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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clarence Dodge who wrote (7574)	5/23/1999 1:14:00 PM
From: Spots	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14778

>>The other day you rrecommended I put my backupNT on the same disk as my primary Naw, show me where. If I did, it was either a typo or a braino (a braino being a typo that occurs in the higher cerebral processes <g>). In fact my memory is that I recommended you use the NT on your IDE2 drive as a dual-boot backup for your main NT on IDE1. Didn't I? I admit my memory ain't what it used to be (must not be ECC <gg>). I DID recommend you dual-boot the backup with the primary rather than counting on the bios boot. I guess getting at it with "least amount of effort" is one way to put it, but what I really want to see is that my backup path is available every time I boot, not because of effort but as a check that the path is available. The theory being that in an emergency, ANYTHING extra you have to do is another source of trouble. Rather like keeping a clear path to the exits and fire extinguishers at all times <g>. I don't want to have to look for the key to the fire door in the dark ... I don't think you necessarily have to have the backup on a different physical disk, or even in a different partition. BUT if you do, you get an extra measure of protection from each of these steps. Nothing beyond the obvious: A different partition gives you a backup even if you, or a Mysterious Force, screws up the partition the primary is on. Similarly, a different disk gives protection if the Mysterious Force gets the whole disk the primary is on. Since, naturally, we have offline backups (right?) this saves us from trouble rather than saving us from disaster. In my configuration, either I put it in the C partition or on another disk (can't boot from above 7.8GB, remember). I also need to boot Win95/98 and DOS, so (a) an active primary partition and (b) not NTFS. I also need to be able to transfer data between these systems and NT, so not FAT32. Therefore, a FAT16 active primary partition, and D is the logical place for it. Now since I have this already, why not put the backup NT there? Get all the benefits of a separate disk, need the partition anyhow, why not? Anything else I do is even more trouble, so why not indeed. So I did it. I'd prefer to be able to boot 95/98/DOS as a multiboot from the primary NT, but that would bust other requirements that are a lot stronger. Booting these systems is not an emergency measure anyhow, so I'm willing to let that be done from the bios. My preliminary tests indicate it will not be a problem. Actually I also put a clone of my primary NT in the D partition. It boots fine too, and has everything as up-to-date as the clone is (and also provides a KOT backup for the primary). BUT there are real caveats to that notion, BECAUSE unless I take extreme care my clone on D of the primary on C will load components of WinNT from the C drive. I know this happens at present, and I even know how to fix it, but maybe I will and maybe I won't, because it's the kind of thing you have to keep fixing every time you install something new in the primary. This subject may be of interest, which I will be happy pursue further at another time if anyone wants to talk about it. Not now, though. Spots PS. Another utility from sysinternals.com called HandleEx will tell you what files every active process has open (and all it's other handles too -- files, registry keys, windows, DLLs, on and on ...)