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Will this disk crash scenario work?

(6 posts)

  1. bbinnard

    Member
    Joined: Jun '09
    Posts: 4

    As a new user of FBackup I am impressed with its capabilities and ease of use. However, I question some of the statements here about "not appropriate for system backups."

    Rather than discuss specific issues about this I think it would be easier for everyone to simply ask "Will the following scenario return my system to it's pre-crash state?"

    1. Run FBackup selecting all files/folders on the C: drive (this is the pre-crash state)
    2. C: drive crashes and is replaced with a new, blank drive
    3. New drive is formatted and Window installed on it (Vista64 in my case.)
    4. FBackup is installed on C: drive
    5. Restore everything on C: from backup created in Step 1.

    What I'd like is my system after step 5 to be identical to what it was at Step 1. So the question is, will it be?

    If the answer is yes I am a happy camper. If no, I still might be happy if the differences are only structural and don't affect the system's behavior or operation.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. Admin

    Administrator
    Joined: Oct '08
    Posts: 1,492

    Hi,

    FBackup was not designed for system backup, so you won't be able to restore the operating system. You should use FBackup for data files backup only.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. bbinnard

    Member
    Joined: Jun '09
    Posts: 4

    Yes Admin, I have seen that same reply before. Note that in my scenario step 3 installs a clean copy of my OS. So I am not actually asking FBackup to restore the OS. Rather, I am asking it to restore all the files that bring a vanilla OS back to my original state.

    I've got to believe someone out there has tried this. I mean, recovering from a disk crash is the primary reason for having a backup, yes? So I'd still like to know: what would be the final result of the scenario I posted above?

    Posted 2 years ago #

  4. Admin

    Administrator
    Joined: Oct '08
    Posts: 1,492

    Hi,

    The problem is replacing the system files in use. You can try to make the restore to the new hard drive while this one is connected as slave to another computer.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  5. bbinnard

    Member
    Joined: Jun '09
    Posts: 4

    I understand about replacing files that are currently active. But I wonder, perhaps these files are ones that don't change from system to system and therefore don't have to be replaced. The registry files are the most important of course, but I am unaware if it's possible to over-write a registry while it is in use.

    I did make a complete backup of my C: drive and the backup ran fine. There were a number of warning messages about files that could not be backed up because they were in use. When I looked for the file names they all seemed to be various types of log files. So if these are the ones that don't get replaced during a restore I'm not too worried.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  6. TheZjooj

    Member
    Joined: Jul '09
    Posts: 1

    bbinnard,

    Although I have no affilliation with FBackup (I have done some testing for their backup4All product though and it is wonderful!) I can tell you the scenario you are attempting should work provided FBackup is allowed to, or can, backup in use system files (including the registry files located at c:\Windows\system32\config).
    If the system files do not get backed up then your "over-write" from backup to a clean fresh OS install may not work as expected. The important thing to keep in mind though is if your backup includes your data files (as it should for a "whole drive backup") then at least you can recover the data and then re-install apps as needed.

    *IMPORTANT NOTE - In order to over-write (restore) from backup onto a fresh install you will need to boot to an alternate OS from CD - e.g. BartPE etc. so that OS files that would normally be in use can be over-written or restored.

    *ALSO NOTE - FBackup may not run from that alternate boot environment so you will need to make sure those files are extracted from their FBackup state and are simply copy-able files before booting to the alternate OS (CD).
    I have done the above on many occasions and it works perfectly.

    Hope this helps.

    Zjooj

    Posted 2 years ago #

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