Scenarios...for image and backup!

[paulobao]

Hello,

Sorry for asking again about this subject but I would like to be ready for the next time that a "non expert user" irrecoverable BSOD appears in my Win7 laptop!

INTRODUCTION

I have a disk with 3 partitions:

Part.1: OS and Apps
Part.2: Data
Part.3: System Recovery (not the factory one but a partition where I keep the last good image made via Macrium Prof v5.0.)

In a separate portable HDD I keep:

Part. A: called "Storage" where I keep a huge amount of data that I only use when I need it like photos, videos, software archive, scientific data, etc
Part. B: called "Tecra R840" where I keep a backup the personal data I have in my laptop (my documents,...)
Part. C: called "System Recovery Images" where I keep the images of my laptop.

PROBLEM

Here some scenarios :

1- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! However, there is no physical problem with the disk.

2- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! There is a major physical problem with the disk which is irrecoverable.

3- .....(maybe you have other scenarios which would be great!)


SOLUTION

Please let me know how can I fix problems from all these scenarios!
(and I'm a newbie so please be gentle ).
Do I need to reinstall Win 7 each time?

Regards,
paulo

 

[richnrockville]

Hello,

Sorry for asking again about this subject but I would like to be ready for the next time that a "non expert user" irrecoverable BSOD appears in my Win7 laptop!

INTRODUCTION

I have a disk with 3 partitions:

Part.1: OS and Apps
Part.2: Data
Part.3: System Recovery (not the factory one but a partition where I keep the last good image made via Macrium Prof v5.0.)

In a separate portable HDD I keep:

Part. A: called "Storage" where I keep a huge amount of data that I only use when I need it like photos, videos, software archive, scientific data, etc
Part. B: called "Tecra R840" where I keep a backup the personal data I have in my laptop (my documents,...)
Part. C: called "System Recovery Images" where I keep the images of my laptop.

PROBLEM

Here some scenarios :

1- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! However, there is no physical problem with the disk.

2- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! There is a major physical problem with the disk which is irrecoverable.

3- .....(maybe you have other scenarios which would be great!)


SOLUTION

Please let me know how can I fix problems from all these scenarios!
(and I'm a newbie so please be gentle ).
Do I need to reinstall Win 7 each time?

Regards,
paulo

Paulo, what your doing looks pretty good by having an image of your complete C drive on an external HD. As long as you have made a boot disk for Macrium pro.

there should not be a good reason to keep an image on your extended partitions on your first hard disk. If the disk went south completely, you would not be able to access any of the images on that physical disk. You could boot the Macrium boot disk and restore your complete c: drive from your external hard disk.

I make an image with Acronis each week on a USB external hard disk and I have 6 of them where I write to a new one each week. I can store several images on each external disk so I have a real warm fuzzy about restoration if the world comes to an end in a handbasket.

One thing to consider is to make sure that you back up your boot drive C as well as the partition that windows created of about 100megs.

Rich

 

[marsmimar]

Here some scenarios :

1- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! However, there is no physical problem with the disk.

2- a problem (BSOD,...) appears in my laptop, I can´t boot normally even in safe mode! There is a major physical problem with the disk which is irrecoverable.

3- .....(maybe you have other scenarios which would be great!)

My usual disclaimer: I'm not an expert at anything. But from the above, it sounds like you're under the impression that BSODs occur only with hard drive issues. (If I've misunderstood, my apologies! No offense intended.) Yes, hard drives can certainly cause a BSOD. But so can other hardware components like failing (or not properly seated) memory modules, CPU, motherboard etc. If the BSOD is cause by failing hardware, for example, nothing will stop the BSODs except replacing the component. And software can certainly cause BSODs as well. From Microsoft:

Resolving stop (blue screen) errors in Windows 7

It's going to be necessary to figure out why the BSODs are occurring before a fix can be suggested. A good place to start is with the Forum's BSOD Posting Instructions. The BSOD experts can help narrow down the reasons behind the BSODs.

http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[karlsnooks]

with a Win 7 System Image Backup of the the partitions you desire to backup which you keep on an external media, then you are safe for all scenarios.

If you are a real backup freak then you keep 2 copies with one of them being kept in your bank safe deposit box or the likes thereof.

 

[whs]

You are doing the right things. The use of Macrium is a first excellent decision. Then keeping one image on a seperate partition is clever. That allows you to recover when you are 'on the road' - provided you carry your WinPE recovery CD.

In both cases 1 and 2 you can easily recover with the WinPE CD - either by using your image on the same disk or by using an image from the external disk. Should the internal disk go south (which is the rare case), you'll have to get a new disk and recover from the external image anyhow.

I assume you make a simple copy of your data (rather than imaging the data partition). That you can always recover once you got the system back up and running. I would keep the data on 2 seperate backup media. I keep those backups on an external disk and a 32GB USB flash drive - but I do not have masses of personal data.

Reason for the double backup of my own data is that it would be impossible to recreate my own files. For the system that is a lot easier. If all fails, I can always reinstall it.

 

[paulobao]

Thanks for the comments
I said BSOD because it was a BSOD that put me aware of the necessity of having backups of data and images! Forget BSOD and simply put an "issue with proper booting"! I don't know much about this and there is the translation problem too, sorry!
Yes whs, it would be a simple copy of the data (simple backup of data?....).
Could you tell me more about the WinPE CD? And it will be really a CD or it could be put in a pendrive?

Thanks a lot, really

Regards,

paulo @ portugal

 

[whs]

I have uploaded the latest version of the Macrium WinPE .iso to my Skydrive. You can download it from there (takes about 8 minutes) and burn it to CD - I guess you can also burn it to a USB stick with this program (although I have never done that yet).

With the resulting CD or flash drive you can restore a Macrium image. You can also use it to create a Macrium image (in case you do not want to install Macrium on your system). Just change the boot order in your BIOS and boot from the CD or the flash drive. If you use the flash drive, check first whether your PC can boot from a flash drive (not all PCs have that option).

 

[paulobao]

Thanks again!
I will try it because I want everything simple an functional as soon I fresh install win7 in my new ssd (it will arrive next 21th).

Cheers,
paulo

 

[whs]

You are welcome.

 

[paulobao]

Hi,

so I made some experiments with Macrium V5 Pro!
What a nice sw indeed! Is like you said whs, very intuitive and really easy to learn!
I created a recovery CD (not in a CD but in a flash drive) ant it worked 5 stars
Backuped some folders and restored them without any problem!
Made some images and restore them without any problem too!

Realy, realy nice sw!
I was concerned about one thing when I made my backups and images: it seemed that I should not change the name of the image file or backup files too (it is checked by default). well I change it for more apropriate names instead (the first one resulted in a name with digits and letters with no meaning) and there was no problem too! (of course I could create separate folders with my name of choice and then put the files there!).

I bought Acronis True Image 2010 (because the acronis site sent me to the portuguese acronis site and that was the only option I could choose!) few days ago and I had big issues running it in my laptop (Acronis not responding..!!!!). Even the icon were corrupted!

So I will stay with Macrium (hope it will work as good with the new ssd that will arrive next 19th) .
I will have both a flash usb and a CD just in case!

Cheers,
paulo

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I'm not sure naming matters much in Macrium---but I always accept the defaults just in case it might make a difference sooner or later. I make a descriptive folder name and then put the default-named image file in that folder.

As I recall, Windows imaging can be fussy about file names.

 

[whs]

It should work very well with your new SSD. I image SSDs all the time and never had a problem - and my SSDs are from 4 different manufacturers in 6 different systems.