Windows Xp Back up from a Laptop question

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

When I go to do the back up, it wants me to insert a floppy disk at the end of the process...but I don't have a floppy drive.

Does this mean I can't restore the system if need be?

[hskwarrior]

try repetitively tapping F8 as you reboot until you get the options.....give that a try

[hskwarrior]

yes, you have to have to backup disc that comes with windows hp. i just had a bluescreen of death pop up and it cost me 50 bucks to get back in.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

try repetitively tapping F8 as you reboot until you get the options.....give that a try

Reply]
That won't help. This is not a matter of the bios not seeing the drive. The Laptop does not even physically have a floppy drive. It's just got a CD/DVD drive.

[hskwarrior]

how about getting an external floppy drive?

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

yes, you have to have to backup disc that comes with windows hp. i just had a bluescreen of death pop up and it cost me 50 bucks to get back in.

Reply]
I have all the windows install disks and such. What I want to do is back up my hardrive and system settings onto a separate USB harddrive in case of some sort of catostropic incident that destroys my system. If I have a back up on the external USB drive, it will be a simple matter of running the restore wizard to fix the system.

The problem is that I have a laptop, which I (like a dummy) installed the XP corporate desktop version on, instead of the laptop version, so it has a back up utility that expects there to be a floppy drive installed...but I don't have a floppy at all.

I was able to copy paste all the data to the back up, so that is saved just fine,BUT I want to be able to just run a restore wizard and have it completely rebuild the system, data, software and settings all in one easy step, rather than do it all the hard way if there is a problem.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

how about getting an external floppy drive?

Reply]
That is a thought. Although, if I go that route, I might be better off buying an aftermarket back up program that gives me more options than Windows XP does. Then I could do it all in one step, rather than two.

Before I spend the money though, I want to see if there is a quick fix, or maybe find out if i can do a restore without the floppy. If that is the case, then I don't have a problem after all. I have to find out though. I'd hate to have a crash and find out after that the original backup did not work, and I have to rebuild the system manually.

Right now, if something happened, I am still covered, it would just be lots of work to rebuild.

[hskwarrior]

shouldn't you be able to do that onto a blank cd?

or can you choose which drive to use to save it?

[hskwarrior]

luckily for me, i saved the book i'm writing onto a separate disk because i lost everything on my computer........sucks.......

[taai gihk yahn]

fer Chrissakes, and not to be a d1ck, but buy a Mac already guys, and these sorts of conversations will become just a bad memory...(in all seriousness, I strongly advocate it - my wife used to be a die hard Windows gal, after a few months seeing what it was like to have a Mac around, she switched over and never looked back)

[hskwarrior]

on a scale of 1-10.......where would you rank it?

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

fer Chrissakes, and not to be a d1ck, but buy a Mac already guys, and these sorts of conversations will become just a bad memory...(in all seriousness, I strongly advocate it - my wife used to be a die hard Windows gal, after a few months seeing what it was like to have a Mac around, she switched over and never looked back)

Reply]
No, we will have all new conversations like how to spend endless hours in never ending frustration *TRYING* to make a useless Mac run critical, programs that my business DEPENDS ON because it is INCAPABLE OF FUCKING RUNNING THEM!!!! When I should be running my business and making Goddammed money!!


LISTEN YOU STUPID MORON!!

Macs are DEFICIENT USELESS BOXES THAT ****DON'T**** RUN ****ANY**** OF MY SOFTWARE!!!!

They ***DON'T*** WORK AT ALLL, CAN'T RUN ANY PROGRAMS THAT MY BUSINESS **DEPENDS** ON, AND ARE OVER PRICED PAPERWEIGHTS!!!!

NO SHUT THE SAM HELL UP AND GO SPOUT YOUR NONSENSICAL, BRAINWASHED, RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!

[naja]

Reply]
That is a thought. Although, if I go that route, I might be better off buying an aftermarket back up program that gives me more options than Windows XP does. Then I could do it all in one step, rather than two.

Before I spend the money though, I want to see if there is a quick fix, or maybe find out if i can do a restore without the floppy. If that is the case, then I don't have a problem after all. I have to find out though. I'd hate to have a crash and find out after that the original backup did not work, and I have to rebuild the system manually.

Right now, if something happened, I am still covered, it would just be lots of work to rebuild.

Go buy you an external USB drive and a copy of Symantec Ghost.

[taai gihk yahn]

on a scale of 1-10.......where would you rank it?

are you asking about a Mac? if so, I have to give it at minimum an 8/10 (for basic models - the high-end dual processor stuff is 10/10, IMPE), and I'll tell ya why:

• takes less than a minute from turning the machine on to being fully booted, all the time (except right after a software update download);
• unlike Windows, which is basically a software product on top of a buggy operating system (DOS), the Mac OS is what you run programs from, so one less piece of software as intermediary
• because it's so stable, you can leave it on for days on end in sleep mode and pick up right where you left off;
• if a program does freeze (very rare, happens mostly w/internet sites that hang while loading), the Linux-based system is set up in such a way that you just force quit that particular program and re-open it without having to reboot the system
• loading software is a cinch, compatibility issues are almost non-existent;
• no need for virus protection (they used to include it, they don't even bother now - you just download security updates every so often, but even the Norton guys a few years back were like "the best way to protect against a virus is to use a mac"); this is evidently because writing Mac viruses is more difficult, because the operating system is much more stable
• Keynote - blows away Power Point; I also prefer Safari to IE for browsing
• graphic functions are awesome and totally easy to use (e.g. - Parella switched over and has self-produced some very cool CLF / Lama dioramas he had printed out on posterboard and put up in the school); especially if you want to self-publish your book - that's what Mac's are designed for - graphics / publishing industry!
• more subjective, but I prefer the entire interface much more - it just "flows" a lot better than the Windows platform (remember, they basically ripped off Mac for the idea anyway)
• typically the monitor quality is better

I could go on, but to me, it's no contest; I know it's a bit more $$$ up front, but I promise you that that it is a worthy investment,

[naja]

fer Chrissakes, and not to be a d1ck, but buy a Mac already guys, and these sorts of conversations will become just a bad memory...(in all seriousness, I strongly advocate it - my wife used to be a die hard Windows gal, after a few months seeing what it was like to have a Mac around, she switched over and never looked back)

I know you probably don't believe this but MACs do occasionally have hardware failures. I know, it's a crazy thought...but backing up your MAC might not be a bad idea.