System Protection

[landorasue]

I have a question about Win7 System Protection for Recovery settings. By accident today, I found out that my System Protection is turned OFF even though Win7 Help states that the default is ON. This is the first time I've ever seen this screen, so have not idea why it is turned OFF. Is this something I should be messing with? I'm thinking it should be set to the second button: "Restore system settings and previous versions of files"

I don't want to do anything stupid, so what say the Geeks?!! ;)

http://i872.photobucket.com/albums/ab287/landorasue/Images%20to%20Link%20to%20Sites/SystemProtection-01.jpg

[robyn]

Sorry I can't help you, but I'd be interested to know about this.

[landorasue]

When I tried to restore (right-click) affected files/folders, the restore only dated back to May 20, 2011. Not sure why that's only as far back as it went, but it does me no use. ACDSee flattened 196 layered TIFF files when embedding. Still waiting to hear back from ACDSee, but I'm sure these files are simply rendered useless now. The only reason I started embedding is because two months ago, the ACDSee tech told me to start embedding. This was after ACDSee corrupted my ACDSee database. Maybe this isn't as good a program as I once thought. :mad:

Heard back from my computer geek friend. Here's what he had to say:

Hi Lana, it's normal for your System Protection to be off because you have a system restore partition already on your hard drive. All the computer manufacturers do this now. The only problem is that it will restore your computer back to the way it was when it was purchased. That's why it's off. It came that way. If you wish to use it anyway, select the option "Restore system settings and previous versions of files". Please make a backup image to EHD first.

It does appear that you have System Restore on. You still might be able to get your flattened files back that way. Try right-clicking the folder that has those files in it and see if you have a restore option for them.

[GreenEyedLadyDesigns]

Hi Lana -

It's my understanding that system restore has nothing to do with your data - it merely stores your operating system settings, not your files, so you are not going to get any help there.

As I mentioned in the other thread, the backup in ACDSee is not backing up your actual files, only the database you are creating when you tag your files, so you will get no help there either.

So the bottom line, I'm afraid, is if you don't have backup copies of your tiff files from before you embedded them in ACDSee, your layers are gone.

It's crazy that there is no warning that layered files will be flattened during the embed process. I'm so sorry this has happened to you!

[landorasue]

Vicki, thanks for you insight and sympathy.

I do have an Image Backup. Do you know if I can copy individual files from an
Image Backup back onto my laptop? I've emailed my geek friend; still waiting to hear from him. The Image Backup does not have all the TIFF files, but will have about half.

I've learned yet another valuable lesson. Backing up to an EHD is not fail proof. I'm also going to start copying my kits and pages to CDs/DVDs!

[GreenEyedLadyDesigns]

From what I see online, you cannot choose files to restore from an "image backup". Basically, an "image backup" is a picture of your entire computer at a specific time - its purpose is to give you back a working system in the event of a hard drive failure. It isn't meant to be a file back up system.

[Traci]

Hmmm....the short answer to this is....depends on what you are using for an "image backup". As an example, my DS lost a mission critical file last week due to an unknown glitch. It was backed up in two different places and imaged on an offsite backup. If it is truly backed up, you should be able to restore from the backup. That is what my DS was able to do...and it only took minutes to restore the entire file.

I have retrieved backed up files from Carbonite (http://www.carbonite.com) more than once. That particular program allows full, partial, or by-the-file restorations. BUT....if you are using something like Ghost (or whatever they are calling it now) by Norton, your options are limited. Acronis True Image, I believe, will allow partial restorations, but not by the file. I may be wrong here, as it has been a long time since I used Acronis.

As to the protection being "off" for your recovery drive, LanaSue, as your geek friend has already indicated, this is normal. Your machine is set up to ignore that partition UNLESS you need to do a complete restore. So what this means is that nothing is written to this disk at all. It sits untouched until you need it to restore your machine to a like-new setup. Most computers are set up so that you cannot even see what is on that partition unless needed. I hope this helps some.....

[GreenEyedLadyDesigns]

Hmmm....the short answer to this is....depends on what you are using for an "image backup". As an example, my DS lost a mission critical file last week due to an unknown glitch. It was backed up in two different places and imaged on an offsite backup. If it is truly backed up, you should be able to restore from the backup. That is what my DS was able to do...and it only took minutes to restore the entire file.

You're right, Traci. There are some image backups that are meant for data retrieval. But if I am reading Lana's posts correctly, her image backup would have would have either been created by the manufacturer or created at the time of the initial set up. I spent some time researching the issue today and everything I found said that this kind of image backup would restore the system to the state delivered - not at all what Lana would want.

[Traci]

Exactly right, Vicki. And the restore partition on the computer is meant to be just that...an exact image of the computer in an "as new" state. For Lana's purposes, this is not what she wants.

And I don't think I stated it well, either. The recovery partition is NEVER written to during normal operation. It is a safe area to preserve the backups of the original machine....NOT data backups. Normal data backup usually stays on either the main C: drive or whatever drive has been chosen to write to. But it will never be written to the Recovery partition. I hope that makes things a bit clearer.....

[KimR.]

Woah, I know where to come if I have a techy question--y'all are speeking Greek to me...er, I mean GEEK!:eek:

[GreenEyedLadyDesigns]

Woah, I know where to come if I have a techy question--y'all are speeking Greek to me...er, I mean GEEK!:eek:


Lol, Kim! Its a different language, huh?

Traci - yep, we're on the same page!

[Traci]

(snicker) Yep...it is a whole other language....my dad says..."It sounds like English, but I don't understand a word of it".....

[landorasue]

I do backups, but it's written over on the EHD each time I backup. Therefore, I cannot retrieve the layered files from the EHD. BUT...my friend had installed Terabytes Unlimited which I used for an image backup about two months ago. He said this program will read files and I should be able to restore any of those layered files that were included in that image! I'm going to try this sometime this week. My friend said he'd come over, if necessary, and help me with this!!! So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can recover some of my layered files.

[Traci]

That IS good news, LanaSue! If it were me, I think I would change that backup situation on your EHD. Could your friend set it up so it only backs up changes without over writing files?

[landorasue]

I already changed the backup situation on my EHD to regular type backups; no syncing for me again! PLUS I'm going to start making CD/DVD copies of my pages and kits as extra protection.