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When All Else Fails
(originally appeared on the WinMag site
2/8/98)
You could see it coming,
right? Two weeks ago, we discussed ERU and CFGback---two ways
of restoring a copy of Win95 that’s sustained minor software damage---the OS
equivalent of a fender-bender.
Last week, we discussed a no-reformat way to completely
reinstall Windows, as though the OS had never been on the disk: the equivalent of heavy
repairs in a body shop. (NOTE: If your have a writable
CD on your system, check out this article from Fred for a way- to completely reinstall your system
in literally just minutes!)
But sometimes even that isn’t enough. Sometimes a system gets so fouled up you
have to do the equivalent of melting down the OS and rebuilding *everything* from scratch.
That’s right---it’s the dreaded total reformat and reinstall.
It’s ugly. It’s painful. It’s time consuming. But there are still things
you can do to make it safe, secure, and less of a hassle than otherwise. There are 6
steps:
- Grand Mal Backup:
Make a complete, verified, tested backup of everything on all the
drives in your system. If you're as paranoid about upgrade security as I am, you'll make two
complete, tested and verified backups. (The odds of both failing in the same place or at
the same time are small, and your data will be extremely safe.) If you want a shortcut,
you can target just your data files for backup (you’ll be reinstalling the
applications anyway). But I prefer to backup the whole enchilada, just in case.
- Gather your install disks.
Make sure you have the means to reinstall everything you
need. Don’t proceed until you have in hand every application CD, hardware driver
disk, and other piece of software you’ll need---including, of course, your copy of
the Windows setup disk itself.
- Create a Toolkit:
Go to Control Panel/Add Remove Software/Startup Disk and make a
fresh boot floppy. Ensure--even if you have to copy the files manually--that the diskette
contains any DOS files you need to boot and access peripherals (such as CD drives) that
you may need to reinstall Windows. I also add HIMEM and EMM386 to the boot disk so
I’ll have basic memory management available.
- Test the boot diskette
. Shut down your system and restart with the boot diskette in
place. Make sure you can completely access all drives in your system (including the CD and
the network, if you need them to restore Windows).
- Write Down Your Key Info:
Next, jot down all system and application passwords, and
software registration, validation or unlocking codes. Some software stores these passwords
and codes in special hidden files that may not survive an errant upgrade. Without this
information, you might not be able to reinstall some of your software. (Remember to
destroy the written list after you’ve reinstalled everything!)
- Wipe It Out:
Boot from your startup floppy. If you’re really hard-core, run
FDISK and rebuild your hard drives from the partitions up. (This is what I do.) If
you’re less aggressive, just reformat your drive(s), SYS the C: drive to put the
system software in place, and copy the contents of your boot floppy to the C:/ directory.
- Reboot and Reinstall.
Take the floppy out, and restart the PC. It should start from
your pristine, almost-empty hard drive. Now you can reinstall Windows and your apps. When
it’s time, you can restore your data from your backups.
It’s not pretty--- in fact, it’s a plug-ugly process. But it’s the one
way to be 100% certain that your system is set up as cleanly and as leanly as possible.
It’s a worst-case scenario, but it will get you going again after even the worst
possible software meltdown.
Back To "Failed"
· To "Recovery" Part 1 · To "Recovery" Part 2
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