Please Explain me how to go about restoring the system back to its original state (before a PC crash)?

Question

Till now, I have never had a PC Crash because of Virus Attack or even otherwise.

I want to know from PC Experienced users as to how they bring their system back to its original state (that is the state before a Virus Attack happened in case they were unable to remove the virus). It is true that one may Boot the System through DVD or Bootable Pen Drive and then Format the entire Hard Disk in order to get rid of the Virus or Malware (if any of the Antiviruses are not able to cure it or the virus hides from them) and then reinstall WINDOWS through a DVD.

But, in that case it would be a very painful exercise to again remember and reinstall all the Software Packages we had earlier installed on our Windows. Again, there are strong chances that we may have misplaced the original software package installation sets or over the time these Installation DVDs/CDs may have got corrupt. So I thought that using Norton Ghost 15 or similar other softwares (which are termed as Disaster Recovery Softwares) I would be able to restore my system back to normal in no time in case my WINDOWS and other files get corrupted in my Desktop or Laptop's Internal Hard Drive.

I have had the impression that smart people create an image of the Internal Hard Drive(s) and store such an image in their External Hard Drive Folders using a software like Norton Ghost 15 and then are able to boot the system using Symantec Rescue Disk or Bootable Pen Drive and then from it (and the connected External Drive in another USB) are able to restore the system on C: back to normal by using Norton Ghost and the Image that it stored on External Hard Drive which it recovers and rewrites on C:.

Is it not true that it is done the same way?

If you know other ways to restore the PC System to normalcy (after a PC Crash) please explain me those methods as well.

Answer 1

You are correct in all your statements. What I usually do is keep a spare hard drive that I can easily detach from the computer either by external means (using a USB enclosure) or connected internally (during backup and restore time) and use that to store the image of the whole system. Then I create a System Repair disc to make sure I can access that image later. All these can be done using Windows Backup and Restore > Create a System Image from the Control Panel > System and Security.



Another program I use is the free EaseUs Todo Backup. Just make sure you create a boot disk for the main program in case your internal hard drive is not readable or has to be replaced.

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm



PS: I have nothing against Norton Ghost. It is just that I don't use it because it is not free and I heard that Symantec has discontinued that program. There are free alternatives anyway.

Answer 2

So basically you do a system restore in most cases. There are also many software which do that

You can also insert the Windows CD and do a repair of the system. If you dont want your system to crash and lose all your data in the future, there is this awesome program called Deep Freeze. It will basically lock your PC so nothing will change. Even if you change something the other time you turn on your PC They will not be there. It's a very useful program

Answer 3

It depends on how to restore the system.





In case of complete system crash, an image is used to bootup and then restore back. Such operations can be done with softwares like Acronis. ( Even Windows has built in System image creator )



However in some minor crash stages, system restore can be used to undo the action.



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