Hello everybody Responding in a round-about sort of way to a message posted to our sister group, Techno-Chat. It's interesting how many system repair utilities there are out there which use different so-called innovative technologies which reputedly keep your system running optimally. For instance, RollBack from Data Horizon Systems builds on Microsoft's concept of providing snapshots. As I understand it though the difference between System Restore and RollBack is that RollBack maintains a record of the hard drive right down to the sector level which, of course, is a true method of maintain a record of the configuration of your system. System Restore only maintains a record based on the file allocation table which leaves it open to error and inaccuracies.
As I understand it, registry cleaners and utilities which remove files based on the state of the registry can also be unreliable because if a file has never been referenced in the registry, there's no definitive record of whether or not that file is required any longer and as a result, such utilities can be configured wrongly by the user or even by the author and can end up causing more damage than they fix. Anyway, I am no expert on these things; but I have done quite a bit of reading. The general consensus amongst technology professionals seems to be use a combination of various different types of repair and maintenance utilities, but not two of the same kind. For instance, use something like RollBack to maintain system integrity. Use a registry cleaner to flush out the central database now and then and, optionally, configure it to remove files selectively so that it only removes those items which you're certain about. Also, use a system-level backup utility such as something like NTI Backup or Image for Windows to keep a remote backup of your machine so that, in the event that the cookie-cleaners, registry cleaners and even sector-level maintenance utilities fail, you always have something to fall back on. We all know what a tedious task reinstalling Microsoft's operating systems can be. We all know how irritating it can be when you're reliant on utilities which have to be rem otely activated and to which you only have a certain number of activation chances before you lose access to your expensive license. So it would seem to be the prudent thing to do, unless you're a hardened risk-taker who doesn't particularly care about such things, to maintain remote image-level backups, (possibly even in the plural). Of course, with the recent reductions in the cost of solid state drives, we now have the option of using storage media that's far more reliable, not to mention the improvements in speed of access, than the more common hard drives. Gordon and I are on the point of ordering a couple of solid state drives for 2 of our server machines; although I won't say much about that here as it's non-Windows and, therefore, off topic. But all the same, I think that the world of personal and business computing is going to change dramatically over the next 1 to 2 years, based on what I have read in recent technology journals. So who knows; it could be a bit like the migration we all made a few years back from CD to DVD and, more recently still, the current transition from DVD to Blu-Ray. But whatever route you opt to go, the net result is the same; more money! Anyway I'm digressing. Backup must be one of the most important watch-words for anybody using Windows I think. Although obviously other operating systems are not immune to problems, Windows is by far the most flakey in this respect. I think that's a generally accepted fact. And so those who employ it for mission-critical tasks must treat their data with respect, never take their invulnerability for granted and always be on their guard. Just a few casual observations from me, for whatever they're worth. I'd be the first to admit that I learned the lesson of backups the hard way. I once lost a very great deal of important data due to hardware failure and my own neglect of backup procedures. Never again! Even though we don't use Windows for mission-critical tasks now at work, it was a lesson I learned the hard way, but learned well. And even our non-Microsoft operating systems are backed up more than once. Lynne ======================================= To post to this group, please send your message to: [email protected] The Windows-Access E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit your personalise subscriber options page, located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/windows-access You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Windows-Access forum at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/windows-access/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> --------------------------------------- [email protected]
