Forgive the rudimentary, but imaging seems like your answer, which to say getting a program like ShadowProtect Desktop (Mendelson’s favorite) or Acronis True image or one of the other applications that make a barebones image of your hard-disk, which you can save on an external drive or LAN NAS and recover either through windows (if you can get to it in safe mode) or a recovery disk (which the programs can make for you). That will return the system to a previous state (which you determine) and restore everything including WIN settings, drivers and so on. FYI and for what it’s worth, I daily back up all my DATA to both an NAS and a cloud (I use SOS). Then, two weeks ago or so when the April WIN 7 updates came out and, after installing them, my machine rebooted itself several times after an install, which gave me pause and heartburn (later I read this was sequelae others had experienced and did not damage the system) I decided that backing up just DATA was not enough. I’m in the middle of a book and plan to stay with my rig and opsys until six months after it’s published, so I’m adding ShadowProtect Desktop to my backup routine. Think of it as a safety net for your system. Michael Norman From: xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx [mailto:xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Maben W. Poirier Why not just make a regular backup of all of your important files on a memory stick? That way, if you lose the latest writing or writings if something goes wrong, you will only lose that, and you will be able to pick up from where you left off. M. W. Poirier From: mailto:xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx mailto:xywrite-bounce@xxxxxxxx on behalf of Jay Mcnally mailto:jaymcnally@xxxxxxxx Guys, I had a big scare yesterday that is forcing me to finally create the backup/restore process to protect my computer. I'm embarrassed to come at you with this elementary question that I think has been aswered here a thousand times over the last 15 or 20 years. How do I protect against total shutdown where I lost all data and have to re-install all my programs? I think there may be new processes that make it easier than in the past. My "new" HP Envy 700/400 PC has been working perfectly for about 2.5 years since it, with the generous advice of Carl and Kari on what I needed. Thus, I never made the "restore disk" or the "reboot disk," even though I have had a new 16-Gig flash drive sitting here that last six months to do this very thing. Yesterday the predictable terrifying error message that said something like: "Oops, looks like your system didn't shut down correction and might need to be RESTORED." Thankfully there were "options" that included creating a backup. So, with the help of my son I was able to make the official HP "backup," and rebooted successfully by removing the power cord for a few minutes, then starting the machine normally. But is probably only a question of time before the system totally breaks down and I have to erase and re-install the system. Quick question: Can someone link to me the message or the latest process that works? I'm deeply grateful for all assistance. Jay McNally |