[Dr. Mac]

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

This post has been edited by Dr. Mac: 28 November 2005 - 08:18 AM

[wizardofwindows]

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.

[jaclaz]

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

[Dr. Mac]

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

[jaclaz]

Quote

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

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

[Dr. Mac]

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

[kartel]

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.sysintern...ssExplorer.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 .

[wizardofwindows]

nice article very imformative and you answered it all.

[jaclaz]

Quote

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!

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.

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 29 November 2005 - 01:56 PM

[Dr. Mac]

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

[awergh]

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

[Dr. Mac]

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

[Andromeda43]

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

[jaclaz]

Andromeda43 said:

Every day you boot up 98, you get a restore point automaticly. It keeps five restore points only.

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

Quote

The Registry Checker is a Windows program that makes a backup of the Registry when you boot up. It you subsequently foul up the Registry, the Registry Checker will automatically use the back up.

You can tell Registry Checker to save past backups. Microsoft recommends that a maximum of five be saved, but you can store as many as 99. To change that setting, find the Scanreg.ini file in the Windows folder. To open it, double-click it. If necessary, tell Windows to open it in Notepad.

Change the proper line to say MaxBackupCopies=5, or whatever number you prefer.

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

jaclaz

[kartel]

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

[dirtwarrior]

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

[jaclaz]

dirtwarrior, on Dec 2 2005, 12:34 PM, said:

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

[Crash&Burn]

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)

This post has been edited by Crash&Burn: 03 December 2005 - 03:55 PM

[somewan]

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

regedit /e reg04dec.txt

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.

diff -u reg28nov.txt reg04dec.txt

Rebuild registry from plain text:

regedit /c reg04dec.txt

This has the added benefit of compaction.

[RJARRRPCGP]

kartel, on Nov 29 2005, 01:16 PM, said:

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

That's for the registry and ini files only!

This post has been edited by RJARRRPCGP: 09 December 2005 - 08:25 PM