Re: Two "expert" issues I must solve before upgading

From: Jeff W (msnews_at_Kwcpa.com)
Date: 09/10/04 

Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:01:10 -0400

Ok folks – sorry this post has gone on so long, but for those of you who
are still with me – I’ve gotten enough information that I think I can
explain how it all works:

In the partition that contains XP, there is special information in the
boot sector which is specific to your XP installation and needs to be
captured in a backup if you want to be able to restore (as opposed to
rebuild) a disk. Only an image backup of the partition captures this
information.

There is also some information outside ALL the partitions (the master
boot loader) that has to be restored to the boot sector of a disk that
holds XP, for XP to boot. This information is not specific to your system.

So – for backups, use an image backup for the partition that contains
XP. Backup the other partitions however you want to.

For restore, (thanks Sharon!)
1) add and format a new disk on the PC that had the failed disk: use the
disk prep tools on the XP setup CD to prep the drive, including
installing the Master Boot Loader .Once the drive is prepared, cancel setup.
2) Restore the image for the XP partition over the network (most imaging
programs support restoring over the network)
3) boot.
4) restore your other backups.

What gets hairy is if you lose the information in the boot sector of the
XP partition. This is when you get into repair-installs and such.

Does this make sense? Did I miss anything?
Thanks!
/j

Relevant Pages

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