Reboot

[Rhoda]

The inevitable has come; I have to do a complete system restore on my computer. It's f*cked beyond comprehension, but a restore will solve it. I'd like advice on backing up vital stuff on my account (pictures, documents, music), particularly my music. I have an external hard drive that I can plug in, and it works much like a really really big memory stick; around 200 GB I think. Is it as simple as dragging stuff from my documents onto the external drive folder, or is there something else to it?

 

And I've a question about backing up my iTunes. How do I do that? Because I've got a library of about 2500 songs now, and re-doing every CD will be the biggest bitch.

 

Thanks for reading, I'd love any help you can give, especially regarding the iTunes issue. I love my music too much to completely wipe them.

 

MK.

 

PS. Have a Merry Christmas.

[Otter]

Screw a restore. Just re-install windows from the ground up.

Anyhow - to answer your question, just copy the folder C:/Documents and Settings to your external Hard drive. That's probably where your iTunes albums are, too - but you'll have to go and confirm this yourself.

 

 

 

 

[Rhoda]

Screw a restore. Just re-install windows from the ground up.

 

How will this affect my documents and other stuff? And how do I go about doing it?

 

 

Anyhow - to answer your question, just copy the folder C:/Documents and Settings to your external Hard drive. That's probably where your iTunes albums are, too - but you'll have to go and confirm this yourself.

 

In my My Music folder, I have iTunes which contains my Library and Artwork. The Library's saved as an .itl file if that helps.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply Otter.

[Otter]

Yeah, My Music should also be located in the Documents and Settings folder. Search through it to confirm. The folders you normally call "My Documents" and "My Music" are just shortcuts to this location.

 

This should cover anything that you keep on your C: Drive, if you're tidy. Just double check, and make sure that you've copied all of your important files over as well. Programs will have to be re-installed if you re-install Windows.

 

Once you back them up onto your external HD, you're covered. Just throw in your XP disk, and navigate to a clean install.

 

 

 

 

I'd also like to know - why are you doing this? Often times a good registry cleaning and defrag (use Voptxp) coupled with a spyware scan or three should have you up and running again. System Restore is an invariably flawed process that'll leave you scratching your head more often than not, and Re-installing Windows, while simple, is time consuming, and you have to reinstall all of your games and apps - Big trouble for the more, eh, "free enterprising" of us.

[Rhoda]

I'm doing it simply because all the other stuff confuses me; I don't even know how to back something up. All this defragmenting stuff confuses me, and it seems so much more simple.

[Ring_of_Fire]

 

I'd also like to know - why are you doing this? Often times a good registry cleaning and defrag (use Voptxp) coupled with a spyware scan or three should have you up and running again. System Restore is an invariably flawed process that'll leave you scratching your head more often than not, and Re-installing Windows, while simple, is time consuming, and you have to reinstall all of your games and apps - Big trouble for the more, eh, "free enterprising" of us.

- What if the Windows system/boot files got corrupted or some were missing, you are saying that reinstalling isn't going to help? I agree formatting is a waste of time, though.

- What if the registry is damaged, you are saying that System Restore isn't going to help?

 

 

The inevitable has come;

lol - You didn't even mentioned what error message you are getting or the problem! But if it is a spyware or a virus problem, then scanning for viruses/spyware should do the trick. To reinstall or repair Windows, you insert the Windows XP Setup disc, boot it up, and follow the on-screen instructions.

 

 

BTW, System Restore and reinstalling Windows does not cause you to lose your important documents so there is no need for a backup. If you want to format then you can just copy your docs onto another hard drive or a USB flash disk, burn the contents onto a DVD+RW, or use Windows XP's Backup or Restore Wizard.

Edited December 24, 2007 by Ring_of_Fire

[Otter]

Did you even read the topic?

 

[Ring_of_Fire]

I don't really see where he mentioned his actual problem. Is it from another thread?

[Otter]

No, I'm just ribbing you, because you seem to have trouble addressing some of these topics. He hasn't asked for help with his problem - only how to back up his documents.

 

I think the XP Backup wizard is great, I just prefer a more hands on approach.

[reboot]

What?

 

j/k

 

I've never had any problems with system restore, so I'd try system restore first and only if that didn't work would I bother trying the others. I always hear people say they have to reformat to stop their machines from getting all screwy. I've been running this machine from the original install in April of 2003. Never reinstalled, never reformatted, just fixed any problems I had and kept going. Reformatting will clear up lots of garbage that you don't need though.

 

One question, if you're just going to do a system restore why are you backing anything up? I mean you should backup regularly anyway, but system restore should never lose you any of your files or folders.

[Otter]

...and when did you set your last restore point?

[Rhoda]

Not sure about my system restore point, I never set them. I suppose I'm quite reckless in terms of my computer's safety. I assumed that a reboot would solve it, it has in the past but in the past I've never had anything that important to save. If anyone has any simple alternatives they can explain, please do, I'll appreciate any help. I'm a bit of a dummy in terms of stuff like that, so bear with me.

[Otter]

First of all, go into Control Panel> Add/Remove Programs, and remove all programs you don't need, games you don't play anymore, etc.

 

 

Then, download and run:

 

- CCleaner

 

- Spybot Search and Destroy

 

- Lavasoft Adaware

 

- And then VoptXP. VoptXP is a really simple disk optimizer, quicker and more efficient than the XP built-in tools, and it gives you a month's use for free.

 

 

All of these are free and simple to use. Just make sure you update them before you run them. Afterwards, let us know how things are running for you.

[Rhoda]

Thanks very much. I already have Spybot Search and Destroy and it found a lot of sh*t; shopping toolbars and other random crap. I'll download the other two and give them a run, I'll edit this post with an update. Thanks again.

 

EDIT: Pop ups are a major problem, they seem to be hosted by an arse of a company called CiD. I've ran Spybot Search and Destroy and CCleaner, and while my account's perfect, my dad and brother's account are slow, laggy and generally unresponsive. What do you suggest I do now?

Edited December 27, 2007 by Masterkraft