Why I would never buy another computer with a Microsoft Platform

R

RichardLayton

New Member
Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed in finding out about Norton's Ghost v15,
which ininitially I told was in parallel with vista restore (Microsoft). Not quite.
Ghost is just another way of completely backing up you computer and your
system folders. Oh Lord, I tried it and end up with an hour of feeding in 6 DVD's
to backup my C partition. BLAHHHHHHH. Its not worth the money nor the time,
since Windows Vista has its own backup although limited. I am currently on a 30 day trial of this Nortonian crap.

basically if you go that route I have 2 system recovery disks and 2 DVD file
backups that work in less than 1 hour and is much cleaner and is extremely fast.
So why waste your time and money. Its NO BARGAIN DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!! for $69.00

Now as far as Sytem Restore. It never worked on Windows HOME PREMIUM
ULTIMATE, DON"T bother contacting microsoft. ($49.00-$59) who needs them
Either do one the following
1) Reset your computer and point to the last good system configuration and Rip.
Hit the F8 key when you restart your computer and follow the menu.
2) If you feel you''re Lucky, then try to use system restore in "SAFE MODE"
That is restart your computer hold down the F8 key as before then start
your computer in safe mode, and start up system restore and let the system
restart itself I have had success in restoring to a restore point but
I have noticed that when installing service packs etc that the restore points
get deleted.
3) If you're SOL - then make sure you get the system recovery DVDs from your
computer manufacturer, but also have your backup data disks or use Vista's
backup and restore utility in System tools.

Which is why I trashing microsoft - and going to Macintosh.:sarc:
 

My Computer

System One

I find Norton Ghost is very great software for complete backup.
Seems you're really worries about backup's.

Tell you a good thing.. if your system has more than 1 HDD you can use it as a backup HDD.
Just let Norton Ghost save the backup's there instead of using DVD's.

Backup with DVD's seems a bad idea.. cause you might lose the discs.
Macintosh is a great OS, But it has limited range of compatible software's.
I've been using vista 64-bit since I build this system.. and I'm quite amazed by the system stability.
Though I heard many stuffs about how crappy Vista are.

Cheers!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q6600 OCed till 3.3Ghz
    Motherboard
    Nvidia XFX nForce 780i SLI
    Memory
    2X2GB Corsair DDR2 800Mhz OCed @ 820Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    2xNvidia 9500 GT SLI OCed @ 730Mhz each.
    Sound Card
    Motherboard Built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22' LCD + 18.5 Wide Samsung LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1680 1050
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2x250 GB SATA II Maxtor, External 500GB SATA WD,
    PSU
    600Watts
    Case
    GIGABYTE
    Cooling
    GIGABYTE Volar CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Prestigio
    Keyboard
    Samsung Pleomax
    Internet Speed
    2Mbps
If you have Vista Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate, you can do a complete image backup to the media of your choice. I personally prefer to use an external HDD - but the option is pretty much up to you. If you do use another drive in the computer, make sure it is not the System Recovery Drive. If so, do NOT backup to this drive (or do anything at all to it) as it may be needed for recovery and anything you do there could possibly prevent it from working properly when you may need it the most.

If you have a version of Vista without the ability to do a complete image backup, there are several choices out there that will provide that functionality. I prefer Acronis True Image 2011: Complete hard disk recovery solution, backup, drive copy, clone and image computer software.

Consider the alternative you are proposing. You do a normal full backup of your data (not including system files and such) and have recovery disks or a recovery partition. This will allow you to return the system to factory-original conditions and restore your data, but you will need to re-install all your software, reconfigure all your settings, install all the Windows Updates and Service Packs (and that could be 150 or more), possibly update some or most of your device drivers, and do several other things. With a complete image backup, all you need to do is restore the image (assuming you keep it reasonably current) and you're pretty much immediately back in business. To me, that's worth the $50 price tag of Acronis (which I consider superior to Norton Ghost) and possibly the cost of an external HDD (which are relatively cheap these days (http://reviews.cnet.com/best-external-storage-drives/) if you dislike using DVDs. While I use Windows to do the complete image backup (as I have Vista Business), if I had a version without the option I would definitely purchase Acronis (and have considered doing so anyway on several occasions since it is a better product - maybe even enough to justify the cost).

The choice is yours. You pay a small price now for software (if required) and an external HDD (if you prefer to avoid DVDs and don't have a usable extra internal hard drive) and have a full recovery tool available that makes restoring your system simple and almost effortless - or you use the process you've posted and risk the substantial effort explained above to return everything back the way it was (if you even still have all the software to do it).

Incidentally, System Restore does not do the same thing at all. For one thing, it does not protect your data whatsoever. For another, depending on the problem, it may not always work (some problems simply can't be fixed using that feature) or be available (some problems delete all restore points so it becomes worthless - or if you need to replace the hard drive, your restore points are gone with the defective drive - or the problem may go back further than you have saved restore points available). It's a good tool, but should not be confused or considered as a replacement or substitute for a backup.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

P.S. Although you may see a Mac as "the answer" to your problems with Microsoft operating systems, and their ads are very good at giving people that impression, they too have many problems though most are different. If you change, you'll discover that you've mostly traded one set of issues for a different set of issues. It is not the problem-free system some people have come to imagine and you'll find your choices of software and compatible products much more limited (too limited IMHO) - but you'll learn that for yourself if you do decide to make the change.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive] Dell AIO Printer A940 Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem 6TO4 Adapter Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Router Linksys / WRT54G -01

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
For those on Vista
Seven has System Restore
System Image (complete back up)
Back up and restore (back up of your documents.)

One of the improvements of Seven over Vista. BTW, I would buy another computer with a MS platform.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
richc46 said:
For those on Vista
Seven has System Restore
System Image (complete back up)
Back up and restore (back up of your documents.)

One of the improvements of Seven over Vista. BTW, I would buy another computer with a MS platform.
Click to expand...

I would too as most problems with windows are between the chair and keyboard.:sarc: sorry Brink had to be said.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD 1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp 1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm 1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
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