Using Windows' built-in disk-imaging utility

When the bits hit the fan, nothing gets your PC back in shape like having a complete known-good image of your hard drive to use for recovery.

That's the topic topic for my new weekly column It's Thursday, so there's a new "LangaList Plus" column posted at WindowsSecrets.Com: What's the best way to back up your PC?

It started with an email from reader Nick Phillips:

"Very interesting piece by Fred [the Nov. 5 LangaList Plus column] about the order [in which] to install applications in a newly installed system. Could you go into more detail? If the old system becomes so badly damaged that it becomes unbootable, then the backup needs to be bootable, right?"

Yes, a good disaster-recovery plan has to include some means of restoring your data, even if your PC won't boot normally. But let's start at the beginning.

The column then runs through the options, and ends with a 5-step plan to ensure that you PC's data and setup are 100% safe and secure. even if you have to start over with an unformatted disk!
Other topics this week:

• Where'd the Eudora e-mail client disappear to?
• Long-distance attempt to repair a 'PXE' problem. (And what's PXE, anyway?)
• Why can't I erase files on my USB drive?

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Posted via email from Fred's posterous