Sarasota PC Monitor
Tech Talk (09/02)
XP System Tools
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.Windows XP has a number of tools that can be used for system recovery when thing go wrong. These include "System Restore," "Automated System Recovery" (ASR), "Recovery Console" and "Last Known Good Configuration." These four tools all have useful functions to help recover a non-functioning system. However, they also work best under specific circumstances. That's what I hope this article will help you to understand.
Microsoft's definition of "Last Known Good Configuration" is: "A startup option to use when the system cannot start in normal or safe mode following a driver or application installation that causes a problem. By using the Last Known Good Configuration, you can recover by reversing the most recent driver and registry changes made since you last started Windows XP Professional." This might allow you to recover from a problem that occurred just after you installed a new application or device driver. In order to access this function, you must reboot your computer and press F8 before the Windows logo screen appears. This should bring up the Windows Advanced Options Menu which is similar to the one you could access in Windows 9X. On this menu, you can select "Last Known Good Configuration." The computer will restart and should be able to run Windows. However, if Windows does not start correctly, the system will go into Safe Mode, where you should be able to remove the application or the device driver that is causing the problem.
If Windows does start, but has problems associated with your new software or driver, an alternative method of restoring your system is to use "System Restore." Microsoft's definition of this function is: "A service for x86-based computers that actively monitors your system and records changes to the registry, to system files and to certain application files. System Restore allows you to undo recent registry and file changes by using information previously saved in restore points. Use to restore the system to a previous state. System Restore is available in normal or safe mode."
System Restore automatically creates restore points based on a pre-set time schedule or in response to system events such as installing a new application or driver. You can also create restore points manually. In XP Professional, you must be logged on as an administrator to use System Restore. You should be aware that System Restore does not function as a backup program. It does not monitor or store information on any user data in the My Documents, Favorites or History folders. It also does not keep any information on graphics files (.bmp, .jpg, .eps, etc.) or files such as .doc, .xls, .mdb and .pst. The primary function of System Restore is to monitor changes to SYSTEM files, including the registry. Anytime you use the Windows update or Windows Installer, a new restore point is created. Restore points are also created every 10 hours of running time or at least every twenty-four hours.
System Restore reserves up to 12% of your hard drive space for storing information on these restore points. On my 40GB hard drive I found 4.2GB of space allocated to System Restore. When I checked the number of restore points, I found that there was one every day for the past two months, more than 60 restore points. That seemed to me to be excessive so I reduced the space allocated to System Restore to 2% (637MB). That decreased the number of restore points to 18 days, which I believe is more than adequate for the way I use this system. Since I also use a backup program, which copies my entire hard disk, I don't think I need all the restore data that WinXP sets aside. For minor problems, it is nice to be able to "roll back" the system to the condition it was in before a change was made.
If you want to alter the default settings for system Restore, go to Start, My Computer and select View System Properties from the menu. Then click on the System Restore tab. Remember, you won't find this tab unless you have Administrator privileges. You can then adjust the amount of hard drive space allocated to System Restore by adjusting the position of the slider. If you have a large hard drive, 10GB or larger, I would certainly recommend reducing the amount of space allocated to System Restore.
To determine the number of restore points available, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. You will see a calendar with the restore dates highlighted. By following the on-screen instructions you can select a specific restore point and return your computer to its condition on that date. If you need more information on this process, go to Microsoft's web site and select support, knowledge base. Then search for the article Q306084. Or type in this URL: <http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx? scid=kb;[LN];Q306084>. This article has step-by-step instructions for using System Restore.
System Restore is similar in many regards to Roxio's GoBack software. GoBack does protect all files and user documents while System Restore does not. Both System Restore and GoBack use computer resources and memory in saving information on changes to your system. However, GoBack tracks every change to every file, keystroke by keystroke. On some slower systems with limited RAM, there is a noticeable delay due to the monitoring effect of GoBack. On a fast processor with more than 256MB of RAM, you are far less likely to notice any delay due to GoBack. Since System Restore writes information to its restore points less frequently and only when the computer is idle, you should not experience any delays.
Remember, System Restore is not a backup feature and does not replace backup software. System Restore saves registry information and incremental changes to monitored system files. System Restore does not save any of your personal data. In addition, System Restore requires that you be able to start Windows XP Home or Professional in safe or normal mode. You must use your backup software or ASR to recover from data loss due to hard disk-related damage that prevents you from starting the operating system in safe mode, normal mode or Recovery Console mode.
Windows XP does ship with backup software and an ASR wizard. To access this wizard, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. When the backup screen appears click on the underlined "Advanced Mode" selection. In the next window, click on the ASR Wizard button. This Wizard will walk you through the preparation of a floppy disk that can be used to restore the operating system. It will also copy system file information to a tape or hard disk partition. Since this latter file can be rather large, you probably won't want to put it on multiple floppies. However, it could be saved to a hard disk partition and then burned to a CD or CD-RW.
In order to recover from a system failure, you will need to boot from your Windows XP CD-ROM and then select ASR. Remember, ASR will not backup or restore any of your data files. Also, ASR should be used only when you can not start your system in normal, safe or Recovery Console mode. Although much of the Microsoft reference material indicates that these tools are available for both the Home Edition and the Professional Edition, they may not be included in the default installation. For instance, if you attempt to use the ASR feature in the Home Edition you may get a message that the recovery disk could not be created. In such a case, you need to have a copy of Microsoft's article Q302700. This provides the procedures for installing ASR for use with the Home Edition.
There is a catch to this ASR process. If you use a hard drive partition to store the backup and it is a FAT32 partition, then the limit on the backup file size is 4GB. Microsoft's Backup application that is used by ASR will compress the backup file, but only if you backup to a tape drive that supports compression. So, if your hard drive has more than 4GB of data and applications, you have to either use a tape drive as a backup medium or backup to a hard drive partition formatted with NTFS. You cannot write the backup to the partition that you are trying to backup. As usual, Microsoft is way behind on its backup methodology.
The final tool is the Recovery Console. Microsoft's definition of this is: "Recovery Console is a character-mode environment that you can run directly from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD or, for x86-based systems, install as a startup option. Unlike normal or safe mode, the Windows graphical user interface (GUI) is not available within Recovery Console. Recovery Console provides a set of commands for advanced users who are comfortable working outside the Windows GUI environment. In addition to Last Known Good Configuration and safe mode, advanced users can use Recovery Console to attempt manual recovery operations."
Recovery Console can be run from the Windows XP CD or as a bootup option from the hard drive. For most users with stand-alone desktops, I believe the best choice is to run Recovery Console from your XP CD. When you run Recovery Console you are able to format drives, read and write data on a local drive, including both FAT32 and NTFS file systems. Every action taken once Recovery Console is running requires the appropriate command to be entered at the command prompt. You can obtain a list of commands by typing help at the command prompt. Although some of the commands are similar to DOS commands that may be familiar to some of you, others are quite different. For example, you use Diskpart to manage partitions, fixboot to write a new boot sector, fixmbr to repair the master boot code and map to display drive mappings. If you need detailed information on using Recovery Console look for article Q307654 on Microsoft's Knowledgebase.
I certainly hope none of you will need to go through this recovery process. However, look at it as an insurance policy just in case problems do occur. And always remember, Backup, Backup, Backup (using something other than a Microsoft product).
*Dr. Lewis is a former university and medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via email at brian_klewis@hotmail.com or voice mail at (941) 925-3047. :
Copyright 2002. This article is from the September 2002 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,300+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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