dg27 Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Trying to resolve a problem with my Win XP SP 2 installation--got a DOS screen saying my windows\system32\config\system file is either missing or corrupt. Dealing with that on another forum. Assuming that fails and I must completely re-install XP, will I be able to restore all of my system settings, accounts, programs, as well as document files using Retrospect? I have been diligently backing up my system every week and have complete backup sets on an external drive, but I have no idea how this works. Can someone point me to the correct resource as needed? What I am unclear on is that I know there are some sort of backup client folders, by default, on the C [boot drive]. If I re-install XP, won't I be wiping these out? Does that matter? And what about the backup files themselves? The last back up I have is probably a dozen files: How do I know which to use and how to use them? Sorry for the newbie questions, but I've been using Retrospect for over a year but never had a crash like this. Foolishly, I never made a disaster recovery CD on that system. Thanks for any help anyone can provide. dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 If you've been doing complete system backups, you're in pretty good shape. After you reinstall XP - AND bring it to the SAME service pack level as your backups - install Retro. Open Retro and click on Restore in the left hand side. Click on the Restore that's under the main Restore. In the dialog box that opens, click on Advanced Mode. Click on Restore an Entire Volume. In the next dialog box click on source and browse to the full system backup and choose it. Next click on Destination and choose the currrent system drive [i.e., the drive you installed XP to] Now click on Restore on the bottom right. Click ok to any warnings, sit back and wait for it to finish. You will have to do 1-2 reboots before Retro finishes the restore. FYI. Any 'data' files will be as recent as the last time you did a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 This is getting stickier than I had thought. I may have a hard drive problem, which means I may have to install XP on a new drive. 1) Will the back ups I have saved on an external drive be recognized by this new completely installation? 2) What if it is a different licensed version? The system came with XP on the machine, but I have an OS CD that I made sometime later. 3) I actually have another XP license and may try to install that. Does it matter if the license key is different? 4) Regarding this: "In the next dialog box click on source and browse to the full system backup and choose it." I'm a little unclear on how to pick the "full system backup." For example, looking @ the Backup set B on my other machine, the most recent backup from 02/24/07 consists of five files: AA000183 614,408 KB AA000184 325,000 KB AA000185 93,444 KB AA000186 16 KB AA000187 3,088 KB 5) Do all of these files make up the full system backup? 6) Will the complete system restore include the three accounts that were on the machine? Or should I recreate those accounts in the new XP install before doing the restore?? dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Quote: 1) Will the back ups I have saved on an external drive be recognized by this new completely installation? 2) What if it is a different licensed version? The system came with XP on the machine, but I have an OS CD that I made sometime later. 3) I actually have another XP license and may try to install that. Does it matter if the license key is different? 4) Regarding this: "In the next dialog box click on source and browse to the full system backup and choose it." I'm a little unclear on how to pick the "full system backup." For example, looking @ the Backup set B on my other machine, the most recent backup from 02/24/07 consists of five files: AA000183 614,408 KB AA000184 325,000 KB AA000185 93,444 KB AA000186 16 KB AA000187 3,088 KB 5) Do all of these files make up the full system backup? 6) Will the complete system restore include the three accounts that were on the machine? Or should I recreate those accounts in the new XP install before doing the restore?? 1. Retro doesn't care about which installation of OS. Retro simply recognizes backup sets/files. 2. Using a different product key to install Windows than the one used for the backup set should be ok. I have run into a product key/install disk that wasn't compatible with other install disks - so it's possible that there will be a problem. Of course, it would be safer to use the same product key as the one on the backup set. 3. Looks like you were using a Disk Backup. I've not used Disk Backup sets - best if someone else respond on this point. 4. The full system restore should restore everything - including all user accounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Post deleted by dg27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I had a hard drive failure. Replaced the HD, reinstalled Windows, reinstalled Retrospect. Because my old catalog files were on the drive that failed [backup set was on a different drive], I recatalogued my most recent backup set. Ran a restore, selecting "entire volume," and the "System" set with the most recent date. Backup seemed to be running correctly--it restored 70 GB of data [when I checked My Computer, the disk capacity appeared correct, meaning the files I had restored were there]. I was surprised that Retrospect did not ask me to reboot. I rebooted, thinking I'd see the restored system and now it will not boot up at all: Got a DOS screen indicating that I should check the boot path and hardware [drive] configuration. Ran disk diagnostics from setup--drive passed. Tried to do a repair install of XP, but it did not give me that option. It indicated that there was already a Windows OS installed there [and again, the disk capacity indicated that both the new OS install and files were there]. Any ideas as to what went wrong? I dread to think I'll have to start all over again. dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Not sure. First, when you did the backup, you did choose your system drive as the source? Any chance you uncheck the option to include System State? When you did the restore, any chance you unchecked System State? After you reinstalled Windows XP, was the drive letter assigned by the OS the same as when you did the full system backup? And, was the new install at the same service pack level as the backup set? [i haven't seen this condition produce the symptom you're seeing, but best to confirm] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daydream Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Quote: I had a hard drive failure. Replaced the HD, reinstalled Windows, reinstalled Retrospect. Because my old catalog files were on the drive that failed [backup set was on a different drive], I recatalogued my most recent backup set. dg My experience was the same dg....except I cant recatalogue my backup set. I identify the directory where the .rdb files are located but Retrospect doesn't seem to recognise them. I'm frustrated as all get out cos I can see the backup but I cant use it!! I'm running 7.5.370 and xpsp2 which was the same config when the backups were done. On the offchance the backups were done using Retrospect 7.0....would 7.5 recognise those files? Daydream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 [quote On the offchance the backups were done using Retrospect 7.0....would 7.5 recognise those files? Retro should be backwards compatible. I.e., Retro 7.5 can read 7.0 backup sets. The converse is usually not true. I.e., 7.0 can not read 7.5 backup sets [or, even ones that have been opened by 7.5] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewA Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Dg one thing to make sure is that when doing a full system restore is to make sure that you have the same service pack installed that was backed up. So if you had Win XP SP2 installed at the time of back then you will need to reinstall Win XP SP2 before the restore. Also if you have a dell you will want to read this KB and even if you dont this is another thing to try. http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=5445&p=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2007 OK--have been out of town and unable to continue with this till now. After reinstalling XP SP2 [same as I had] and reinstalling Retro 7.5, I recatalogued my backup sets and everything seemed to be fine. However, when the all of the files had been reloaded to my C drive [as evidenced by the amount of space they took up and the Retro log file, I was never promopted for a reboot. I rebooted and then the system would not open Windows--got a black DOS screen saying to check my hard drive config. A Retro tech I spoke to very briefly [was on my way to the airport and couldn't do anything] said that the restore needs to be "massaged" a bit before rebooting so that the parameters are the same as they were in the previous install. I think I'll have to start from scratch and reinstall XP & Retro and recatalog, etc., again, but don't want to do this till I know what needs to be done before that initial reboot. Can anyone shed light on this? dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 >>I think I'll have to start from scratch and reinstall XP & Retro and recatalog, etc., again, but don't want to do this till I know what needs to be done before that initial reboot. I'm really hoping someone can weigh in as to what needs to be done before rebooting--hoping to resolve this on Saturday. Thanks to anyone who can advise. dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daydream Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 dg27 said After reinstalling XP SP2 [same as I had] and reinstalling Retro 7.5, I recatalogued my backup sets and everything seemed to be fine....... You are a step further along than me. After your initial disk crash did you only have .rdb files (no catalogue files) on your other drive? That's my situation and after restoring WinXP (sp2) and Retrospect the retrospect program just can't see those .rdb files. It continues to seek the catalogue files that were lost...even when I ask it to recatalogue my set. Sorry I can't be any help as to the "massaging" needed before reboot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis999 Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 Quote: one thing to make sure is that when doing a full system restore is to make sure that you have the same service pack installed that was backed up. So if you had Win XP SP2 installed at the time of back then you will need to reinstall Win XP SP2 before the restore. A Win XP Service Pack is just a collection of previously issued Hotfixes. What about all the Hotfixes applied since the last SP? Are they important in a restore situation? David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelenko Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 For XP Service Pack 2 was more than just a collection of hotfixes - yes? Don't know about other service packs, but I thought for XP SP1 [or 1a] there also were functions/changes in the service pack that weren't in the hotfixes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggis999 Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 You may well be right that XP SP2 contained more than just a collection of Hotfixes but I think it unlikely that many significant bug fixes were not initially issued as a Hotfix. My question still stands, however. Is it necessary for smooth operation of Retrospect to ensure that the hotfixes on a recovery PC match the hotfixes that were installed on the failed PC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 OK--started over again: reinstalled XP SP2 [same SP I had], reinstalled Retro. Daydream: I was stuck where you were last time I tried this: I could see all of my .rdb files, but Retro could not. What I did was create a new [empty] catalog folder on C: named the same as my backup set. Then I recatalogued [hope I can remember how I stumbled on that option]. The restore took forever [a couple of hours] and eventually I could see that the files were on my C drive by the amount of real estate they took up. That was the point where I got stuck: new OS was working, files were in place, but I had not restored my old system settings. This is where the retro tech told me I had to "massage" the restore BEFORE rebooting. I made the mistake of rebooting and then Windows couldn't start becasue the hard drive parameters were different. If anyone know what this "massage" step includes, pls advise--I'll definitely need it [as will daydream, hopefully, if he gets that far]. dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg27 Posted March 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2007 Daydream--Correction regarding this: I could see all of my .rdb files, but Retro could not... Just now I selected 'rebuild catalog file' and pointed it to the backup set. It's recataloging now. [it creates a new catalog file based on the backup set full of .rdb files.] dg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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