Okay ... in UD thread I mentioned my problem ... The DELL tech told me that I will have to reload the OS !! ... I know this means I have to 'back-up' my system first, and I KNOW I will hear it from Gary and others about this, but I've NEVER backed up my system (except that my song/registration.midi/ files are on the hard drive of my ketboard) ... The DELL tech said that the least expensive way to do it would be to pull the hard drive from the PC, put it in another PC, copy it, put it back in my PC and reinstall the OS ... I would appreciate knowing how others might back-up their system - external HDs, CDs, what??? any advice on how I should go about this will be appreciated ...
thnx,
t.

You absolutely SHOULD back up your stuff. HOWEVER I have reinstalled my OS on various computers for years and never lost anything. I do have some critical files backed up, but far from everything.
DonM

I use and have used Drive Image for the last 5 years. It is a program you buy that takes a snapshot of your whole hard drive. You can then reload the whole drive or just parts of it.
When my sytem used to crash it would usually takle a whole weekend to reformat, reload and then 1 by 1 reload all the software.
Now 20 minutes.
Through corporate buyouts I guess now it's called Norton Ghost.

DonM ... I fully intend to back it up before re-installing the OS ... I am just wondering how some of you might do that ...

mike ... thnx for the info ....

Another question I have is, if something is corrupt on the HD, how do I know I'm not copying that when I back up the system and then reload the 'backed up' stuff ?? ....

t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-18-2005).]

Tony.....I bought a 160 Gig External hard drive which I conected to my computer through the USB port and put everything of value on it...I do this every day...this way, if the computer crashes, I can unplug the external H/D and take it to another computer and I have everything I need in a portable unit until you can reinstall the OP in your computer then just drag and drop whatever files you need to back to your computer....hope this helps...BTW, do a search and you will be supprised at how cheap they are...

I have a folder on my desktop I call "work" I put all "MY" files in it. All my midi files not the sequencer program just the files I create with it. Same with word processor not the program just the files I create. When I save a file, in the file menu, I goto save as and save it to my work folder. Inside my work folder I have other folders for midi.pictures, etc.
This folder has all my personal files, music, pictures, documents, MS money backup files.
Then once a week or whenever I save that folder to a cd or DVD or to another drive.
Now If I have to reload my hard drive I reinstall windows and all the programs from the original disks. I still have the files I created saved somewhere and can start again.

I've done that for years also, it costs nothing, it's safe, and easy.


[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 01-18-2005).]

... again, thank you ....
I just spoke to one of the 'techies' in the office and he suggested just taking the tower to PC World, explain the problem and let them handle the back-up, restore of the OS, etc. ...
When I mentioned that I was un-installing sp2 his comment was "you're a braver man than I .... " .. hopefully I didn't do too much damage ...
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-18-2005).]

I basically do the same thing mikeathome1 does. When I save to CD, I also make a copy, in case the CD goes bad. I learned this the hard way, when my first PC went bad.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-18-2005).]

Hi Tony!
I back up to DVDs and CDs. It is easier. It's been a few years since I needed an external HD. There's way too much hardware in my office to bother with extra drives. I need elbow space!!!

Now, as most wise ones I only back up the files that I've created and downloaded. Basically everything but the OS, the drivers and the programs. I only back-up system and programs when I'm sure that it all works fine. In your case (considering the damage to the OS) just stick to backing up the files that you've created yourself.
IT will be impossible to sort through all the programs , drivers and system files in order to find out which ones work and wich ones have gone bye-bye.

But I'm glad you have things under control. As easy as it may sound re-installing OS and programs is a rather time consuming process. It is always good to find somebody else to do it for you.

-ED-

I wish I could have found somebody to backup my system for me when I first had trouble a few years ago.
The problem was Best Buy or one of those places wanted 300 dollars to do it. This is when computers started getting cheaper so I decided I'd better learn about a simple solution myself.
Especially the way Win 98 used to behave 4 or 5 times a year I had to wipe it out and start over reformat and everything.
SO bottom line if you can afford it great. But I would still back up all the files you created before you take it anyplace.