55:03 CST 2005

Two points from an amateur. I would use a firewire, USB or SATA external
drive instead of CD's. Much faster and less chance of read/write errors. I
don't know the internals of RP, but I have found it much cleaner to only
have those drives associated with an operating system included in the
restore for that system. I personally don't have any cross system
dependencies. In any case, for me, I don't see the need for one system to
muck around with another systems drive. I also have had no RP problems
since doing this, where I experienced problems like yours and missing
restore points when the systems had RP cross system.


"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:%235X3$%2308FHA.2816@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>I just had a minor disaster occurring here, day before yesterday, lost my
>i-net connection, sound and the Win2K installation complained about the
>RAID - gave me an excellent oportunity to try out the Restore-Point
>facility. Going backwards, the three first attempts failed miserably, each
>attempt consuming apprx. ½ hour, then the RP of the 20th, had everything up
>and running within 2 minutes. 'nother days work and all is now O.K.
>
> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience
> have left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having
> your own CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while ago -
> the one that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is
> painfully simple to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction to
> get started with that one, but I would love to hear if other's have solved
> this matter in other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.
>
> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system
> is tucked away safely.
>
>
> Tony. . .
>

Norman
Sun Nov 27 09:29:05 CST 2005

Try this Site and download nLite .... it helps automate the complete setup.
Excellent piece of work ... let me know how you make out. I have used it
twice and saved my bacon.

http://unattended.msfn.org/

Norm
"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:%235X3$%2308FHA.2816@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>I just had a minor disaster occurring here, day before yesterday, lost my
>i-net connection, sound and the Win2K installation complained about the
>RAID - gave me an excellent oportunity to try out the Restore-Point
>facility. Going backwards, the three first attempts failed miserably, each
>attempt consuming apprx. ½ hour, then the RP of the 20th, had everything up
>and running within 2 minutes. 'nother days work and all is now O.K.
>
> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience
> have left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having
> your own CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while ago -
> the one that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is
> painfully simple to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction to
> get started with that one, but I would love to hear if other's have solved
> this matter in other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.
>
> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system
> is tucked away safely.
>
>
> Tony. . .
>

VWWall
Sun Nov 27 12:53:35 CST 2005

Tony Sperling wrote:

> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience have
> left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having your own
> CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while ago - the one
> that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is painfully simple
> to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction to get started with
> that one, but I would love to hear if other's have solved this matter in
> other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.

Here's a way to make your own "Ultimate Boot CD". It's a bit involved,
since avoiding the copyright issues, means you have to do it yourself
with programs for which you have legitimate licenses.

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system is
> tucked away safely.

You can use Nero to make the bootable CD. Making it bootable means it
can be used when Windows won't boot!

This originated as a Linux UBCD, but Ben Burrows has adopted it for
Windows. Of course, with Linux there are fewer copyright issues. ;-)

Here's the original:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Give it a go! :-)

--
Virg Wall, P.E. K6EVE

Tony
Sun Nov 27 16:37:51 CST 2005

Good points, John!

It's true, I can access both partitions for both systems on my Dual-Boot -
However, s'fars I know, only the xp can manage restore-points. What I had,
was system generated only. I havn't yet configured it to do anything.
Indeed, I thought I had disabled the function altogether!

As the Win2K complained about the RAID, I thought I would put that off 'til
later and concentrate on the x64 while it could still boot. That was easy
enough, although time-consuming.

Luckily, with Win2K, I had created a couple of Hardware Profiles to save on
all the default services that the system loads, going back to the default
profile turned out to be all it needed to Boot O.K.

I used to not mind so much if I lost a system once in 2 - 3 years. It is a
pain, of course, and it allways happens on precisely the wrong day and right
in the middle of something, but afterwards I felt great, this is an
unbeatable way of cleaning up - 95% of what I can't recreate I shouldn't
have started on anyway, much of what I can recreate becomes much better. But
that was while I was still relatively young and good-looking, I am not all
that young any more.

So, let's say I took this as a warning call. Your suggestions are super
except for the fact that I have the Burner Devices and only an 80 GB IDE
Drive collecting dust in a drawer. My work is not important enough that I
will rush out and buy extra stuff, I am an improvisor, but I do have a data
partition for the special stuff, but that is on the RAID as well, so I
finally accepted that I need to wrap my head around the idea of putting some
things away, somewhere off of a computer.

But your suggestions are greatly appreciated, it is always solid stuff that
you have to offer, and I will make a printout of this and put it with some
other gems and take it all into consideration when I go looking for the next
machine.


Greetings, Tony. . .


"John Barnes" <jbfoofy@email.net> wrote in message
news:udHoso18FHA.3880@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Two points from an amateur. I would use a firewire, USB or SATA external
> drive instead of CD's. Much faster and less chance of read/write errors.
> I don't know the internals of RP, but I have found it much cleaner to only
> have those drives associated with an operating system included in the
> restore for that system. I personally don't have any cross system
> dependencies. In any case, for me, I don't see the need for one system to
> muck around with another systems drive. I also have had no RP problems
> since doing this, where I experienced problems like yours and missing
> restore points when the systems had RP cross system.
>
>
> "Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
> news:%235X3$%2308FHA.2816@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>I just had a minor disaster occurring here, day before yesterday, lost my
>>i-net connection, sound and the Win2K installation complained about the
>>RAID - gave me an excellent oportunity to try out the Restore-Point
>>facility. Going backwards, the three first attempts failed miserably, each
>>attempt consuming apprx. ½ hour, then the RP of the 20th, had everything
>>up and running within 2 minutes. 'nother days work and all is now O.K.
>>
>> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience
>> have left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having
>> your own CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while
>> ago - the one that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is
>> painfully simple to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction
>> to get started with that one, but I would love to hear if other's have
>> solved this matter in other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.
>>
>> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
>> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
>> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system
>> is tucked away safely.
>>
>>
>> Tony. . .
>>
>
>

Tony
Sun Nov 27 17:11:35 CST 2005

Thanks, this looks interesting. Really, but it looks just a bit 'involved'
for what I had in mind.

I need something quick'n dirty! I have the Burner; I have the CD's; I have
Nero. . .If I knew what to put in there, I could do it tomorrow. The problem
is that I have been around since before Windows and Microsoft has
continuously scattered the system information around the filesystem - they
don't care since the standard procedure is to make scheduled B/U's anyhow.
So no need to know what goes where - in a futile attempt to come up with
something that is as useful as the Unix Home and Bin Directories, without
having it look like Unix. I could improvise, of course. One of my greater
assets, in fact - but I know, comes the day and I will be missing something.

But - a great suggestion, I will study the matter and make it a project for
my next machine.


Tony. . .


"Norman Brooks" <nbrooks@accesscable.net> wrote in message
news:uqMmNd28FHA.2816@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Try this Site and download nLite .... it helps automate the complete
> setup.
> Excellent piece of work ... let me know how you make out. I have used it
> twice and saved my bacon.
>
> http://unattended.msfn.org/
>
> Norm

Tony
Sun Nov 27 17:38:42 CST 2005

Hi!

Yes I already have the original UBCD in fact. This looks as something 'up my
ally-wise', however, like Norman's suggestion above, just a bit of the heavy
artillery for a more 'surgical' job. This merits study, and I will certainly
look into it and make it a project - maybe for that 'next' machine.

And yes, Nero makes Bootable discs, but is it a suitable medium for a
Recovery CD??? I mean, considering they have their own B/U facility, and I
am of no mind to make a full Bootable B/U. If I can help it!

And when I say 'Recovery', I don't really mean 'repair' as much as
're-install'. With three misses and only one hit with the Restore-Points, I
think I need something more 'hands-on', although not quite a Spanish
Inquisition.


Thanks, Virge.

Tony. . .


"VWWall" <vwall@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Ogf7fP48FHA.2192@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Tony Sperling wrote:
>
>> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience
>> have left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having
>> your own CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while
>> ago - the one that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is
>> painfully simple to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction
>> to get started with that one, but I would love to hear if other's have
>> solved this matter in other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.
>
> Here's a way to make your own "Ultimate Boot CD". It's a bit involved,
> since avoiding the copyright issues, means you have to do it yourself with
> programs for which you have legitimate licenses.
>
> http://www.ubcd4win.com/
>
>> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
>> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
>> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system
>> is tucked away safely.
>
> You can use Nero to make the bootable CD. Making it bootable means it can
> be used when Windows won't boot!
>
> This originated as a Linux UBCD, but Ben Burrows has adopted it for
> Windows. Of course, with Linux there are fewer copyright issues. ;-)
>
> Here's the original:
>
> http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
>
> Give it a go! :-)
>
> --
> Virg Wall, P.E. K6EVE

Tony
Sun Nov 27 17:57:38 CST 2005

Anyone having any experience with ISO Recorder?

The wizard list things like:
'Windows CD Burning area'
'Directory'
'Target'

The 'Directory' must be what to record, and the 'Target' where to put the
recorded ISO, but what do you do if you want to put a mix of folders on the
ISO?

And what is Windows CD Burning area?

Or. . .isn't this any good for what I want to do? It looks perfect, though!


Tony. . .

VWWall
Sun Nov 27 19:01:59 CST 2005

Tony Sperling wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Yes I already have the original UBCD in fact. This looks as something 'up my
> ally-wise', however, like Norman's suggestion above, just a bit of the heavy
> artillery for a more 'surgical' job. This merits study, and I will certainly
> look into it and make it a project - maybe for that 'next' machine.

My reply to you reminded me that I was planning to make a Windows UBCD
for some time. It took me less than one hour, including downloading all
the required material. I already had slipstreamed SP2 into WinXP32, and
had that on my hard drive,
>
> And yes, Nero makes Bootable discs, but is it a suitable medium for a
> Recovery CD??? I mean, considering they have their own B/U facility, and I
> am of no mind to make a full Bootable B/U. If I can help it!

The program makes an .iso of the BootDisk. I used Nero only to burn the
.iso to make a bootable CD.
>
> And when I say 'Recovery', I don't really mean 'repair' as much as
> 're-install'. With three misses and only one hit with the Restore-Points, I
> think I need something more 'hands-on', although not quite a Spanish
> Inquisition.

I was surprised at how many programs came on the disk! In addition to
letting you re-boot with a copy of your own Windows, there are many
recovery and info programs included as a part of the Win UBCD.

It's not a re-install, but it would surely let you recover most data,
even if the system repair didn't work. For a system recovery, the best
bet seems to be a "clone" on a spare drive of the OS, with appropriate
separate periodic back-up of data.

Thanks for reminding me to try the WinUBCD!

Just for fun. I tried using it to make a WinXP x64 UBCD. It did not
work. Apparently the Win x64 CD has files in a different order than
pebuilder313 expects. I even tried renaming some folders, but no joy.

--
Virg Wall

Tony
Sun Nov 27 19:22:46 CST 2005

Good to know, serendipity is not on it's way out!

Tony. . .


"VWWall" <vwall@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:O7OZWd78FHA.3044@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Tony Sperling wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> Yes I already have the original UBCD in fact. This looks as something 'up
>> my ally-wise', however, like Norman's suggestion above, just a bit of the
>> heavy artillery for a more 'surgical' job. This merits study, and I will
>> certainly look into it and make it a project - maybe for that 'next'
>> machine.
>
> My reply to you reminded me that I was planning to make a Windows UBCD for
> some time. It took me less than one hour, including downloading all the
> required material. I already had slipstreamed SP2 into WinXP32, and had
> that on my hard drive,
>>
>> And yes, Nero makes Bootable discs, but is it a suitable medium for a
>> Recovery CD??? I mean, considering they have their own B/U facility, and
>> I am of no mind to make a full Bootable B/U. If I can help it!
>
> The program makes an .iso of the BootDisk. I used Nero only to burn the
> .iso to make a bootable CD.
>>
>> And when I say 'Recovery', I don't really mean 'repair' as much as
>> 're-install'. With three misses and only one hit with the Restore-Points,
>> I think I need something more 'hands-on', although not quite a Spanish
>> Inquisition.
>
> I was surprised at how many programs came on the disk! In addition to
> letting you re-boot with a copy of your own Windows, there are many
> recovery and info programs included as a part of the Win UBCD.
>
> It's not a re-install, but it would surely let you recover most data, even
> if the system repair didn't work. For a system recovery, the best bet
> seems to be a "clone" on a spare drive of the OS, with appropriate
> separate periodic back-up of data.
>
> Thanks for reminding me to try the WinUBCD!
>
> Just for fun. I tried using it to make a WinXP x64 UBCD. It did not work.
> Apparently the Win x64 CD has files in a different order than pebuilder313
> expects. I even tried renaming some folders, but no joy.
>
> --
> Virg Wall

Norman
Sun Nov 27 19:35:11 CST 2005

Without evening trying it you dismissed nLite and the web site itself !

Spend a half hour following the tutorial. If it doesn't convince you then
drop it for something 'easier'.


"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:edeao568FHA.3628@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Anyone having any experience with ISO Recorder?
>
> The wizard list things like:
> 'Windows CD Burning area'
> 'Directory'
> 'Target'
>
> The 'Directory' must be what to record, and the 'Target' where to put the
> recorded ISO, but what do you do if you want to put a mix of folders on
> the ISO?
>
> And what is Windows CD Burning area?
>
> Or. . .isn't this any good for what I want to do? It looks perfect,
> though!
>
>
> Tony. . .
>
>
>

Ken
Sun Nov 27 21:32:33 CST 2005

If your system is complete on one partition, this is very easy to do with
Image for Windows from Terabyteunlimited. Just do a backup to DVD or CD and
the media it creates will also be a bootable as a restore disk.

Ken

Tony
Mon Nov 28 02:56:31 CST 2005

No, I certainly did not dismiss it, as I said: "this looks interesting!".
And I will look into it. My first post included a reference to ISO
Recorder - I simply want to collect my options.

½ hour? . . O.K.


Tony. . .


"Norman Brooks" <nbrooks@accesscable.net> wrote in message
news:%23vJr6v78FHA.1028@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Without evening trying it you dismissed nLite and the web site itself !
>
> Spend a half hour following the tutorial. If it doesn't convince you then
> drop it for something 'easier'.
>
>
> "Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
> news:edeao568FHA.3628@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>> Anyone having any experience with ISO Recorder?
>>
>> The wizard list things like:
>> 'Windows CD Burning area'
>> 'Directory'
>> 'Target'
>>
>> The 'Directory' must be what to record, and the 'Target' where to put the
>> recorded ISO, but what do you do if you want to put a mix of folders on
>> the ISO?
>>
>> And what is Windows CD Burning area?
>>
>> Or. . .isn't this any good for what I want to do? It looks perfect,
>> though!
>>
>>
>> Tony. . .
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Tony
Mon Nov 28 03:13:21 CST 2005

Thank you. I'll pay them a visit.


Tony. . .


"Ken" <mymail@mail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns971BC6CC3D100Kamcoseanetcom@207.46.248.16...
> If your system is complete on one partition, this is very easy to do with
> Image for Windows from Terabyteunlimited. Just do a backup to DVD or CD
> and
> the media it creates will also be a bootable as a restore disk.
>
> Ken

wewa
Mon Nov 28 11:31:34 CST 2005

Yes,

after reading how you're overwhelmed by UBCD and such 'build your own boot
cd' tools, i too, as Ken has, recommend 'Image for DOS' as I've used it (so
long your internal ata cdr/dvdr drive is compatible with it).
I've experienced some verify problems on some machines, drives, tho, that
i've yet to solve tho so YMMV.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/


"Ken" <mymail@mail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns971BC6CC3D100Kamcoseanetcom@207.46.248.16...
> If your system is complete on one partition, this is very easy to do with
> Image for Windows from Terabyteunlimited. Just do a backup to DVD or CD
> and
> the media it creates will also be a bootable as a restore disk.
>
> Ken

VWWall
Mon Nov 28 14:20:18 CST 2005

Ken wrote:
> If your system is complete on one partition, this is very easy to do with
> Image for Windows from Terabyteunlimited. Just do a backup to DVD or CD and
> the media it creates will also be a bootable as a restore disk.

This looks pretty good! I see that they say it works on Win64(x64), but
the pad_file.htm doesn't mention x64. I downloaded the manual, (.pdf).
and will check it out.

My reason for making the WinUBCD, was to have access to repair and data
recovery functions when the main OS goes bad. As I mentioned, it
doesn't seem possible to make a WinUBCD to boot WinXP x64. A simple
change to pebuilder313 might cause it to look in the proper places for
the needed x64 files. Here's more info for anyone interested:

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Seems like there are many ways to skin this cat! :-)

--
Virg Wall

Mercury
Mon Nov 28 17:08:47 CST 2005

I had a play with image for Windows (IFW) last night (on 32bit XP - says it
works on X64) and backed up my laptop C drive to DVD +RW's. The drive has
20gb used space and used just over 3 DVD's so this feasable.

The process took quite a while (~ 3hours) - I had verify DVD ticked which
seemed to cause a 2nd verification phase, but overall given the volume of
software on my C: I think it is very efficient on DVD space and so Time. A
tape backup would have taken just as long...

I use disc imaging currently - Drive Image,but this still requires a
bootable system to restore to. The clear advantage of IFW is its ability to
restore directly from bootable DVD.

I don't have the resources to test a restore at the moment, perhaps someone
else can contribute their experience on this front as this seems a
worthwhile tool that not only meets your needs (?) but should be in many
peoples arsenal.

I follow a minimalist approach to software so my C drive doesn't change
much - 1 DVD backup a month with critical updates, s/w updates, and new
software installs batched up would work well for me. The price is very very
reasonable... & no, I do not work for them.

HTH


"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:%235X3$%2308FHA.2816@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>I just had a minor disaster occurring here, day before yesterday, lost my
>i-net connection, sound and the Win2K installation complained about the
>RAID - gave me an excellent oportunity to try out the Restore-Point
>facility. Going backwards, the three first attempts failed miserably, each
>attempt consuming apprx. ½ hour, then the RP of the 20th, had everything up
>and running within 2 minutes. 'nother days work and all is now O.K.
>
> Wonderful thing, I must say. Not being a 'back-up guy', the experience
> have left me wondering if there is not an easy option to this by having
> your own CD. I have the ISO Recorder that was mentioned here a while ago -
> the one that installs as an explorer extension, and although it is
> painfully simple to look at, I am missing some kind of Help/Instruction to
> get started with that one, but I would love to hear if other's have solved
> this matter in other ways. Except for scheduled back-up'ing.
>
> And I have Nero, to burn a back-up, but am not sure if this method can be
> made to work as a Restore CD? It wouldn't have to be Bootable, nice if it
> could, though, just so that everything essential to the installed system
> is tucked away safely.
>
>
> Tony. . .
>

Mercury
Mon Nov 28 17:15:18 CST 2005

We use nLite to build systems from step 1.

IE Web servers are configured as throw away systems.HDD fault? throw it
away, plug in new drive, take the nLite generated Windows CD, boot, wait a
few minutes & windows is back in, secure, patched, drivers loaded in 1 fell
swoop. Reinstall WWW applications - 5 minutes later all back up and running
(we have DR servers). A no fuss, high security, efficient method suitable
for 'simple' systems.

Slipstreaming & driver preloading is worth it.

"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:unNhxm$8FHA.4036@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> No, I certainly did not dismiss it, as I said: "this looks interesting!".
> And I will look into it. My first post included a reference to ISO
> Recorder - I simply want to collect my options.
>
> ½ hour? . . O.K.
>
>
> Tony. . .
>
>
> "Norman Brooks" <nbrooks@accesscable.net> wrote in message
> news:%23vJr6v78FHA.1028@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>> Without evening trying it you dismissed nLite and the web site itself !
>>
>> Spend a half hour following the tutorial. If it doesn't convince you then
>> drop it for something 'easier'.
>>
>>
>> "Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
>> news:edeao568FHA.3628@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>> Anyone having any experience with ISO Recorder?
>>>
>>> The wizard list things like:
>>> 'Windows CD Burning area'
>>> 'Directory'
>>> 'Target'
>>>
>>> The 'Directory' must be what to record, and the 'Target' where to put
>>> the recorded ISO, but what do you do if you want to put a mix of folders
>>> on the ISO?
>>>
>>> And what is Windows CD Burning area?
>>>
>>> Or. . .isn't this any good for what I want to do? It looks perfect,
>>> though!
>>>
>>>
>>> Tony. . .
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

wewa
Mon Nov 28 17:54:08 CST 2005

The nlite site is sparse. i'm trying to find out what it does, and doesn't
do. but there is no faq.

forgive me, but how is nlite different from something like 98lite, which
i've used before.

thanks.

"Mercury" <me@spam.com> wrote in message
news:dmg31j$v7r$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> We use nLite to build systems from step 1.
>
> IE Web servers are configured as throw away systems.HDD fault? throw it
> away, plug in new drive, take the nLite generated Windows CD, boot, wait a
> few minutes & windows is back in, secure, patched, drivers loaded in 1
> fell swoop. Reinstall WWW applications - 5 minutes later all back up and
> running (we have DR servers). A no fuss, high security, efficient method
> suitable for 'simple' systems.
>
> Slipstreaming & driver preloading is worth it.
>
> "Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
> news:unNhxm$8FHA.4036@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>> No, I certainly did not dismiss it, as I said: "this looks interesting!".
>> And I will look into it. My first post included a reference to ISO
>> Recorder - I simply want to collect my options.
>>
>> ス hour? . . O.K.
>>
>>
>> Tony. . .
>>
>>
>> "Norman Brooks" <nbrooks@accesscable.net> wrote in message
>> news:%23vJr6v78FHA.1028@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>>> Without evening trying it you dismissed nLite and the web site itself !
>>>
>>> Spend a half hour following the tutorial. If it doesn't convince you
>>> then drop it for something 'easier'.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
>>> news:edeao568FHA.3628@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>>> Anyone having any experience with ISO Recorder?
>>>>
>>>> The wizard list things like:
>>>> 'Windows CD Burning area'
>>>> 'Directory'
>>>> 'Target'
>>>>
>>>> The 'Directory' must be what to record, and the 'Target' where to put
>>>> the recorded ISO, but what do you do if you want to put a mix of
>>>> folders on the ISO?
>>>>
>>>> And what is Windows CD Burning area?
>>>>
>>>> Or. . .isn't this any good for what I want to do? It looks perfect,
>>>> though!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tony. . .
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Tony
Tue Nov 29 05:18:40 CST 2005

Well, well, well - I do admit - it sprang into my eyes from the very first -
the concept is great, it's extremely useful and looks quite easy to manage.
And I say this, despite the fact that I am not really worried about having
the kind of disaster where I cannot Boot. It's happened once, (in -94), when
a virus zapped my BIOS, and I wasn't even connected to anything at all. I
have all kinds of utilities to help me out of any kind of predicament. If
one thing don't work, I'll try something else, the only trouble is that one
such event in 15 years, doesn't give you a lot of exercise.

No, what is troubling is a working system with spurrious errors. To meet
such events, I didn't think I'd need complete BU's, I would be perfectly
happy with a 'snapshot' of the system without any errors. I imagined having
a copy of the Windows Directory and a copy of the hated 'My Documents' tree.

But, this is already a mass of useless stuff that easily fills up a CD. And
if I'm ever forced to use it, there'll be something missing. I can remember
having a fairly good view on what went where in the Windows system, but
today - forget it, I would be much surprised if any living soul really did?

With this, just the working system (with the SATA/RAID), together with my
usual stowaway of personal work and the folder where I keep things that I
download, I imagined, I could easily restore it on my own. Of course, this
is what the Restore Points are supposed to be doing, but with three misses
out of four, I thought it would be nice with something 'self-knitted', with
complete knowledge of what was in there.

But, you have 'all but convinced me', I went back to the site, but couldn't
find any link or reference to nLite, I couldn't see it being mentioned
anywhere - I really want to know more about it, but I doubt it, that I will
use it for the purpose that concerns me at the moment. If I try and
configure a CD to include everything, I'll be back where we started and
would be forced to do it all over again, every now and then, since any
computer system changes so rappidly. I am sorry, and dismayed if I have been
an Ass explaining myself. The response to my humble enquiry has very nearly
been overwhelming, and much useful information has come my way - I'll do the
outmost to use it well, and I am extremely pleased. Thank you, all!


Tony. . .



"Mercury" <me@spam.com> wrote in message
news:dmg31j$v7r$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
> We use nLite to build systems from step 1.
>
> IE Web servers are configured as throw away systems.HDD fault? throw it
> away, plug in new drive, take the nLite generated Windows CD, boot, wait a
> few minutes & windows is back in, secure, patched, drivers loaded in 1
> fell swoop. Reinstall WWW applications - 5 minutes later all back up and
> running (we have DR servers). A no fuss, high security, efficient method
> suitable for 'simple' systems.
>
> Slipstreaming & driver preloading is worth it.
>

Mercury
Tue Nov 29 14:09:57 CST 2005

I wouldn't attempt to use nLite to install user applications if it could
because then every update to these apps, patch inluded involves updating the
install DVD (CD would be way too small)....

I think the most important principle you could apply is to segregate System
from Data on separate partitions to make backups easier. Data - full backup
daily, System weekly / whenever you update it.

This is easy to preech, but requires some work in practice as some apps are
not friendly to this.








"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:OekK3aN9FHA.1420@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Well, well, well - I do admit - it sprang into my eyes from the very
> first - the concept is great, it's extremely useful and looks quite easy
> to manage. And I say this, despite the fact that I am not really worried
> about having the kind of disaster where I cannot Boot. It's happened once,
> (in -94), when a virus zapped my BIOS, and I wasn't even connected to
> anything at all. I have all kinds of utilities to help me out of any kind
> of predicament. If one thing don't work, I'll try something else, the only
> trouble is that one such event in 15 years, doesn't give you a lot of
> exercise.
>
> No, what is troubling is a working system with spurrious errors. To meet
> such events, I didn't think I'd need complete BU's, I would be perfectly
> happy with a 'snapshot' of the system without any errors. I imagined
> having a copy of the Windows Directory and a copy of the hated 'My
> Documents' tree.
>
> But, this is already a mass of useless stuff that easily fills up a CD.
> And if I'm ever forced to use it, there'll be something missing. I can
> remember having a fairly good view on what went where in the Windows
> system, but today - forget it, I would be much surprised if any living
> soul really did?
>
> With this, just the working system (with the SATA/RAID), together with my
> usual stowaway of personal work and the folder where I keep things that I
> download, I imagined, I could easily restore it on my own. Of course, this
> is what the Restore Points are supposed to be doing, but with three misses
> out of four, I thought it would be nice with something 'self-knitted',
> with complete knowledge of what was in there.
>
> But, you have 'all but convinced me', I went back to the site, but
> couldn't find any link or reference to nLite, I couldn't see it being
> mentioned anywhere - I really want to know more about it, but I doubt it,
> that I will use it for the purpose that concerns me at the moment. If I
> try and configure a CD to include everything, I'll be back where we
> started and would be forced to do it all over again, every now and then,
> since any computer system changes so rappidly. I am sorry, and dismayed if
> I have been an Ass explaining myself. The response to my humble enquiry
> has very nearly been overwhelming, and much useful information has come my
> way - I'll do the outmost to use it well, and I am extremely pleased.
> Thank you, all!
>
>
> Tony. . .
>
>
>
> "Mercury" <me@spam.com> wrote in message
> news:dmg31j$v7r$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
>> We use nLite to build systems from step 1.
>>
>> IE Web servers are configured as throw away systems.HDD fault? throw it
>> away, plug in new drive, take the nLite generated Windows CD, boot, wait
>> a few minutes & windows is back in, secure, patched, drivers loaded in 1
>> fell swoop. Reinstall WWW applications - 5 minutes later all back up and
>> running (we have DR servers). A no fuss, high security, efficient method
>> suitable for 'simple' systems.
>>
>> Slipstreaming & driver preloading is worth it.
>>
>
>

Tony
Tue Nov 29 18:14:54 CST 2005

You know, this very nearly borders what John suggested. And this, of course,
is a very good point, a small system partition to back up on occasion -
this, I like the sound of. I am simply not organised enough to have any use
of a B/U schedule.

I am in the process of thinking about buying a dual-core, or VMware, or
indeed both, but then I will have to either sell this one or get a new board
to accomodate it. That would be an exellent time to tailor a partitioning
scheme that would make Windows a whole lot friendlier - one guy here had a
great suggestion for relegating the complete 'My Doc' thing to it's own
partition (was that Carlos?) that is brilliant, very good thinking, indeed!

And quite a lot of good stuff surfacing here as well, great many thanks goes
to all, yet again.

Ah - yes!. . .'ISO Recorder', anyone?

Tony. . .

( Can you possibly think of anywhere else, besides the Windows and My
Documents Folders that would house pure system configurables that you
wouldn't want to miss backing up?)

-----


"Mercury" <me@spam.com> wrote in message
news:dmicic$b1r$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
>I wouldn't attempt to use nLite to install user applications if it could
>because then every update to these apps, patch inluded involves updating
>the install DVD (CD would be way too small)....
>
> I think the most important principle you could apply is to segregate
> System from Data on separate partitions to make backups easier. Data -
> full backup daily, System weekly / whenever you update it.
>
> This is easy to preech, but requires some work in practice as some apps
> are not friendly to this.
>
>
>

Mercury
Wed Nov 30 09:59:12 CST 2005

www.alexfeinman.com (?) for iso recorder. Use the latest beta.

"Tony Sperling" <tony.sperling@dbREMOVEmail.dk> wrote in message
news:uXdIoMU9FHA.1276@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> You know, this very nearly borders what John suggested. And this, of
> course, is a very good point, a small system partition to back up on
> occasion - this, I like the sound of. I am simply not organised enough to
> have any use of a B/U schedule.
>
> I am in the process of thinking about buying a dual-core, or VMware, or
> indeed both, but then I will have to either sell this one or get a new
> board to accomodate it. That would be an exellent time to tailor a
> partitioning scheme that would make Windows a whole lot friendlier - one
> guy here had a great suggestion for relegating the complete 'My Doc' thing
> to it's own partition (was that Carlos?) that is brilliant, very good
> thinking, indeed!
>
> And quite a lot of good stuff surfacing here as well, great many thanks
> goes to all, yet again.
>
> Ah - yes!. . .'ISO Recorder', anyone?
>
> Tony. . .
>
> ( Can you possibly think of anywhere else, besides the Windows and My
> Documents Folders that would house pure system configurables that you
> wouldn't want to miss backing up?)
>
> -----
>
>
> "Mercury" <me@spam.com> wrote in message
> news:dmicic$b1r$1@lust.ihug.co.nz...
>>I wouldn't attempt to use nLite to install user applications if it could
>>because then every update to these apps, patch inluded involves updating
>>the install DVD (CD would be way too small)....
>>
>> I think the most important principle you could apply is to segregate
>> System from Data on separate partitions to make backups easier. Data -
>> full backup daily, System weekly / whenever you update it.
>>
>> This is easy to preech, but requires some work in practice as some apps
>> are not friendly to this.
>>
>>
>>
>
>