Dear Forum Members

I wonder if there is a good program that will enable us to do a "system restore" on Win98se (like the ME and XP have)

I do know about GoBack, and many years ago PowerQuest had a program called Second Chance (but, cab't find that anywhwre to download on the net anymore)

Any ideas?

Do you know of any other system-restore-type programs?

A freebie would be nice ... but I'd also like to know about any other programs available.

Your comments and input will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Dr. Mac

nortons go back 4.0 or 3.0 are excellent for restore.as far as i know win me system restore had never been fitted for 98se yet.

If you mean a complete restore, best (easier) option is to make an image of the disk.

If you mean just registry and related files settings, Winrescue have worked very well, and it has some nice backup options (Not FREEWARE):
http://www.superwin.com/index.htm
http://regvac.com/frescue8.htm

jaclaz

Greetings guys (and gals!)

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I used to have GoBack installed but got a lot of crap at times, so that is why I'm looking for something else that does NOT take over the hard drive (forget what it's called technically, but it somehow "locks" the drive)

Nope ... I'm looking for something more than a simple registry/settings restore (I find the built in Windows "scanreg /restore" excellent for that)

Also, I do have a complete image on CD using the superb Acronis TruImage. However, that is only as good as when the image was made. And it's too much of a hassle - not to mention waste of CD's - to make a fresh image every day. This is why a program that takes snapshots automatically is the ideal thing to have.

So ... the MS "Restore points" idea is what I'm really after. BUT ... as suggested above, it appears that this has never been successfully installed on a Win98se O/S.

Surely ... someone ... somewhere ... must have invented a proggie that can duplicate what System Restore does ???

And talking about the old PowerQuest "Second Chance" ... would anybody by any chance know of a link where it can still be downloaded from ?

Thank folks.

Dr. Mac

Yep, sure, get the sc2demo.zip file from here:
http://ftp.tpnet.pl/vol/d4/windows/ftp.win...com/win95/demo/

of course it's a demo, you are not asking for warez, aren't you?

Seriously, I never used it, but judging from this:
http://www.pcug-colorado.org/newsletter/pc...00/2ndchanc.htm
should be a great proggie for Win9x users.

jaclaz

Brilliant!

Well done!

I've just downloaded it!

-------------------------------------------------

... of course it's a demo, you are not asking for warez, aren't you?


WHAT !!!!!!!!

ME ?????????

NO, NO, NO! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS! ( )

--------------------------------------------------

There again, as PowerQuest no longer exists (taken over by Symantec) and as SecondChance stopped being made in 2000/1, and is no longer sold or supported, any copy floating around and used would in no way "steal" payment from the company.

---------------------------------------------------

Thanks again ... and if you ever happen to find out where a copy of version 2.07 can be downloaded from, I'd really like to know as well!

Take good care folks, and best wishes ...

Dr. Mac

98se has the tools for free: press f8 at boot up and if you know what your doing type c:/WINDOWS/"scanreg /restore" without the quotes: scanreg then a space then /restore enter.
Go back a couple of days
If thats not enough theres system file checker. It's in the start menu under accessories\system tools\ system information then tool menu.
check the subfolders all files and check for changes and deletion and save a log.
Usually if you do this from the start, you will get a corrupt setup.dll for some reason but you get the choice to replace the file and its all good.
So after using the checker for awhile you'll notice changed versions and added files and what was deleted.

Now when your computer is running mint and you want to back it up, use Data Lifeguard Tools 11 for Windows from here : http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?...&pid=999&swid=1
If you croll down a bit you'll see the download it works with ANY drive install the program it will reboot and then unhook the internet and shutdown av and firewall with: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
and do a drive to drive copy.
If you have a nasty such as a virus, or even if you just don't like the look of things format the drive and grab your back-up and start data lifeguard and repeat the process from the back up.
This program works mint for me and you can burn it and boot from cd to make a good job of it .

nice article very imformative and you answered it all.

You won't need Version 2.07, it is an update to make it work with Windows Millennium, alias ME.

HORROR, DISMAY!

I really typed THAT word!

Just going to wash my fingertips with soap....

jaclaz

P.S.: back, feeling better now.

Just going to wash my fingertips with soap ....





Great! Best laugh I've had all day !!!!

You obviously love your Win98 (just like I do!)

Also, thanks for your PM. Unfortunately, all I seem to get on Google is a lot of information on crackz and serialz for Second Chance.

Naughty! Naughty!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Kartel ...

Thanks for your long post.

I'll go and check out that link now, but really, the main thing I'm looking for is a good "roll-back" program. It appears that for Win98 (+se) the two best options are GoBack and the program we have been discussing, Second Chance.

Go well and take care ...

Dr. Mac

You could use micrsoft backup that comes with windows 98, except it doesnt really roleback but it can save all your files and registry to a file to restore it later

Greetings all!

Well ... after looking at all your suggestions and links, and from extensive surfing around, I've come to the conclusion that there really are ONLY four programs out there that offer the "roll-back" functionality of ME and XP to my dear Win98se :

* GoBack
* Recovery Genius (looks like precisely the same idea as GoBack)
* Emergency Recovery System (ERS 9x) - but this only keeps two "system restore points" max - and it's a bit of a pain in the a*** to recover
* PowerQuest's Second Chance

As GoBack (and I would presume Recovery Genius) do something to the drive (don't know the technical name ... but they somehow "lock" it) - and that has given me major grief in the past (had to totally reformat) - I've settled on Second Chance.

Tried it out a few times with "fake" emergency situations and restores in DOS and yes ... it works an absolute treat.

Thank you all for your input - much appreciated.

Go well and best wishes ...

Dr. Mac

No NO NOOO, a thousand times NO!

Go back has caused more hate and discontent than I can count. Once it's screwed up a HD, only a re-format will solve the problem.

Since 98 was a wee small boy, there's been a registry restore built right into Windows.

I've used "Scanreg" hundreds of times to recover an errant 98.
Every day you boot up 98, you get a restore point automaticly. It keeps five restore points only.
So anytime you have a problem, you can boot up with your 98 boot disk and run Scanreg /restore and go back to any point in the last five days, that the computer was booted.

For a much more usefull restore you can always use Ghost 2003 from Symantec. It's for sale on the internet for as little as six bucks and change. The installed program can make a boot disk for you that you can use to boot up your PC and do Ghost backups or Ghost restores. It runs in DOS mode.
Version 2003 is almost exactly like the version that Symantec bought from Ghostsoft, Inc.
That means that Symantec didn't have time to screw it up, like they have so many other good programs.

I still use mine two or more times a week to make a Ghost Image file of my Windows XP partition and burn the image file to a DVD. Ghost 2003 also can put itself on the DVD as a boot sector, so you wind up with a bootable Restore disk. That's all you need to restore your Ghost image to a new or reformatted HD.

On my Ghost boot disk (floppy or CD) I've included my own HD cleanup routine which I can run or not from the menu I've created on the boot disk. I can also delete the windows swap file, so I don't have to back that up every time I do a Ghost image.

I find using Ghost the most usefull and user friendly method of doing regular backups that I've ever heard of.
With my SATA hard drive, Ghost will do a complete backup of my C: partition and save it to D: (the second partition on my SATA drive) in just under three minutes. It will also burn the image file to a DVD which takes a few minutes longer.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays,
Andromeda43

Just for the record, the "five" can be changed


Going back only five days is often not enough...

jaclaz

good call !
I'm going to change mine to 20, and look it can back up other files too.....
;
; Scanreg.ini for making system backups.
;

;Registry backup is skipped altogether if this is set to 0
Backup=1

;Registry automatic optimization is skipped if this is set to 0
Optimize=1

ScanregVersion=0.0001
MaxBackupCopies=5

;Backup directory where the cabs are stored is
; <windir>\sysbckup by default. Value below overrides it.
; It must be a full path. ex. c:\tmp\backup
;
BackupDirectory=

; Additional system files to backup into cab as follows:
; Filenames are separated by ','
; dir code can be:
; 10 : windir (ex. c:\windows)
; 11 : system dir (ex. c:\windows\system)
; 30 : boot dir (ex. c:\)
; 31 : boot host dir (ex. c:\)
;
;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3
;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3

I searched for more info on second chance. Any demo of it?

Wouldn't READING this thread be enough?
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=61636&st=4#



or do a google search for "sc2demo.zip"

jaclaz

Last I was running 98, I had the registry point's set to 99 hehe. Would periodically scan them to see the time stamp differences (to find out what my longest uptimes had been). Since they were only using up a meg or so each...

(Of course maybe 98 would of been more apropos)

Remember that you can dump the registry to plain-text (from Win/DOS),
and rebuild it (DOS only):



You can keep as many revisions as you please, of course,
and using text-based utilities like "diff", you can easily track
changes made to the registry by viruses and other software.



Rebuild registry from plain text:



This has the added benefit of compaction.

That's for the registry and ini files only!

look at this. Ill be making a mod soon. I have just been very busy. I hope to continue later tonight

I suggest you get PowerQuest (I guess Symantec now) DriveImage (2002),imho THE BEST.
It may be possible perhaps to "integrate" that feature off WinME into Win98SE ... I can try it some time,since
I have both OS'es..

It seems that the only software that realy do and do only a system file restore is the old SecondChance.
(Ghost and PowerQuest are for HD restore/replication)

Too bad it's an abandonware, not even distributed anymore and was little known at its time (why?).

Is it safe to use that old program considering the w98se evolution and the new environement today?

What about getting all the files on a CD or in zip files and simply copy-paste them when you want to "roll back" your system files?
A line temporarily added to autoexec.bat to move the files before windows is running and here you go.

How come nobody thought of doing that before?

I was looking for something like this too
I prefer to use MS System Restore cuz i'm not real heavy on 3rd party apps
although i have a few and thats all i gonna have
Now i hear people complain about how it can restore a virus if you
cleaned your computer.The big ? Is what if you don't have a virus then system restore would be okay
to use right.I figure since microsoft ending support i want need the internet for 98SE anymore
i will use Xp to get
infected with Virus/Malware but not my windows 98SE.

Can some1 see if its possible to run system restore in win98se?

Technicaly I could build some restore app with vbs and bat, even using pkzip and pkunzip to compress the files.
This restore app would work jointly with my Installed File Checker to detect files changes from a certain point.

But I will need some help to know which files can be deleted or replaced while windows is running and which files can't and other advices.

I also need to know if there is some interrest in me doing that. Maybe some true programmers who knows better and knows more advanced programming languages are already or would like to be on a project like this.

The fella looking for Me's System Restore ported to 98SE should be aware that Me's version often broke down, trashing the system it was meant to protect, when a restore failed.

The technology was a shared one with GoBack. Microsoft System Restore IS GoBack, just dumbed down. Like the ScanDisc and Defragmenter are Norton Disk Doctor and Speed Disk, just dumbed down.

Installed the latest available GoBack (now from Symantec) gives you a full version that actually works. Too bad their version can't be dumbed down! The problem is the way it records ANY file change all the time.

Chugga, chugga, there it goes shortening the life of your hard drive and slowing your system when large file changes are going on. Microsoft's System Restore didn't do that until now with Windows Vista. Although it doesn't provide going back to any time, it does offer GoBack's feature of right click file version changes. So it now does the same chugga, chugga crap, thrashing the hard drive constantly. I turned it off because it wouldn't even restore to any saved points because of the way my drive is partitioned. It needs to use its own partitioning methods, not my way of using PQBOOT to hide the inactive partitions.

So I've got scanreg /restore for 98SE, System Restore for XP, but nothing for my Vista partition. Progress, eh?

Just more of a reason i wouldn't mind having System Restore in 98SE

http://forums.windrivers.com/archive/index.php/t-32818.html

I have been using xxcopy (freeware for personal use) with its /clone switch etc for years to make copies of my system back to its first install. Could easily be scripted as a system restore program including making automatic backups.
For just testing software/driver updates I copy the windows folder to a different drive or partition rename it zindows then cut and paste it back onto drive C. If the software/driver install is not to my liking I boot to safe mode command prompt ren windows to delete and zindows to windows. Hey presto windows back to exactly how it was before any messing about. (assumes system files are not hidden in folder options/view)
This again could easily be made into an app, but I am so use to doing it I have never found the need.
Lastly my systems can also run from a win9x bootcd which enables the above to be done for those who dont like using dos
Hope some of this info helps

Is it because WinME was already buggy
it might work better on Win98SE since it was more stable

I'm working on a script program combined with my "Installed Files Checker" to create "system back ups" and "restore points"... since I manualy erased a filthy virus from my PC with the infos given by Installed Files Checker. (eventualy runing a batch file in dos mode and completing the task by a registry resotre, also in dos mode).

So I think I can do something useful out of that.
I will post a thread about this developement soon...

(click on my signature for Installed Files Checker)

Second Chance Get It Here:secondchance zip It installs saying its a 15 day demo but i,ved used it for a year so registering only apply to recieve techinal updates which long since expired .Enjoy i found this after a trip to the wayback machine and some internet savy.by the way its a excellent program that works for win 95/98 including 98se try it out.Long Live 98se.

files broken... please, hosting file secondchance.zip other server (RapidShare, SendSpace,...)

Sorry philco im on dailup here out in the country takes like 25 minutes could someone else upload it plz. P.S when u install sometimes its better to unrar and click on setup.exe .either ways good .thx u and Long live 98se mgdx for president .

Yep, SecondChance is awesome! I never knew about this and for years alternated between the hard drive grinding to destruction GoBack (also real-mode memory grabbing), and just depending on scanreg /restore.

Now I find that SecondChance is actually better than SystemRestore as it's configurable as to which folders to ignore, has an emergency recovery floppy, etc.

It recently allowed me to experiment with which cd burning program would actually work in my current configuration. I had problems with Nero and Roxio and IOS bootup errors. SecondChance saved me from needing to start fresh. Even when I couldn't load Windows, it would restore to any points from the boot floppy. It also works within Windows of course, if Windows will start!

I actually managed to find a sealed retail cd of it, but installed 2.7 instead. Funny that the updated version wouldn't accept the real cd key and I needed to use the "funny" one included on the PowerQuest SystemTools 2006 compilation. I guess that when people used to update from the program PowerQuest used to send them a different key for the update.

2.7 doesn't use Autoexec to load TSR's. Besides that it's probably essentially the same program. I just felt weird using a "funny" key when I actually bought the program!

It absolutely is SystemRestore (but better) for 9x. I wonder why it was left behind when Symantec bought the rights? Much better than GoBack in my view. No worries about what's going on with other partitions as it doesn't do anything to the boot sector like GoBack does. And you can recover individual files just like GoBack. too. Recover files that changed after a restore, the whole shebang.

I was able to download the rar file and unpack it with no problem, it contains SecondChance™ by PowerQuest® Version 2.01, the same version can be downloaded also here: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_down...p/download.html

It seems there is even newer version 2.07, here is German version: http://www.computerhilfe-euskirchen.de/dow...econdchance.zip

English version of 2.07 could be probably found using Google too.

Petr

Despite the availability of Second Chance and whatever you can say, I will keep on with my system back-up script project.

It will be fast, small, easy, open-source and with very litle overhead for each restore point.
I won't say more for the moment.

Sounds great, Fred.

I wish you the best of luck with it, and look forward to trying it out.

It was really hard to find 2.07, at least an English version of it. I wound up downloading a Torrent of that super pack of old PowerQuest programs to get it.

The 2.0 version was on sale by an Ebay seller so that's how I bought that. 2.07 is nicer because of the absence of the AutoExec TSR. Other than that I think it's the same thing.

But it would be great to have something available for everyone. SecondChance can't be that since it is still copywrited software, now owned by Symantec. Kind of like old MS-DOS games. Can't buy most of them but still illegal to distribute.

This thread is getting long and I'm sure I've missed a few posts while scanning it, but I'm still wondering what's wrong with scanreg.exe that comes built into Windows 98/SE and ME?????

It makes a restore point every new calendar day when you boot up your PC. It can be set to make more than the default 5 points before dropping the old ones off in the ol' Bit Bucket.
I use it at least once a week to save some old customer's PC.

In MSCONFIG, you should see an entry, "ScanRegistry", with a path statement, "C:\Windows\scanregw.exe /autorun"

Then, to make the program even more usefull in case of disaster, find "Scanreg.ini"
and edit it. Change the line "MaxBackupCopies =5" to read 30 instead of 5 and Save the file.

Now, it will make backup copies of your registry, every day, for 30 days instead of just 5 days, before it starts dropping off the old Restore Points.

When windows won't even boot up, you can boot up your system with a Boot floppy or CD and run:
Scanreg.exe /Restore
And quite often recover a system to full operation. I do it often.

I have the scanreg program already on my custom boot disk, just for this purpose.
here's the menu that comes up when I boot with that disk:

CD Rom Drivers Are Loaded

Main Menu, Windows ME Utilities

1. Fdisk (setup new hard drive)

2. Fdisk: Make New Boot Record

3. Format drive C:

4. Scandisk C: ( /autofix )

5. Scandisk All Drives ( /all /autofix )

6. Run "Scanreg /restore" (restores an older version of the Registry)

7. Delete WMIEXE.exe (this file, not needed by Windows)

8. Run HOOVER.bat (deletes 98, ME junk files)

9. Remove all files from "C:\_Restore\*.*" in Windows ME.

Type your choice at the DOS prompt and press ENTER.

***************************************************

Everyone who still uses Windows 98, 98/SE or ME, should have such a boot disk
handy at all times. You never know the hour or day when you'll need it.

My own Boot disk is actually made with Windows ME, because it's more versatile.
And, it will allow me to set up a 160 gig HD, which 98 won't do.

Cheers!
Andromeda43

Thanks Andromeda for your suggestion.

My program will actualy save and restore installed files. (Scanreg save and restore only the registry)
My program will not save or work on the registry. Only on files.

Then I could add a few stuffs from your boot disk into some batch file.
I intend to use autoexec.bat to launch this batch files.

For the moment I'm working on the 1st step: saving files which has changed since the last restore point.

When this will be ok, I will work on how to restore those files and maybe other stuffs like the registry.

Suggestions are welcome.

i can't wait Fredledingue you are very skilled

Greetings all

Well ... who would have thought that when I started this thread several montyhs ago it would generate so many replies!

Fred - your project sounds great - do keep uo all up to date with your progress.

Eck - please check your PM

Anybody found a download for the ENGLISH version of PQSC v. 2.07 ???

Keep the ideas coming.

Best wishes to you all ...

Dr. Mac

Well, of course one would want the registry restored along with the rest of the files on the partition. Just the files is like a back up program. The kind that doesn't help much if you restore files but the registry doesn't have the right connections to them.

Scanreg /restore is nice, but what we're talking about is nicer as just a registry back up can still leave things non-functional without all the files being the same as they were when the registry backup you're restoring was created.

SystemRestore does restore the registry (as does SecondChance). So what we're looking for is a way to do the same type of thing. That is restoring the entire partition, including the registry, with the ability to disable the monitoring of individual folders, such as the TEMP, Temporary Internet Files, My Documents, Cookies, Favorites, etc. That way all the remaining folders are restored, but those are left alone.

Eck,
The concept of partition apeals to notions of computer chirurgy that I'm not very familiar with such as raw data copying and so on.

What I can do is resotirng files from a batch file launched via autoexec.bat and then launch the registry restore app also via autoexec.bat.
Maybe in dos mode or on a bootable CD too. There are tons of unexplored possibilities but that's for the future.
However, the creation of restore points will have to be done under windows, at least for the moment.

The scriptware I will propose is already able to exclude or include the folders of your choice and already suggests in its dialog with the user, to exclude folders such as temp, recent etc...
A file filtering is already in action to discard files above a certain size or of certain extentions. More filters can be added or changed easily in the code and I could easily make an ini file to allow the user to modify these filters if necessary.

In the future I plan to port my script(s) to the more graphic and user friendly HTA interface but all this takes time!
______

Everybody:
Thanks for your encouragements. I will need you for testing "simulation" releases (which will not interfere with your system until it's prefectly safe).

Dr. Mac
From what i have seen PQSC v. 2.07 was for windows me

2.07 was the follow up to 2.0 it works on 98se it was extended 2 work on me.i installed secondchance2.07 0n 98se and it works fine.

I'v worked a lot this week end on the w98 System Back Up Script project.
It's still not a System Restore program, but it already makes pretty good back ups of the system files.
I hope to post a simulation version in few days. I still need to run a few tests before.
While working on it, I have also improved the Installed File Checker script (click on my signature to go to the download/update page), that wil be the cornerstone of the whole project.

What are all the files i need for WinME System Restore?

WinME has its own System Restore built into it, so you don't need to get anything extra.

Dr. Mac

Let me rephrase
what are the System Restore files from WinME
i need to test it on Win98SE