The Anti-Cloning Restore Partition Strategy - Better Than Cloning

In this thread here, I hint of what the 'Recovery' partition is for:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5617217#post5617217

This post expands that a little further and shows how I actually use the 'Recovery' partition I set up on my HD's.

This also shows (indirectly) why I don't like cloning my systems - to me, cloning is a sub-optimal way to get a computer up and running that I should be able to trust and depend on for the next 24 months or so. Cloning also doesn't address the updates that naturally occur with drivers, software or even how our own preferences for specific software changes over time.

Cloning sounds great in theory, but like most things that promise something for almost nothing (our effort), they fail to deliver where it counts: giving a fully updated system in as little time as possible, but also failing in giving the 'cleanest' system possible, at any particular future time they need to be used.

For use with an SSD, almost all cloning software will not correctly honour the partition alignment and performance will suffer with most SSD's.

With Win 7, a clean install will also set up the 100MB (size may vary depending on system) hidden partition with the O/S's recovery tools on it. If we upgrade over Vista, this small partition gets no chance to be created and offers one less route to a successful and easy (possible) recovery.

Also, keep in mind that a modern O/S like Win 7, just like Vista before it, sets itself up by taking an inventory of the system's hardware performance during setup - by cloning a system over to a new HD (SSD or otherwise), Windows will continue to be setup optimally to the old hardware and possibly not take advantage of all the benefits the new HD/SSD offers. Worse, it may not set it's defrag function 'off' for the SSD and the system may experience SD in the SSD, if defrag is indeed running repeatedly on it (SD= sudden death!).

Lastly, 'real-time' imaging systems that make a system image/clone each night/week/etc. offer no real protection against crashes - if the conditions that led up to those instabilities have been preserved onto the previous image - and, from which we use to restore the system from.


The benefits of the following system are:

Drivers:
You will be as up-to-date as you want to be with your systems newest drivers for your next install.

Only need to do the research once for the install order of the drivers. If anything does conflict, will be able to change the order (on your next install) and our 'notes' (folders) will be automatically 'updated' so that we don't have to figure this out ever again (on any one specific machine/model, of course).



Software:
Your installs will be identical between machines (if at all important to you).

Your software will be available to you even if you don't have access to your original install media - whether you're working or on vacation halfway around the world, or if it's only across town.

This is a good backup (should have more than this single BU, of course) of your purchased software - especially any you have downloaded directly from the 'net with no physical media to rely on.


Both:

You never have to write anything on pieces of paper and days/weeks/months later have to try to find that piece of paper and even then have to figure out what you had written and why!



When I first started out with computers and the 8" floppies gave way to the 5 1/4" 'high tech' ones, I would keep a notebook (the real notebooks - made out of paper ) with all the things that I needed to do and the order I needed to do them, to get the computer to do anything.

Fast forward almost 30 years later, I have a better solution!

For each computer I use/setup, I have the following folder hierarchy in the Recovery partition and also keep a copy of this recovery partition on a 32 or 64GB USB key as 'insurance' against catastrophic failure of the system HD (or the HD with the Recovery partition on it - on my desktops with multiple HD's):


DSKTP001

20091201​

01.DRVRS​

00.BIOS​

02.AUDIO​

03.BLUTH​

02.PRGMS​

00.CCLNR​

01.WNRAR​

02.JAVA​

03.QCKTM​

03.CUDAT​

00.OUTLK​

01.PSWDS​

02.ACCTG​

04.PTRAI​

00.MSE​

01.WINUD​

00.IWRLS​

01.UMODM​

05.USRNM​

00.U_ED​

01.C_EDC​

06.JURNL​

Okay, how is this used?


DSKTOP01 = Workstation (or Desktop) 1.
The first or parent folder is the name/id of the system I'm preparing.

20091201 = Date of Install.
The first and only folder (20091201) inside the Name/ID folder is simply the date of the install in YYYYMMDD format. If I ever update anything inside the 20091201 folder, for example today I find an updated wireless driver - I will change this folder's name to today's date 20091215.

In this way I can tell at a glance if this is the most current 'Install' setup for any specific computer. Or at least, how old the one I'm looking at is (and possibly go on a search for firmware/bios/drivers updates depending on why I'm looking at re-installing this particular machine).

01.DRVRS = Drivers; in the optimal order required.
is the first child folder under the Date of Install and appropriately contains drivers for the specific machine in question.

The key thing to remember is that under this child folder is a numbered folder system that mimics what I've shown above, but it not only contains the drivers needed after a clean Windows install, but also shows the order that these drivers need to be installed in too.

If any driver gets updated; the old/replaced driver gets put into an non-numbered folder called 'OLDDRVRS' along with its containing folder. This OLDDRVR folder will get emptied the next time this Recovery Install gets used and the new drivers are proven to be stable.

02.PRGMS = Apps; in the optimal order required.
This folder contains the programs and the order that the programs should be installed. As new versions are tested on a live system, there is no need for a OLDSFTWR folder. New versions simply replace the old versions.

This folder includes the latest CCleaner, WinRAR, Quicktime, Java and Flash as the first items installed (as so many other Apps need one or another to work properly in my specific installs).

03.CUDAT = Critical User Data.
This folder may contain the Outlook .pst file, a txt file with websites/passwords, an accounting data file, or any other critical file needed to be accessed as soon as the system is up and running.

04.PTRAI = Processes To Run After Install.
This folder contains the key processes and the order in which to run them after an install. An example is:
00.InstallMSE
01.WinUpdates
02.DoNotUpgradeWirelessOnWU
03.UpdateModemOnWU

Note:
00.IWRLS means (to me) Ignore Wireless on WU
01.UMODM means (to me) Update Modem on WU


05.USRNM = User/Computer Names for this machine.
This is to ensure that computers play nice on the network, of course.

Note:
00.U_ED means (to me) User Name is 'ED'
01.C_EDC means (to me) Computer Name is 'EDC'
02.N_NET means (to me) Computer Network is 'NET'

06.JURNL = Post Install, tweaks, uninstalls, new installs & driver updates
As the computer is used over time, this section notes when new software/drivers were installed, old software updated/uninstalled, any tweaks done to the system and the days/times Windows Updates (WU) were run.

For troubleshooting a live system, this last section is most helpful in determining if install order is a possible culprit or if WU's broke anything previously working.


Conclusion:
With the above system, an install can and should be done with no internet access (the only way I'll install one of my own systems) until the Install MSE step is completed in folder/step '04.PTRAI'. (Be sure you've also downloaded the latest virus definitions file too - from/on an A/V 'protected' machine, of course).

This is a 'living' dairy of the install, including the order of any software/driver installations done to any specific machine and will be updated for the life of the machine as I add new software, drivers or learn that App 'A' needs to be installed after App 'B' so that conflicts/incompatibilities are minimized or eliminated.

Also note that I still use DOS 8 character limitations (except for the number of characters after the period or dot '.') I guess there is no reason for this in 2009, but what can I say, old habits die hard.

This system above not only allows me to test identical installs between machines, including the order of software installation, but it also gives me the ability to get a machine up and running again (if the issue was only due to O/S or software problems and not H/W) anywhere in the world, with only a source of power and two USB keys (Win 7 bootable and the Recovery folder we've discussed here).

This gives a glimpse of the power this offers over 'cloning' and the potential to keep a running diary of a computer's vital setup parameters easily - no pen and paper required.

Of course, there is no $$ savings here from not having to buy the cloning software (if not using freeware, of course), because we've spent it on a 32 or 64GB USB key to backup the work we needed to do for an optimally setup and up-to-date system.

Hope this helps in your setup strategy for your next system install and more importantly, in your next re-install after that.

Cheers!

 

cloning is fine imho for one case: popping up the machine, popping a new drive in. cloning over. putting the old into garbage.

this does not mean at all that you get a nice system. all you get is the IDENTICAL system you had before.

but sometimes, that's exactly what i want..



haven't read your idea yet, really. i just had to get that out...

 

Well, not IDENTICAL, but I get what you mean.

Cloning does have it's uses - just not around here.

This is not just an 'idea' - I would have been mental if I had to keep my stable of (computer) workhorses going and having to re-create the wheel each time, drivers, software and install-order-wise!

 

There's a very distinct advantage that I see to cloning, and I say this with absolutely no disrespect to your system at all:

I don't want to deal with all that ish.

Seriously, it's a great system, and you've got EVERYTHING you need right there on that flash key. That's awesome. But I know that I (and probably many others) will never keep that up to date, as it has to be done manually and I'm lazy (unless I've missed some automation program you've specified here, in which case ignore me).

With a clone, I boot into a clone program, tell it to create an ISO, and walk away. To restore, I do essentially the same in reverse.

I'd rather just keep my system as I'd like it as I go, and then take snapshots of it for later recovery if needed.

 

depends on the clone tool, it will be identical.

i normally use disc cloning tools. not partition copiers.

 

No, the clone tool doesn't matter.

What matters is the licensing scheme used by the software installed.

Even a one to one exact copy from one HD to another will break that licensing for some products.

 

While this a nice and interesting topic, it is in the wrong forum.

I'll ask a mod to move it

 

Wrong forum? What?

This topic is specifying a system that I use to test and/or quickly employ new H/W with predictable results between two systems or getting an identical clean install on two separate systems so that they are interchangeable from a user's perspective.

I think that ties it in nicely with this forum and it's 'Hardware, Software and Accessories' theme.

 

Hey, thanks for the input!

No disrespect taken nor assumed. Certainly none directed back at yourself, either.

While the drawbacks (having to keep it updated) seem huge from a time perspective, in reality they are not:

(Have to download and install that new software/driver/update anyways: might as well take the few seconds and copy it to the Recovery partition and/or your Recovery USB key and be done with it).

While keeping it up to date (especially the '06.JURNL' folder) may seem daunting, the time savings of having at least the driver install order down pat is immeasurable when a system is down and all that is on one's mind is getting back to work again, instead of remembering the support websites, downloading and then remembering the order of installs etc. - remember that not each folder needs to be kept up-to-date, nor even used. As much as a user needs, they could put in.

What turned me off of cloning is the very temporary nature of a multi-gigabyte file that offers only a 'quick' but not a 'smart' solution to a system restore. On a production machine that sees data and programs changing daily, cloning is more hassle than its worth, for the small (time) benefits it offers.

EDIT:

Cloning is perfect for generic and/or static installs, or where peak performance is not a prerequisite. It's just so difficult for an always moving target such as on a production machine to know when to do a clone because you'll need it ' soon'.

/Edit.

This is to give user's a choice (and a systematic approach) between a 'blind' clean install and cloning. We all make the choice's we need that are most appropriate for us at the time we decide.

No right, no wrong - but one will almost always be better (or more appropriate) than the other - but both methods are preferred to a 'blind' clean install any day.

 

This is a subforum "Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades".

There are other subforums that might fit better. If a mod doesn't move it, then no harm no foul,

 

sleey0, not arguing, really!

but if I change my original:
'...ties it in nicely with this forum and it's 'Hardware, Software and Accessories' theme' to;

'ties it in nicely with this forum and it's 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' theme, they sound, effectively, the same to me?

No prob! If a mod needs to move it, I just hope I can find it again.

 

I guess I haven't had the issues you mention with drivers. In the (admittedly few) instances where I had to restore from a clone, the drivers were not an issue, and the new volume ID of the new drive did not cause any headaches. This could be very different, however, for different software.

If you do have problems like this (or anticipate the possibilty of such), then yeah! Your system would save a whole heck of a lot of time.

 

I use EASEUS & Macrium Reflect Backup to make complete backups of my Windows partition. I use both in case one fails. I do this not to save file data but more because configuring my OS exactly the way I want it and installing the tons of programs I have is a pain. My personal failsafe is to backup early when you know things are ok and to have at least 2 differ dated backups a month apart.

Most of my Files/Data are stored on differ partitions and backed up(not imaged/cloned) separately.

Also I agree with "Explosivpotato". That system seems a bit overwhelming.