Office 2007 strange prob.

[XS11E]

OK I will go check the desktop in a bit. Since it just started
over I assume there will be nothing yet. I opened system restore
on this machine and it offers several dates going back to
11/14/10. All the dates say critical update which I take it are
dates I took a Windows update?

Correct, many updates create a restore point before updating.

While I was poking around I noticed an option to create a system
image. I take it this is the Windows one?
Correct

It offered to create on on the C drive or on DVDs. It said it
would take up to 240Gigs. So I take it this would be everything on
this computer right now? That would be a lot of discs but this has
a BR drive so if this does work I guess I will buy a few blank BR
discs.

An alternate: I have a second hard drive and use the second one for
backups. They're getting pretty reasonable with 1 TB drives under
$100US and removable USB drives for the same price. It's worth
investigating, it's faster than CDs or DVDs and might be more
reliable as CDs or DVDs can have strange things happen such as dog

So does the create image offered here actually work in that I
could pop in the discs and it would put everything back to the way
it is the day I made the discs?

I'm not sure about the Windows image but someone here will know.
That's how it works with Acronis.

Is there a certain kind of BR discs I need to use as in do I have
to use the kind you can only write to one time?

I wouldn't use Blue Ray discs, they're more expensive. The regular CDs
or DVDs are cheaper if your drive will write them, use the write once
kind, the rewritable can be unreliable.

 

[Char Jackson]

While I was poking around I noticed an option to create a system image. I
take it this is the Windows one? It offered to create on on the C drive or
on DVDs. It said it would take up to 240Gigs. So I take it this would be
everything on this computer right now?

That would be a lot of discs but this has a BR drive so if this does work I
guess I will buy a few blank BR discs. It would be nice to be able to
restore this one the same as it is now since it started out life as Vista so
I am assuming if I use the recovery that came with it I would be back to
Vista then have to move it back to W-7 and of course load everything back.

So does the create image offered here actually work in that I could pop in
the discs and it would put everything back to the way it is the day I made
the discs?

Is there a certain kind of BR discs I need to use as in do I have to use the
kind you can only write to one time? I went through this one time when I
first got this, bought a blank BR disc to make another recovery disc and it
was the wrong kind but I can't remember now what it was that I bought since
I tossed it.

Save yourself a whole lot of grief and tedium by backing up to a
second hard drive rather than trying to put everything on optical
media.

 

[Alex Clayton]

Save yourself a whole lot of grief and tedium by backing up to a
second hard drive rather than trying to put everything on optical
media.

OK I will pick up another 500 Gig. I guess the best way to play with this
would be to use the extra laptop I have. Will try making an image on the
drive for it, then see if I can restore it with it to see how it works. That
way if I make a mess it will be on one that we only use for watching movies
so if I have to re do it nothing will really be lost.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

That would be a lot of discs but this has a BR drive so if this does work I
guess I will buy a few blank BR discs. It would be nice to be able to
restore this one the same as it is now since it started out life as Vista so
I am assuming if I use the recovery that came with it I would be back to
Vista then have to move it back to W-7 and of course load everything back.
So does the create image offered here actually work in that I could pop in
the discs and it would put everything back to the way it is the day I made
the discs?
Is there a certain kind of BR discs I need to use as in do I have to use the
kind you can only write to one time? I went through this one time when I
first got this, bought a blank BR disc to make another recovery disc and it
was the wrong kind but I can't remember now what it was that I bought since
I tossed it.

Be sure you have a WRITABLE Blu-ray drive. Most computers only have a
BD-ROM (i.e., read-only) drive.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

You have to remember a few of us (like me) know little about these machines.
The answer you gave me went right over my head. I had no idea I was not
answering as I had no idea there was another way to open a file other than
double clicking it, so the "fix" is Greek to me.

I do remember that, but I also pointed out that your attitude is better
than the attitude of some others

The stuff I was talking about and that I want you to remember is really
very basic, and so your comment above leads me to suggest that you spend
a week or so with an appropriate text book and your computer to learn
some new stuff.

Yeah, it's a PITA, but the results could be rewarding...

Here are a couple of possibilities for books:

Windows 7 for Dummies
Windows 7 Plain & Simple (from Microsoft)

I have no idea if they would be useful for you, they're just a couple of
titles I have here...

 

[Alex Clayton]

Be sure you have a WRITABLE Blu-ray drive. Most computers only have a
BD-ROM (i.e., read-only) drive.

Had a hell of a time finding the info but this is what is says:
Tech Specs
General
Device Type

BD-ROM drive
Enclosure Type

External
Interface

Serial ATA
Optical Storage
Type

DVD-Writer / BD-ROM
Expansion / Connectivity
Interfaces

1 x Serial ATA-150

 

[Alex Clayton]

I do remember that, but I also pointed out that your attitude is better
than the attitude of some others

The stuff I was talking about and that I want you to remember is really
very basic, and so your comment above leads me to suggest that you spend
a week or so with an appropriate text book and your computer to learn
some new stuff.

Yeah, it's a PITA, but the results could be rewarding...

Here are a couple of possibilities for books:

Windows 7 for Dummies
Windows 7 Plain & Simple (from Microsoft)

I have no idea if they would be useful for you, they're just a couple of
titles I have here...

I shall look for one of them. May save a lot of frustration later.

 

[Seth]

Had a hell of a time finding the info but this is what is says:

BD-ROM drive

DVD-Writer / BD-ROM

Yeah, that won't write BlueRay, only read.

 

[Alex Clayton]

Yeah, that won't write BlueRay, only read.

Ok thanks, that saves me wasting time buying some blanks then.

 

[XS11E]

Ok thanks, that saves me wasting time buying some blanks then.

It will, however, write CDs and nonBlueRay DVDs.

 

[R. C. White]

??Hi, Alex.

Let me echo and amplify Gene's advice. My standard sermon goes something
like this:

Buy a good book and don't just spend some time reading it. INVEST more time
in studying it! What you learn will pay big dividends now - and for as long
as you continue to use computers, which just might be for the rest of your
life.

I'm an accountant, and retired at that. Not a techie of any kind. But when
I got my first computer (the original TRS-80) in 1977, nobody in town knew
anything about these new machines called "microcomputers". Since there was
nobody that I could ask - and no newsgroups in those days - I had to learn
more about computers than I ever intended, just out of self-defense. Over
the next few years, I added more "stuff" to my system: floppy diskettes, a
modem (300-baud mouse-ears), more and better floppies (double-sided!), a
printer, and lots more. And migrated through software: starting with Level
I BASIC in ROM, then Level II, then TRS-DOS, CP/M, MS-DOS, Windows (starting
with version 1.0) - and several sidetracks, like GEM and OS/2. Not trying
to snow you with my own accomplishments, Alex; just illustrating that this
has been a 30-year (so far) learning curve (for me) - and the end is not in
sight. There will never come a point where you can relax and say, "OK, I've
finally learned about computers, and now I can just coast." There will be
more to learn tomorrow.

But some of my most valuable learning came from Peter Norton's user manuals
for the original Norton Utilities in the 1980's. They explained hard disks,
for example, on a bit-by-byte level. I even learned to rebuild File
Allocation Tables bit by bit after some of our many electrical storms, which
always seemed to happen when the disk's read/write heads were over the
directory or FAT. And I learned how to manually copy the first dozen or so
tracks of the disk to the last tracks, so that I could copy them back after
the storm for a quicker recovery. Thankfully, disks are far more sturdy and
reliable nowadays, and I haven't had to do anything like that in a decade.
But those early experiences and studying those early instruction manuals -
with one hand on the book and the other on the computer - taught me a lot
that I still use every day. Today's problems seem different on the surface,
but their roots go back to what I learned more than 20 years ago.

So, don't just go find a couple of cheap beginner's books. Buy a quality
book (like the Windows Inside Out series - Windows 7 Inside Out, by MVP Ed
Bott and others, from Microsoft Press, lists for $49.99 - and invest at
least half a day in understanding some of it. I haven't read the Win7
Resource Kit, also from Microsoft Press, but earlier versions (for Win98,
Win2K, WinXP, Vista) were worth the $50 or so that I paid for each of them.
Each included a lot of information that I didn't need (how to deploy Windows
in your nationwide enterprise, for example), but the other half of each book
was useful enough to me to justify the full price. But, of course, just
buying the books wasn't enough; I had to actually READ them. And then use
them for reference when a problem arose.

Spend the time (and money) now, and enjoy the dividends for the rest of your
life.

End of sermon. ;^}

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-9/30/10)
Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3504.1109) in Win7 Ultimate x64
SP1 RC


"Alex Clayton" wrote in message

I do remember that, but I also pointed out that your attitude is better
than the attitude of some others

The stuff I was talking about and that I want you to remember is really
very basic, and so your comment above leads me to suggest that you spend
a week or so with an appropriate text book and your computer to learn
some new stuff.

Yeah, it's a PITA, but the results could be rewarding...

Here are a couple of possibilities for books:

Windows 7 for Dummies
Windows 7 Plain & Simple (from Microsoft)

I have no idea if they would be useful for you, they're just a couple of
titles I have here...

I shall look for one of them. May save a lot of frustration later.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

It will, however, write CDs and nonBlueRay DVDs.

Good point, well worth mentioning explicitly

 

[Char Jackson]

It will, however, write CDs and nonBlueRay DVDs.

Didn't he say earlier that he has something like 240 GB to back up?
That would be over 50 DVD's, or nearly 650 CD's, or a single external
hard drive. Yikes.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I'll throw in my 2 cents in-line and with snippage...

??Hi, Alex.

Let me echo and amplify Gene's advice. My standard sermon goes something
like this:

Buy a good book and don't just spend some time reading it. INVEST more time
in studying it! What you learn will pay big dividends now - and for as long
as you continue to use computers, which just might be for the rest of your
life.

Let me emphasize that one shouldn't just read the book - one should sit
at the computer and do the exercises - and even the non-exercises, i.e.,
follow some of the other explanations by using the KB and mouse.

I'm an accountant, and retired at that. Not a techie of any kind. But when
I got my first computer (the original TRS-80) in 1977, nobody in town knew
anything about these new machines called "microcomputers". Since there was
nobody that I could ask - and no newsgroups in those days - I had to learn
more about computers than I ever intended, just out of self-defense. Over
the next few years, I added more "stuff" to my system: ....
Not trying
to snow you with my own accomplishments, Alex; just illustrating that this
has been a 30-year (so far) learning curve (for me) - and the end is not in
sight. There will never come a point where you can relax and say, "OK, I've
finally learned about computers, and now I can just coast." There will be
more to learn tomorrow.

I started programming in Fortran II in late 1961 or 1962, and I agree
100% with that last sentence

But some of my most valuable learning came from Peter Norton's user manuals
for the original Norton Utilities in the 1980's.

Also some Norton published some training books back then. They were
invaluable to me as well.

Today's problems seem different on the surface,
but their roots go back to what I learned more than 20 years ago.

So, don't just go find a couple of cheap beginner's books. Buy a quality
book (like the Windows Inside Out series - Windows 7 Inside Out, by MVP Ed
Bott and others, from Microsoft Press, lists for $49.99

But at least do SOMETHING!

But, of course, just
buying the books wasn't enough; I had to actually READ them. And then use
them for reference when a problem arose.

Spend the time (and money) now, and enjoy the dividends for the rest of your
life.

End of sermon. ;^}

RC

End of further sermonizing :-D

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Didn't he say earlier that he has something like 240 GB to back up?
That would be over 50 DVD's, or nearly 650 CD's, or a single external
hard drive. Yikes.

Or even 10 Blu-rays - still Yikes

My comment in answer to XS11E's post was for other uses of CDs and DVDs.

I am not in favor of optical discs for backup, both because of the
dependability of the media and because of the numbers you bring up.

 

[Stan Brown]

There's nothing changed, there are things that will delete restore
points but the most common is that you never set any. Check that
System Restore is turned on for the correct drive, the Help files will
get you started.

IIRC, the change went in the other direction. Doesn't Windows 7 now
create a restore point automatically before most software installs?

 

[Stan Brown]

Save yourself a whole lot of grief and tedium by backing up to a
second hard drive rather than trying to put everything on optical
media.

I do that, and then once a month I burn the backups to DVD and stash
them in a drawer at work. Offsite storage of backups is not just for
businesses.

 

[Joe Morris]

[lots of good comments]

So, don't just go find a couple of cheap beginner's books. Buy a quality
book (like the Windows Inside Out series - Windows 7 Inside Out, by MVP Ed
Bott and others, from Microsoft Press, lists for $49.99 - and invest at
least half a day in understanding some of it.

I'll offer a slightly different suggestion: consider buying books on
computer forensics. Many of them include the Peter Norton-style
introduction to the "guts" of modern systems without delving into the
programming interface that you're probably not interested in.

An example of this type of book would be Brian Carrier's _File System
Forensic Analysis_, Addison-Wesley, list price ~$60 (ouch). ISBN
978-0-321-26817-4

I perform forensic analyses at my POE, and even though I've been in the IT
profession for almost fifty years I'll frequently run across gems in these
books that make me say "I didn't know you could do *that*!". (If you do
want to get into forensics the books are useful but nothing beats a good
class...Brian's book was handed out in a SANS class I attended in July.)

Joe Morris

 

[Seth]

I do that, and then once a month I burn the backups to DVD and stash
them in a drawer at work. Offsite storage of backups is not just for
businesses.

My offsite backup is a bare hard drive that gets traded for the other one in
our safety deposit box. All our digital photos, scans of important
documents, etc... Takes no time to update the extra hard disk, no swapping
optical media, etc...

 

[Alex Clayton]

My offsite backup is a bare hard drive that gets traded for the other one
in our safety deposit box. All our digital photos, scans of important
documents, etc... Takes no time to update the extra hard disk, no swapping
optical media, etc...

I used to do that, had a couple USB drives and would keep one in the safe.
The problem was Wife. She would never back up her stuff and several times
lost something. I finally bought her a Carbonite sub. Worked so well I
bought one for me too. I still keep a drive with important stuff but the
Carbonite is great when we get a new computer or I have to format hers. Just
tell it to reload everything and it does.