saving to external disc.

[byegeorge]

Hi.  In Windows xp I'm having diffulties opening  some programs, especially "Add/Remove" programs. My computer is 5years old, so fearing some sort of crash, can anyone tell me how I can back my programs to an external hard disc, so that in the event of some disaster, I will be able to get things working again.  Many thanks.  Byegeorge

[jc26red]

First run a virus check, some viruses can cause this kind of instability particularly if it came on a program you have installed!  malwarebytes is free, download it and run it in safe mode, which means only essential applications are running making it easier to remove any nasties that may be found..

Do you have an external disc drive? some come with a backup program which is easy to start off.

To do it manually, just copy over the essential main folders.. ie document, pictures, music, video and music... depending on what you have stored on your pc.
Don't forget your favorites folder... you can do a search for favorites and copy the folder to the external drive.
If your pc is in a fragile state, do one folder at a time so as not to unbalance it.

Lastly your emails, this depends on how you look and store your emails. Do you look at them online or through a program such as Microsoft Express?

Looking ahead a little more just in case, do you still have your windows XP disc that came with the pc?   

Jenny

[Latchfordian]

jc26red has given you good advice for backing up your data but as I understood it you are concerned about backing up your programs. When a program is installed it makes changes in different parts of the system (eg. the registry) so you can't backup a program as such. You need the original discs that you used for the installation. What you can do, of course, is create a restore point and go back to that at any time. I hope this helps.

Jim

[jackhonour]

And just to add to Jim's point, you'll find system restore on start, all programs, accessories. Click on system restore (it may be under yet another folder called system tools) and there should be an option to create a system restore point.

There are lots of disk image softwares available which make an exact copy of your system which you can use at a later date. Try this: http://download.cnet.com/Macrium-Reflect-Free/3000-2242_4-10845728.html?part=dl-&subj=dl&tag=button . It's called Macrium Reflect Free Edition. Download it and then run the installer. Once it's installed: create a Linux Rescue CD (an option in the program) and then create a backup image on DVDs. It might take up quite a few DVDs but it's worth it. It will then be a backup of all your settings, prgrams and personal documents.

It's also worth backing up your personal documents on an external drive (or try Google Drive - free cloud storage for up to 5gb) - just in case Macrium doesn't work for some reason if the cruical time comes.

It's always worth having a Macrium backup - before your computer starts going wrong. Swallow - I haven't backed up for a while! . If the time comes, enter the Linux Rescue CD , and when the boot screen comes up (giving the brand of computer) it will give a button you should press to bring up boot menu. You can then set to boot off the disk drive. It will then boot into a portable system which should help you and give instructions on how to proceed. Macrium when you're creating the DVDs should also tell you this, or something else. Remember to write all this down because when your computer goes wrong, you can't go onto Rootschat from that machine.

Before you run Macrium, make sure to do a virus scan, either using MalwareBytes as jc26red suggests or Trend Micro Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/). Because if you don't you could be backing up a virus. If they find anyhting, delete the files and also write down the name of the virus and tell us so we can see if you've found the culprit.

HD Tune Free Edition (click here to download: http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe ) will be able to run a scan of your hard drive to see if there are any errors. Therefore you will know if you have a hard drive soon to fail or not.

I know I have put a lot and so have Jim and Jenny, so remember you can ask us if you need things to be explained again. Don't be  with all this information - I know it might be a bit overwhelming. Any excuse to use a smiley! Though these Christmassy ones are getting on my nerves a bit now

Jack

[mike175]

If you think logically, a disk image backup will simply copy all the problems in your system so you reload them again when you restore 

I would say it is more important to make sure your data backups are up to date . . . you will, of course, have full backups anyway, won't you . . . 

Then, if necessary, you can do a clean re-install of the actual programs, either from the original CD-ROM or a fresh download, after you sort out any virus, etc. Then, finally, you can restore the data files to a clean system.

Mike.

[byegeorge]

Hi everyone.  Many thanks for your swift reply to my "saving to ext. disc" query, I do my email work at my local library,because at home I have only "dial-up" for the internet.  So I saved your advice to a usb memory-stick so that I can study it at home.  And I hope to be back soon to let you know my progress.   Huge thanks once again.   byegeorge

[byegeorge]

Hi. In reply to your questions:  I have run a virus check,using AVG12. Also I have obtained and run the free edition of Malwarebytes, which removed 100 errors, and listed many many more for which I would have to pay to remove.  I do have the installation disc for Windows xp. but it has on it service pack 2, whereas I have s.p.3 installed. So I wonder if a reboot would rob me of sp3.   I have tried making a couple of restore points, but there was no improvement, so I reverted to my present setting,and found that I had lost a couple of programs that I had installed. but they are not important.  I am interested in the Macrium back-up although I haven't downloaded yet. Could I create the back-up image to my external disc?  Many thanks.  byegeorge.

[mike175]

I don't pretend to be an expert, but I have used and abused Windows Xp for many years, on several computers. If you decide to re-install Windows, I'm fairly certain that SP3 is still available to download from Microsoft; it should download automatically if updates are enabled. Best to check with the Microsoft website first, to make sure.

I have never made a disk image backup and I'm not sure it is the best option for a corrupted system. However, I would certainly make at least two backups of all the data files before doing anything!

Mike.

[byegeorge]

Hi Jack.  I have tried downloading Macrium Reflect, but without success. Maybe it's because I have to use the library computer, and am trying to download it to my memory stick.  Can you suggest an alternative one I could use?   Many thanks.   Byegeorge