Another computer type thread..........

[RonBoyd]

For those with an old PC (anything over two years is "old"); another trick to try back up anything you value and then do a full reinstall (preferably after reformatting the drive.) This is potentially "free" except for the time required to reinstall your programs and data. Reward: a fresh install without the "barnacles" any system gets over the years.

I guess that is how I should have said it earlier... without all the details.

 

[FurBall]

My Dell is now 10 yrs old and also on a downward spiral. I've replaced the fan twice and the BIOS battery once, added memory, bigger disks, USB 2 board, DVD writer ...

I do a nightly incremental Ghost to a USB disk and a monthly full backup so that when it finally dies, I can be sure to have access to any and all files.

My thrifty side pays attention to current prices and deals, but I really want to see how long I can milk this.

 

[zinger1457]

What do you do with this image though? As I understand it, you need to jump through some hoops to get your computer to recognize this as a valid system. Can you test it to know it works before you put it on the shelf?

-ERD50

All you need to re-image is a system repair disk and/or the original Windows 7 disk. I've only had to re-image my laptop once and it was painless but agree that backups should be tested. I'm not aware of any way to test it other then installing the image on your computer.

 

[ERD50]

All you need to re-image is a system repair disk and/or the original Windows 7 disk. I've only had to re-image my laptop once and it was painless but agree that backups should be tested. I'm not aware of any way to test it other then installing the image on your computer.

And that is the conundrum that I struggle with.

So if you take your image and install it, and it doesn't work right - where does that leave you? You had to wipe out your original working install to do this, right? Oooops!

I'd really like to get my Ubuntu/Linux up to that level of making a bootable image. I tried a while back and hit some walls and gave up for now. I do back up data, and the entire system from time to time, if I have a crash I'll deal with it somehow. I just sure would like to have a fully tested backup of the system. When I posted to the Linux forums on this, I get "just use x,y,x routines", but those didn't give you a bootable clone (unless it could fit on a DVD).

I guess if someone never experienced just how practical this is with OSX, they just don't 'get it'. I maintain a bunch of OSX systems for the family, and being able to create a boootable backup that I can test while I'm still at their house just removes any worries.

-ERD50