Backing up Windows XP!!!!!!

[N7VQM]

DoomMaster wrote:
To N7VQM:

IWindows 98 Second Edition is the best and most reliable Windows for home use.

Windows 98 is where it belongs:  the scrap heap.

Many web servers will NOT allow you access if they know that you are using Windows XP, that's how bad it SUCKS!

This is ridiculous.  I visited thousands of web sites and my wife thousands of others since I installed XP.  Not a one have denied access because of XP.  You'll have to point out a couple million sites to me before I see that as any indication of the quality of XP.

Just try to play Duke Nukem on the Kali game server with Windows XP.  Those guys will tell you to get out, NO WINDOWS XP ALLOWED!

By what mechinism do other players learn what OS you're using?

ALL of the really smart computer people KNOW that Windows XP sucks, they do not even waste their time trying to use it.

The illogic here is large enough to drive an over-height, wide-load tractor-trailer through.  For this statement to be true, you would have to have interviewed EVERY 'really smart computer person' in the world and have them all agree.  I'd like to see you try that.

[Paul_Gadd]

@DoomMaster

Yeah right, why not post PROOF to back up those silly claims? i am interested in these magical websites and games servers what in your magical land stops people who use XP.

Anyway thanks for the laugh though  its nice to see the "I hate Microsoft" amigans are still alive and going strong.

Duke Nukem on the Kali game server

Works fine with XP Home btw, must be your imagination running wild and  also learn how to set up magical xp and duke nukem properly (LINK).

[Jope]

By the way - if I own a Windows XP license but have no installation media, would it be illegal to use a home burned XP CD with my license key?

As far as I know it's like this:

It's ok, since you have the license. The CD is just a carrier for the data.

You're still bound to the license agreement, so you don't get to install the OS on many computers unless you have a license for each. Even the key you enter into the installer isn't important per se, but the piece of paper in the retail box or the license sticker that's glued to the machine's case.

If someone has a link to a MS website that clarifies this (or opposes what I said), please post it.

[carls]

@Jope
I recently read a magazine article about creating your own patched XP CD (Win XP patched with SP1) and this of course required you to burn a new CD with XP and SP1 on it. They stated that it was perfectly legal (given that you have an XP license), but probably not supported by Microsoft.

[Jope]

Carls,

Yes, totally true. Basically if you're able to create a CD that has an integrated SP, you shouldn't need to call MS for support..

MS also sells CDs that have the SP already integrated.. Anyway, if you need the MS support (wtf ?-) then you can just say you have XP with SP1 installed and not tell them that you integrated it yourself..

The SP release notes tell you how to integrate it and several sites tell you how to extract the boot.cat from the original CD and make the selfcompiled CD bootable.

Oh well, this is veering a bit too far from Amiganess .. perhaps we ought to continue this via pmail or email, if you have more to say.. :-)

Oh and re: the original subject, I use a DLT drive and MS Backup to backup WinXP (the windows dir and all the dirs where I have my own creations and installed sw), it's well under the 10GB that my DLTIII handles).. It lets you save the registry, so when your HD crashes, you just install a basic XP and then restore everything from tape and have a working system again, timewarped back to the point of your last backup!

[mikeymike]

Hmm... Never applied NT4 SP2

Nope, I first touched NTx just after SP3 was released :-)

My main problem with MS service packs nowadays is how they re-enable stuff I've disabled, make IE icons re-appear on the desktop, things like that.

[mikeymike]

@ DoomMaster's "Windows XP is the anti-christ" posts

Hmm, I think you'll need to back up your claims about services blocking WinXP.  According to the stats for my website, WinXP is the most popular OS in use nowadays.  I seriously doubt services will block it.

IMO there are a few sucky things about WinXP, so I stick with Win2k (not really out of choice, new mobo didn't support NT4), but nothing seriously bad.  Service packs and WinXP don't seem to agree far more often nowadays, and I don't like Windows Product Activation, nor IM being part of the OS.

[mikeymike]

re: WinXP licensing issues

If you've bought a legal license to use an OS, who cares how you install it, is my take on it.  I wouldn't pay full attention to MS's take on things, as they believe that an OS is permanently tied to the hardware it was originally installed on, that you can't move a license from one machine to another, and allsorts of crazy things.

[browny]

Hi Ace,
I have just recentley bought a bigger HD, and used Power Quests, Drive Image, it did the trick with no probs.
Personally I Use WinXP pro with the NTFS and not the Fat32, and find it quite stable.
But then again someone out there will  probably tell you different !.

[carls]

@Jope
I meant "they don't support it" as "they don't like it". I guess they would rather sell more copies of their own, patched CDs :-)

[ACE]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments.  Looks like i've got to spend more money on my PC!  I haven't even recieved it yet.

So am I right in thinking that I can simply install somebody elses XP CD on my computer, if mine does go belly up?  I own the licence after all!

[Jope]

ACE wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments.  Looks like i've got to spend more money on my PC!  I haven't even recieved it yet.

So am I right in thinking that I can simply install somebody elses XP CD on my computer, if mine does go belly up?  I own the licence after all!

If you have a license key, yes. :-)

However, if it's an OEM license, the key might not work with your friend's XP CD .. Not sure if you're allowed to install a normal XP Pro if your license is OEM. (best to be paranoid with these things if you're running a business with the machine)

[mikeymike]

I think this oddity of MS licensing is Win2k and later - there are retail license keys and OEM license keys, you need to use the respective install media otherwise the key won't work.

There are also differences between the retail and OEM versions sometimes, like SMB connections are limited to 10 concurrent with Win2k Server OEM without doing a few workarounds which (IIRC) break the license agreement :-)

[carls]

@mikeymíke
For €100 you'd think they could throw in a CD :-)

[zolo]

Here is my solution:
As i have had loads of problems with XP crashing and destroying everyting, including some caused by hardware problems. I have put all of my documents on another disk, simulating my "My Documents" folder. This way all "important" data is saved in case of a crash!
Also I have cloned my boot partition(Partition expert, partition magic etc. will let you do this). An here comes the trick:
In your registry you can actually change the drive letter of a partition. In other words the drive letters of your partition are in the registry of the partition you booted with.
I have changed these so:
1. When I boot with my "main boot" drive it has the drive letter "C" and my "backup boot" has drive letter "D".
2. When I boot with my "backup boot" drive it has the drive letter "C" and my "main boot" has drive letter "D".

This way if anything happens to either of them, I can select to boot from the other one and fix the damaged one. Without spending painstaken hours swapping WinXP Recovery console disks.
This way I can also remove the disk with my backup boot on it, and keep it somewere safe.
This setup is ideal when you only have one PeeCee and you don't want to go knocking your neighbours door and ask him:

Can I attatch my HD to your IDE bus so I can fix it
It'll only take a minut!

Just to have to tell him 9 hours later:

:-o Ups!......well erhh i think i have to go now(You fcked up his HD too)!


Cheers!

[Ilwrath]

My main problem with MS service packs nowadays is how they re-enable stuff I've disabled, make IE icons re-appear on the desktop, things like that.

Egads, yes!  And it's not just the service packs that do this.  (See my previous rants about the Microsoft update treadmill and why I use RedHat Linux 9.)  Hotfixes, and "critical updates" do this, as well.  Hell, I've seen MS APPLICATIONS re-enable disabled services!!  Basically, anytime you install ANYTHING that comes out of Redmond, you have to completly go through the 15-20 step routine of checking and verifying your locked-down system configuration.  What a pain!