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On 29-4-2012 4:06, Darren New wrote:
> On 4/28/2012 16:04, andrel wrote:
>> No, you are underestimating the geniuses in redmond.
>> The registry->text and text->registry conversions are slightly
>> unoptimized.
>
> Ah. I see. Why would you do it that way? Why not back up the registry,
> and restore the registry, as a file? Or restore only the parts you need?
> Or at least not store it as plain text?
>
> I assumed if you were worried about the "junk" in the registry that you
> were talking about backing up and restoring the entire registry.
After a full reinstall your registry is emptied from everything you
installed yourself. At least in some cases. RegEdit has import and
export menu-items. One would assume these could be used to save and
restore. Just warning people that these things are left overs from a
debugging version by MS and not actually usable. (Another minor detail,
you need a working machine to use these)
>>> The only backup I know of is in C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack
>>
>> Funny, isn't it? There is apparently another one in another directory
>> under
>> another name, that nobody told you about. One that is still there after a
>> reinstall. Pure Genius.
>
> I didn't say there wasn't. I was giving the path to the backup copy of
> the registry to others in the group who seem to have a hard time using
> the included tools to make a backup of the registry. :-)
My brother is the guy that repairs everyone's computer as a hobby. IME
he is better than any professional I have met. I don't repair, I have
trouble enough with working ones. I assume there is a reason why he does
not use the files in the regular backup dir.
> Altho, again, I'm not sure why, if you did a full reinstall, you would
> want the old registry to be restored.
You would want that if your windows system is corrupted either by a bad
block or a virus but you still want to continue using the same machine
with your familiar setup. If only to figure out what programs should be
installed on a new machine, because your current system is provably
vulnerable.
--
tip: do not run in an unknown place when it is too dark to see the
floor, unless you prefer to not use uppercase.
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On 4/29/2012 2:40, andrel wrote:
> After a full reinstall your registry is emptied from everything you
> installed yourself. At least in some cases.
Right.
> RegEdit has import and export
> menu-items. One would assume these could be used to save and restore.
They're there to import and export specific subtrees of the registry. They
aren't there as backup/restore, or it would likely be called
"backup/restore". :-)
> warning people that these things are left overs from a debugging version by
> MS and not actually usable.
They actually work fine when used as intended. They're not intended to back
up the entire registry, or there would be an option to delete what you
didn't have in the export.
However, if you have specific software keys that get stored in the registry,
exporting the specific subtree of the registry that stores the keys for that
particular user and then importing it later after you've reinstalled the
original software works fine. That's what I was referring to, not the idea
that you'd try to restore the entire registry from an export.
Or, alternately, save it as text, and in the event of a disaster where you
have not backed up your machine properly in the first place, you'll likely
be able to spend a bunch of time to find the keys you need to restore, which
I believe was the original complaint.
> (Another minor detail, you need a working machine to use these)
That's becuase they're not backup/restore. :-)
> I assume there is a reason why he does not use the
> files in the regular backup dir.
Well, the ones in the regular backup dir are basically what "last known
good" uses, and the ones in the system volume info are the ones that system
restore uses, I'd guess. So the ones in the system volume info match the
disk image stores in the system volume info, which I guess cuts down one
possible problem there.
> You would want that if your windows system is corrupted either by a bad
> block or a virus but you still want to continue using the same machine with
> your familiar setup. If only to figure out what programs should be installed
> on a new machine, because your current system is provably vulnerable.
Well, if you have a bad block, you can correct that block (chkdsk /f /r) and
then put the one bad file back. If you want to know what files are
installed, it's pretty easy to figure that out looking at the start menu and
the uninstall list. (That's how I do it when I want to move to a new
machine.) Maybe I just work differently than most people, tho.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
"Don't panic. There's beans and filters
in the cabinet."
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On 29-4-2012 19:37, Darren New wrote:
> Or, alternately, save it as text, and in the event of a disaster where
> you have not backed up your machine properly in the first place, you'll
> likely be able to spend a bunch of time to find the keys you need to
> restore, which I believe was the original complaint.
It is an idea, but I am not sure if that would work in practice. We are
talking about a machine of an average user, or luser as they were once
known. In general he gets the machine in a non-working condition with
hardly a backup. As long as the drive is still spinning he will try to
salvage whatever he can. In the majority of cases they get a working
machine back with (almost) all data (and a backup DVD or similar). He
has a room full of spare parts from all sorts of sources, including the
machines he was not able to repair.
>> You would want that if your windows system is corrupted either by a bad
>> block or a virus but you still want to continue using the same machine
>> with
>> your familiar setup. If only to figure out what programs should be
>> installed
>> on a new machine, because your current system is provably vulnerable.
>
> Well, if you have a bad block, you can correct that block (chkdsk /f /r)
> and then put the one bad file back. If you want to know what files are
> installed, it's pretty easy to figure that out looking at the start menu
> and the uninstall list. (That's how I do it when I want to move to a new
> machine.) Maybe I just work differently than most people, tho.
Not all programs are there in my case. I have some programs that simply
come as an executable. (written by a colleague for instance) OTOH they
don't use the registry, which makes life a bit easier.
--
tip: do not run in an unknown place when it is too dark to see the
floor, unless you prefer to not use uppercase.
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On 4/30/2012 14:21, andrel wrote:
> It is an idea, but I am not sure if that would work in practice.
Well, again, no amount of after-the-crash work will recover from not ever
having made a backup of the data that was lost. I was simply suggesting easy
ways for competent people to make such backups.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
"Don't panic. There's beans and filters
in the cabinet."
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On 4/28/2012 2:15 PM, Darren New wrote:
> On 4/28/2012 13:52, Patrick Elliott wrote:
>> Hmm. Will have to remember that, once I get all the crap onto this
>> one, and
>> the "backup" drive empty.
>
> FWIW, if you make two partitions, one for bootable stuff and one for
> data, it's much more efficient. Put Steam apps and vacation pics and
> stuff like that on a non-bootable drive, or you wind up making 2 copies
> of all that, the backup copy and the zip-file copy. (Indeed, exclude
> stuff you can trivially replace, like the steam apps.)
>
>
Well, other than the stuff that I had to install after, because they
hadn't shipped it yet, the drive was already "single partition". The old
machine I made a small one, but way too small, and discovered that the
damn OS wanted to cram everything, including the kitchen sink, into it,
even after redirecting the documents to my "data" partition on that one.
I really made a mess of the damn thing, so bad that half the drive was
unusable (linux I didn't use, and which ones like ext3, or something, on
an LVM, so even half the damn live CDs won't recognize/remove it, and so on.
Now, I am trying to use, I guess, Samba? to just link the one machine to
the other, via file hosting, so I don't have to swap out any drives for
now. Think I may have that one figured, but I need to use the network
IP instead of the machine name, then I can dump each drive to the /ghost
directory I created on the new one, and fish out what I need, then move
on to the next one. If not, its back to doing it the annoying way. lol
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On 4/29/2012 1:00 AM, Stephen wrote:
> On 28/04/2012 10:15 PM, Darren New wrote:
>> On 4/28/2012 13:52, Patrick Elliott wrote:
>>> Hmm. Will have to remember that, once I get all the crap onto this
>>> one, and
>>> the "backup" drive empty.
>>
>> FWIW, if you make two partitions, one for bootable stuff and one for
>> data, it's much more efficient. Put Steam apps and vacation pics and
>> stuff like that on a non-bootable drive, or you wind up making 2 copies
>> of all that, the backup copy and the zip-file copy. (Indeed, exclude
>> stuff you can trivially replace, like the steam apps.)
>>
>>
> Not only that, if you have to reinstall Windows. Your data disc will not
> be reformatted.
>
The problem, sadly, is there is a whole damn host of "data" that isn't
on the "data" drive. Everything from specific settings for games, to
your firefox profile, etc. Short of, before installing a damn thing,
redirecting all that shit to the data drive, you are SOL if it does get
wiped. And, the reason I say "before" adding anything is because a few
applications are damn stupid, and only ask once for the location of
things like the documents directory, then insist on storing that
location permanently in the registry. So, if you install one of those,
*then* you move the directory, the damn things can't figure out what
happened. Stupid "app bar" thing which I mostly only used to direct add
some Coca Cola codes with, made that mistake. It would track where all
its apps where, individually, but if you asked it to "consolidate" all
installed apps, it would try to do that to the location where My
Documents "used to be", not where it was now. From my understanding
Vista and 7 go one step more insane here, and symbolically link
Documents, to My Documents, and who the hell knows what else, which has
got to really fowl things in some rare cases. (Or even normal ones, from
some of what I have read). lol
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On 01/05/2012 3:10 AM, Patrick Elliott wrote:
> The problem, sadly, is there is a whole damn host of "data" that isn't
> on the "data" drive.
Well that is true. But if you cannot recover the data yourself and a
professional service is not available. The only thing you can do is
swear and learn by the experience.
--
Regards
Stephen
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On 4/30/2012 19:10, Patrick Elliott wrote:
> The problem, sadly, is there is a whole damn host of "data" that isn't on
> the "data" drive. Everything from specific settings for games, to your
> firefox profile, etc.
That's why you back up that, too, to your data drive, on a regular basis.
If you have a hard drive crash so severe that you can recover no files off
your boot drive, I think the effort of recreating your firefox profile or
configuring your game's video settings is probably pretty low on the list,
tho, honestly.
> Vista and 7 go one step more insane here, and symbolically link Documents,
> to My Documents,
Other way around, actually.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
"Don't panic. There's beans and filters
in the cabinet."
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On 5/2/2012 6:29 PM, Darren New wrote:
> On 4/30/2012 19:10, Patrick Elliott wrote:
>> The problem, sadly, is there is a whole damn host of "data" that isn't on
>> the "data" drive. Everything from specific settings for games, to your
>> firefox profile, etc.
>
> That's why you back up that, too, to your data drive, on a regular basis.
>
> If you have a hard drive crash so severe that you can recover no files
> off your boot drive, I think the effort of recreating your firefox
> profile or configuring your game's video settings is probably pretty low
> on the list, tho, honestly.
>
Everything is recoverable, short of thermiting the drive, its just
working out how, and how much you are willing to spend to get it back.
But, the problem is that things like which plugins are installed in it
are part of the data. I set up their new "sync" feature, since I knew I
would be moving over, and wanted to find a way to manage it easier, but
it seemed to only capture the ones installed via their site, not ones I
had to update myself (to make them work because there is no new version,
but it still works with the new browser). So, nearly all of them are
missing (since for one reason or another they didn't qualify for
uploading to the sync).
So, yeah, in principle, you are right, you have bigger problems in that
case. In my case.. I can now recover them. 8GB at the time, using thumb
drives, if I have to, but I can't figure out why I can't connect to the
Windows share (tried several ways), with results ranging from "server
not responding" to "no such directory".. and several other things that
just get bloody annoying. I need a better techie than I am to solve
this, or just to stop being lazy and pull the damn drives. lol
>> Vista and 7 go one step more insane here, and symbolically link
>> Documents,
>> to My Documents,
>
> Other way around, actually.
>
Ugh.. Either way, its nuts.
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On 5/2/2012 23:18, Patrick Elliott wrote:
> Ugh.. Either way, its nuts.
It's to solve exactly the problem you complained about: people hard-coding
paths. :-)
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
"Don't panic. There's beans and filters
in the cabinet."
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