Successful backups depend upon both your hardware and software selection. If you possess a "mass storage" device designed with backup/restore in mind (tape drive, Zip or Jazz, USB drive, etc.), it came with software useful for that purpose. Rather - "useful as long as windows is working". Those with some later Windows versions may have an unrealistic sense of security, since the system offers the ability to "roll-back" the system to some previous backup, stored on hard disk.
(Unrealistic? Yes. It depends upon windows being functional, which cannot be guaranteed after a viral - or worse, a direct attack via a network intruder.) There's always the purely-mechanical
hardware disk glitch, too.
Fortunately, some third-party backup software is designed to work with common devices: floppies, CD or DVD-ROM burners. There are even ways to build your own suite of useful items for good CDROM backups - usually from (older) DOS software which can boot from a floppy (or even a CD - though making a bootable, fully self-supporting CD is often difficult). Those who are uncomfortable stumbling around in an unfamiliar non-windows world might want to give the free month's trial of
http://www.superwin.com/rescue.htm (different versions for each windows version) which comes highly recommended by the commercial press. I've never tried it, however; I just don't fully trust any backup software that absolutely requires windows to function.
In the last segment, I mentioned the free diagnostics from the hard disk manufacturers. Some of these have the capability to clone a copy of your hard disk to a second hard drive. Some have tools that can bring a balky drive back to health (without destroying your files!)
Rather than list them all here, links to many of these diagnostics (and other useful programs) can be found in the contents of the "Ultimate Boot CD" here:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ or at
http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm
Both the "plain vanilla" UBCD (which requires too much work for my tastes) and the windows version (which also requires some work) are NOT recommended for most people. Both assume a level of user computer skills that is quite high - and both assume you will be restoring some flavor of windows XP. However, their website's categorized links, full of useful restore programs, are exceptional!
The safest bet for restoration: starting with DOS
Windows has the capability to create an "Emergency Boot Disk" - even though the floppy doesn't have enough room for many of the large (and important) files which are essential to a good restore - such as your windows registry (system.dat). In most windows versions, you can find it under the "Startup Disk" tab of "Add/Remove Programs" in your Control Panel. Alternately, "find files" (search) for the terms "eru" or "ebd" under your C:\windows directory, and run the "ERU.EXE" program. (Your computer manufacturer may have included a better means of booting a crashed system in a special program. Use it, instead of the generic windows stuff, because it is likely to include a driver for your specific CD-ROM and other hardware.)
NOTE: One thing you don't want to do is run any "Setup" program, which is typically a windows re-install program. You want to restore your
existing system to health - not start over, with a "clean" machine, thus losing all of your files and program additions!
That's where DOS comes in. You really do need a floppy or CD copy of a functional DOS, no matter which windows version you are using, including XP. Back in the late '70s when young Bill Gates purchased the source code for Seattle Computing's "Quick and Dirty Operating System" (QDOS) - and renamed it MS-DOS - Digital Research was also working on a DOS that functioned very well with IBM's new personal computer BIOS. Digital Research is no more - but their DRDOS was improved through the years, even while it passed through many corporate owners. Along the way, DRDOS versions in the 7.xx range were offered freely to individual users - and 7.03 is still available as a unique set of 3 or 5 floppy "disk image" files, which are simply DISKCOPY'd to floppies. The larger set includes personal NETWARE - still the premier networking software.
Free DRDOS versions aren't available from the current owner of the code, but two previous owners essentially set version 7.03 free forever. And the best part is that the unique DRDOS "Diskcopy.com" - which (unlike the MSDOS version with the same name) can create diskimages on hard disk - or any removable disk! Get the complete package here:
http://www.drdos.net/download.htm
Along the same lines, this little DOS-based program (free) can save or restore a floppy image of your hard disk's Master Boot Record - the most important of those rare "invisible and untouchable" records that is critical for a functional hard disk. Very experienced users can even use it to edit disk partitions!
http://mbrwizard.tripod.com/MBRWiz.zip
Ah - above, we've introduced a ZIP file into the arsenal. Most people are aware of the value in "zipped", or compressed, files. Many have used WINZIP to de-compress downloaded files... but we can't depend upon having a functional windows system if our hard drive crashed! That leaves WINZIP and similar out of our arsenal. Fortunately, the original DOS "zipper", PKZIP/PKUNZIP is still freely available as non-expiring shareware. The self-extractor version from 1993 is here:
http://downloads.pcworld.com/pub/new/ut ... kz204g.exe
If you are using (32-bit) Win98SE or later versions as your DOS boot, you can also use info-zip, the freeware long-filename DOS "zipper" that is the actual core of WINZIP:
http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/
I recommend having the original (16-bit) PKZIP on hand, anyway; it is the "gold standard" by which all the others are compared. Nothing says you can't use both, in the rare instance where long filenames are absolutely required. (You probably didn't notice, but ALL of the important windows "system" files are short, 8.3-style DOS filenames! There's a reason!)
With zipping, (or RAR - a much more compressive alternative) you can, for example shrink down the essential parts of your entire C:\Windows\ directory (and all it's sub-folders) into about 50-60 megabytes - which can easily be burned into a CDROM for later restoration via DOS. PKZIPs can easily span multiple floppy disks - but it would take hours to feed 50 or more floppies into the slot!
But first, you'll have to be able to access that CDROM under DOS. It's easy if your boot floppy contains MSCDEX.EXE and your specific CD driver (along with an AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS copied from you C:\ drive) - but there are a couple of nearly-universal drivers available, too. Here's the one used in Win98 and ME emergency boot disks:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software/oakcdrom.sys
I guess I should also recommend one of the oldest DOS programs still in regular use, as well: Vern Beurg's tiny LIST.COM. (Honestly - I'd be lost without it; I've been using it since 1987 or '88.)
Why list.com? It is so simple, yet powerful. Want to save your SYSTEM.DAT registry to a CD or Zip disk? You'll have to change its file attributes from "hidden, system, read-only" before you can even see it in windows - but list.com will show you everything about
every file (depending upon how many columns you want on-screen). If you highlight the file and press "A", LIST.COM will show you the current attributes as capital letters ("ASHR" is normal for the registry files). Typing lower-case "sh" will remove the System and Hidden attributes; it's that simple. No need to painstakingly type DOS's "Attribute" command lines for every file.
ftp://209.204.189.9/list.com
Next installment: What can go wrong, requiring a floppy/CD "restore" ...
