On 3/10/2024 3:46 PM, Ant wrote:
Is W10's basic system image reliable to use today like in W7?
Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)
It is the nature of this specific kind of activity,
that requires verification. While for some activities, we
could give you a poor quality advice and you would survive,
this is something that requires your fullest attention.
For example, if Ransomware takes out your computer room, you
only have your own "life preserver" for comfort. There's
absolutely nothing we can do for you at a time like that.
(A guy in another group had this happen - Ransomware, and
it took three months to clean up. And it's because he
wasn't even close to being prepared. He made every mistake
you can make. Don't be that guy.)
If you want us to believe you're serious about the topic, then
the first discussion is materials.
Materials:
OriginalDrive BackupDrive BareMetalReatoreDrive
1TB >= 1TB 6TB (it's good to prove the size does not matter)
You have this already Buy a drive Buy a drive (to be used in a real emergency)
(this would be your new emergency boot drive,
suitable if "OriginalDrive" caught fire)
The purpose of testing that the BareMetalRestoreDrive is different
size and it still boots, covers the case of a GPT drive being
the source drive. Your drive could be a MSDOS Legacy drive,
in which case testing the drive size is optional.
Some commercial backup/restore programs, can resize partitions during restoration. Macrium backs this up with "Boot Repair", so that
if the resulting restored drive is "fully restored" but it still
does not boot, the "Boot Repair" on the Emergency CD, can correct
slight errors (missing BCD file perhaps). This is something that
is likely to be missing from the Windows "System Image". They would
assume the user would apply the motley collection of utilities
already on the Windows DVD.
Microsoft utilities are never big on automation, or "polished" interfaces.
They work. But they are an acquired taste.
For example, a number of people hate the Macrium interface, because
it's at least partially a "Power User" interface. Busy, confusing.
At one point in time, Acronis made an excellent-looking backup interface,
very few distractions on the screen, click a button, advance to the
next screen. Looked like the developers "story-boarded" the effort.
But Acronis lost its focus, and makes goofy rental software today,
and no longer wants to sell a basic backup utility. So we hardly
care about their product any more, because they abandoned a basic
business model. And went "rent seeking".
Every person has a different tolerance level, for the intended audience
of the backup software. A lot of people hate "power user" interfaces,
which is understandable. Well, the Microsoft interface is bare bones.
Which is a different kind of issue. This means, on a given day,
you might need to slip into your Level 39 Wizard costume. As an example,
how do you defeat the permissions on the backup drive ? Belonging to the
Backup Operator group would be one traditional way to do it.
Paul
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