OT - Make my own restore disk?

Steve Mann wrote on 7/26/2010, 9:55 PM
Do any of you guys make a system restore after loading the O/S and applications?

Here's what I want to do: Install Windows 7, Vegas, DVDA, Photoshop, and other support programs that I use all the time, then make a restore disk (or partition). After a few projects, my system is noticeably slower, and rather than re-install everything, I would like to just format the partition and restore the system to my starting point.

Reinstalling all the apps is a pain, especially Photoshop.

Thanks
Steve

Comments

UlfLaursen wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:03 PM
Hi

There are several applicaion that can do what you want. I use one from Acronis:

http://www.acronis.com/backup-recovery/workstation/

I think there are some free out there too, maybe someone else remember what they are.

But you are right, it is much easier to restore from an image, but I have not experienced my systems becomming slow after just e few projects, and I very seldom restore an image, but they are nice to have :)

/Ulf

/Ulf
SquareBob wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:09 PM
I would suggest Macrium Reflect. It's free. I use it to image my C: drive with all my software and drivers installed and working. I don't know if it's compatible with windows 7,I use it with XP and Vista.
ushere wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:20 PM
well i used to (and still do) use acronis - but i find the backup / system restore in win7 pro excellent and only use acronis as an emergency fall back should all else fail (which, thankfully, it hasn't!)
PeterDuke wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:22 PM
I looked at the free offerings few years ago and settled on BART-PE plus DriveImage XML for a while, but it was still clumsy.

I now use Acronis not only for backups but to restore to a clean installation where no program has yet been uninstalled. I try out lots of applications and Windows gradually chokes because of incomplete uninstallations
PeterDuke wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:30 PM
ushere,

Restoring to a clean installation is easy if Windows is still working, but what is the procedure with Win 7's restore function if Windows is broken or you need to replace a crashed C: drive?

Do you make a boot CD or DVD (as with Acronis) that can access your backup on say a USB drive? (Some backup/restore procedures require you to reinstall Windows from scratch first in order to run the restore program.)
farss wrote on 7/26/2010, 10:43 PM
Acronis requires you to create a boot CD, Linux I think.
You boot from that and from that you can restore the image from a USB or network drive.

As to the original problem, don't know if it works with Win7 or not but for Win2K and XP CC Cleaner seems pretty reliable at cleaning the crud out of the registry and all the temp files as well.

Bob.
PeterDuke wrote on 7/26/2010, 11:09 PM
I can assure you that I have cleaned lots of crud out of Windows from time to time with CCleaner (and other apps of similar ilk) and as far as I could tell they never made a scrap of difference to Windows performance. Certainly nothing as dramatic as a nice new clean install (or restore)!

I still use CCleaner though. Perhaps I am superstitious or an optimist at heart.
Chienworks wrote on 7/27/2010, 3:25 AM
"After a few projects, my system is noticeably slower"

That sounds suspicious and you need to seriously examine your work flow. Yes, i do accept that "Windows Rot" exists and is a phenomenon that needs to be dealt with. However, the effects normally take years to become serious, not "a few projects". Unless of course you're working on major film releases and each project takes you a year of full time work. If you're having to reinstall often enough that you need to make the task more automatic then something sloppy is going on that should be dealt with, and then you'll have a better solution to the problem than frequent reinstalls.
ushere wrote on 7/27/2010, 7:02 AM
Restoring to a clean installation is easy if Windows is still working, but what is the procedure with Win 7's restore function if Windows is broken or you need to replace a crashed C: drive?

i have a couple of drives in my pc. c: with sys and progs, d: with data and backups (all video is captured to ex hd's)

win 7 has a repair disk option just like acronis and the other 'imaging' software.

Do you make a boot CD or DVD (as with Acronis) that can access your backup on say a USB drive? (Some backup/restore procedures require you to reinstall Windows from scratch first in order to run the restore program.)

win 7 creates a boot disk that will allow you to restore from where ever you want.

i've found (so far at least) that it's much quicker than acronis at restoration, and i've now started using the 'backup' facilities in win 7 as well.
Steve Mann wrote on 7/27/2010, 10:15 AM
"..slow after just a few projects.."

Slow and Few are relative terms. This editing desk is seriously underpowered, so I notice any degradation in performance. It will be retired soon and put in the entertainment center.
Steve Mann wrote on 7/27/2010, 10:26 AM
Chien - Yes, it sounds suspicious, but this workstation is already seriously underpowered for HDV work, and it's been a year since I last cleaned it out. Plus a lot (ahem) of my system rot and bloat is, admittedly, self-inflicted.

This is not my only editing workstation, but it is my slowest. (A single-core Pentium). It was fine when DV was the only product I produced with. Since editing (and encoding) is all that I do on this system, and all project files are on external drives, reformatting and reinstalling doesn't cost me anything but time.

Steve