???Q about the Windows 'System Tools->Backup' ???

[jhonyl]

Does anyone use Windows 'System Tools->Backup' to back up "All information on this computer"? Does it work? How does one restore from that? (say if the hard drive was fried) Did you preform such a restore yourself?

[GomJabbar]

I've tried Microsoft backup with Windows 2000 in the past. I did a backup, but I never tried a restore. You can backup all files and folders, as well as the system state (registry). However, you still need a Windows install CD if your hard drive is fried, as you need Windows installed to do the restore.

I didn't like Microsoft backup as it didn't do any file compression. So it resulted in too many CD's created during the backup.

I would recommend spending some money on a better backup solution. I use Stomp BackupMyPC, and I am happy with that. With this solution you still need a Windows install CD if your hard drive is fried. Others use hard drive imaging software (such as Norton Ghost) and swear by that. I haven't tried the hard drive imaging software, so I can't really comment on it.

I just bought an external USB DVD recorder for creating my backups. It's faster and uses much less media than my CD recorder did.