< not mine.  don't yell at me, please >
This PC has 2 GB of critical data and has NO BACKUPS!
I don't know if it has USB 1.0 or USB 2.0 ports.  
Many external drives and enclosures won't support USB 1.0.
I have a Sony StorStation tape drive.  That might work.  I'm am not confident I can read the Sony under XP.
Any ideas, suggestions?  
I am looking for a SAFE solution - non-intrusive.  I could network the PCs but that scares me a little (something goes wrong - no backups).
I am even scared of using the Sony StorStation install diskette.  Why?  I hate touching anything when there are no good backups.
Thank you.

I'd boot to a BartPE CD and copy the files to an external HD if Win98 can't see the external HD.

cardinal23

Does the system have a floppy drive.

If *yes*, I'd pop off the cover, install an internal secondary HDD to an available connector on the IDE cable (disconnect the optical drive if none available), and use a Standard Ghost 2003 Boot Disk--boot to DOS and create a Ghost backup image!

Then you can install the HDD in an enclosure kit and transfer the backup image to where ever you wish!

Or, just install a permanent secondary HDD into the case for Ghost backups--for going forward backups with Ghost!

Response to NightOwl's post:
I hate touching anything on that machine (hardware OR software), before I have a backup.  But I liike the second drive suggestion.  It'll be a fast copy destination and is relatively safe (does not touch the C: drive, no software to install).  

btw this machine is being replaced by a new Dell.

Questions:
Where do I get a Ghost 2003 boot floppy?  
Does the Ghost 2003 boot floppy require Ghost 2003 to be installed on the booted machine in order to do a Ghosting of the booted machine?
Will Ghost 10.0 read Ghost 2003 images?  

If I replace the CD drive with the drive I install, what jumper settings?  Slave or Master or Cable Select?

Once the new drive was in there, I'd copy the critical files before doing any Ghosting.  

Reply to Brian's post"

Quote:

boot to a BartPE CD and copy the files to an external HD if Win98 can't see the external HD.

Brian: Are you saying that I can boot a Bart PC to overcome the limitations of this machine?
A normal boot gives me USB 1.0 ports, which enclosures don't recognize.  Are you saying that I can boot Bart and thereby use these enclosures?
If so, that would be awesome.  My hope had been to just plug a Macally into the USB 1.0 port and copy.  The Macally box says only USB 1.1 or 2.0.  Also, lots of products won't work with Windows 98 First Edition, which this is.
So, Bart mght overcome these limitations?


Today is Thanksgiving.  I feel gratitude to technology and to Redified.com and you guys.

cardinal23


Quote:

Where do I get a Ghost 2003 boot floppy?

If you're not familiar with Ghost 2003 and making DOS boot floppies--then it will take some time to work your way through it.  

So, before going that route--firstly--do you have the DOS Ghost program file--*ghost.exe*?


Quote:

Does the Ghost 2003 boot floppy require Ghost 2003 to be installed on the booted machine in order to do a Ghosting of the booted machine?

No--Ghost is on the floppy disk only.


Quote:

Will Ghost 10.0 read Ghost 2003 images?

Apparently you are a user of Ghost 10--I presume you have the Recovery Disk for Ghost 10?

Ghost 10 will not allow you to boot the the Recovery Environment and create a backup image of your HDD using Ghost 10--but, the Recovery Environment has a 32-bit version of Ghost v8.2 (meaning it can only run if in some flavor of Windows)--and the Recovery Environment is using what's called WinPE (Windows Pre-installation Environment), which is a *flavor of Windows*.

If the system has USB controllers and ports to hook up to--then Ghost 10's Recovery Disk should detect and mount those controllers for use in the Recovery Environment.  So, if you hook up your Macally box, boot to the Recovery Environment--then you should be able to have access to that USB HDD.

You would have to keep your optical drive hooked up so you can boot to the Recovery Environment, and add the secondary HDD to one of the other IDE connectors if you still want to use an internal HDD.

To use the Ghost32 v8.2 program in the Ghost 10 Recovery Environment you access this program in the RE from the *Main Screen/Recover/Recover using legacy Ghost image* (its file name on the Recovery Disk is *RESTOREGHOST.EXE*).

You would select *Local > Disk > To Image*, then select the *source* HDD (the systems main HDD that you want to backup), then select the *destination* HDD (your USB HDD), you can then create a sub-directory on the destination HDD for your image (8 or less characters!) , name the image (best if 5 characters or less), and proceed.


Quote:

If I replace the CD drive with the drive I install, what jumper settings?  Slave or Master or Cable Select?

Depends on what, if any, other device is also attached and what its setting is.  If the other device is *cable select* then the drive you are adding should be also set to match, i. e. *cable select*.  If the other device is set manually to either *slave* or *master*, then the drive you are adding should also be *manually* set as well--to the other setting from the drive that's already there!

Basically--see what the optical drive's jumper setting is already at, and match it on the HDD you are adding--if you are replacing the optical drive with the added secondary HDD.

cardinal23 wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2006 at 9:30am:

Are you saying that I can boot a Bart PC to overcome the limitations of this machine?

Somewhat. Your USB ports will still be USB 1 but BartPE should get around the USB driver problems of Win98 as its using WinXP. I have several computers with USB 1 ports and they see USB external HDs. The data transfer rate is only 1 MB/sec compared with over 25 MB/sec for USB 2.

What do you want to do? Extract 2 GB of files now or create an image for later file extraction. NightOwl's suggestion for obtaining a Ghost 8.2 image is good.

Brian, I am concerned about the difference between USB 1.0 and USB 1.1.  You are saying "USB 1".  I trust you know there are 2 USB 1's, 1.0 and 1.1.  Of course, I don't know yet whether this machine has 1.0 or 1.1 - and, as I"m saying, I don't know if it matters when using Bart.

Can it be any Bart?

It is my intention to immediately copy his "critical" files - namely Outlook Express, MS Word, and one more set, which I don't recall right now.  ONCE those are resting comfortably on the new PC, I will attempt to Ghost the old PC.

Question: If I boot a PC using a Ghost 2003 floppy, does Ghost need to be on that PC?  ro does the boot diskette have "enough" software on it to do a drive-to-drive clone?

btw: I own copies of most of the current Ghost products, Ghost 9.0, Ghost 2003 and Ghost 10.0.

cardinal23


Quote:

btw: I own copies of most of the current Ghost products, Ghost 9.0, Ghost 2003 and Ghost 10.0.

If you do not have Ghost 2003 installed on a Windows system so you can use its *Norton Ghost Boot Wizard* to create Ghost 2003 boot floppies for various uses--and you are not *into DOS* and have the skill set to simply create your own boot disks--the fastest way to get to DOS and use DOS Ghost 2003 would be the following (there will be no USB support, but there should be optical drive support):

1.  Using your Ghost 2003 installation CD disc, grab the *ghost.exe* and copy it to a separate formatted floppy (does not need to be a bootable floppy!).  *ghost.exe* is most likely found on the installation CD in this sub-directory:  *X:\Support\ghost.exe*  (where *X:\* is your optical drive's drive letter).

2.  If you do not already have a *Win98se* floppy boot disk, head over to BootDisks.com.

Choose the *Windows 98 OEM* file to download, execute the program file on a system with a floppy drive (it's okay if it's a WnXP system, etc.--the boot disk will be the original Win98 ERD (Emergency Recover Disk) regardless of the current OS and file system that you are using!), and supply a formatted floppy disk when requested.

3.  Boot the system with the Win98se boot disk.  At the A:\ prompt, eject the boot disk, and put in your other floppy with the *ghost.exe* file on it.  Type *ghost.exe* and you should have DOS Ghost up and running!

If you have installed a secondary HDD on the system, you can then save a Ghost image to that HDD.

NIghtOwl, you know that this PC is WIndows 98 FIRST edition.  Yes?

cardinal23 wrote on Nov 24^th, 2006 at 9:51am:

Of course, I don't know yet whether this machine has 1.0 or 1.1 - and, as I"m saying, I don't know if it matters when using Bart.

I don't think it matters to BartPE. I'd use plain old BartPE rather than ReatogoXPE. Sometimes the latter won't boot on an old computer but that may be related to the number of plugins I'm using.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Use the A43 app included in BartPE to copy your data to the external HD.

buy an IDE HDD (hard disk) 3BG say bigger than your present one
disconnect  the ribbon cable and power connection from the cd rom
drive and (make sure the ither end is connected to the SECondary IDE channel on the mother board in so it does not matter if jumpers are set at Master or slave .
with an old Pc like yours you need to go to the BIOS  by pressing DEL
key and AUTO DETECT IDE and (F10)save and exit.
down load this software and make a bootable floppy first
http://www.postbox.wanadoo.co.uk/mb2.exe
boot straight into it and choose to prepair and copy one HDD to another.
it is not like GHOST it  is a byte copier not BIT copyer like ghost.
it is free and it works .
to test it disconnect original HDD and  boot with the 3 BG one the new second hand one.
the only thing is if you are an amature make sure you do not
prepair the source  HDD !!!
it  is GUI but think before you click !!!!
regards Ben
:D

Summary:
The situation: Old PC (Dell Dimension XPS T500MHz Pentium IIII MiniTower - purchased June 1999)running Windows 98 FIRST edition.  The PC has USB, but it is probably USB 1.0 (not 1.1, not 2.0) There are NO backups, so I don't want to do anything dangerous.  I don't want to open the case (if possible).  I don't want to install anything.  A new computer has been purchased.

The Goal:
TO copy some "critical" files to an external HDD.  

The plan:
I'll have 2 Bart CDs with me: The old one with A43 and the new Reatogo version.  I'll have 2 enclosures containing drives (a Macally and a Kingwin).

My hope / concern:
If Bart can see these enclosure / HDDs, I'm golden.  I'll copy my critical files there and then pull the HDD and read it on the new PC.  Perhaps I'll Ghost it (Ghost 10.0 over there).

Question: What is the likelihood that this plan will fail?  It could fail if neither Bart will boot.  It could fail if Bart boots and doesn't see my external drives.

Plans B and C:
B: Zip up the critical files to a series of 100MB Iomega disks.  I'll either tell Iomega to "span disks", if it will.  Otherwise, I'll use a Split program to spilt the Zip file into 100 MB chunks.  The big files are the OE files.

Thanks guys.  I veryu much appreciate the Rad community. David
C: Install a second drive in the box and copy from the first drive to the second drive.

Just to be thorough...
This PC has a build-in Iomega 100MB drive.  
I have about 8 disks (cartridges).
I just did the following test (form the command line):
 PKZIP  -"&"  h:SpanTest  OneGigFile.jbc
Lo and behold, it filled up the first Iomega cartridge and prompted for the second one - just as if it were asking for floppies - so that's a good option as well.
If Bart or the Ghost 10.0 Recovery Enviromnet can see enclosures, I'm fine.  < I don't need a Ghosting.  I only need to copy the critical files. >
If not, I'll use the Iomegas, THEN, I'll open the box and pull the drive, put it in an enclosure and Ghost it on the new PC using Ghost 10.0.  I don't know how to use a prior, WIndows 98-supported version of Ghost.  I recall you just install it and follow the prompts.  I recall it boots into DOS.  Which prior version could I use?  Ghost 2003?  (I have most of the Ghost releases).

Follow-up.
I don't think I read your earlier posts so carefully.
I think I understand that the Norton RE should allow me to Ghost the drive to the external HDD (enclosure) using its RESTOREGHOST.EXE (Ghost32 v8.2) etc.
My preference is to NOT open the case, even to add a drive, before I have a b/u.  These WinPE solutions (Bart and NRE) look like good options to copy the critical files to an external HDD (enclosure) before adding or removing drives.

cardinal23 wrote on Nov 24^th, 2006 at 10:53pm:

Old PC (Dell Dimension XPS T500MHz Pentium IIII MiniTower - purchased June 1999)

David, good computer. My test computer is a Dell Dimension XPS T450. March 1999.

I just tried ReatogoXPE 235 and BartPE 3.1.10a. Both CDs can see my external HD. ReatogoXPE 240 won't boot.

if you are doing it  file by file do not forget  your mails:
Backup and Restore
The Simple Backup
Safe but Limited

By using this method, you will be able to restore all your mail folders, all your mail and news accounts settings, and your address book for one Identity. You will lose all your subscribed newsgroups, all message rules, all Block Senders entries, all custom views and all custom toolbars. If you use multiple Identities, you must repeat this process for each Identity, or else use the Complete Backup for Advanced Users.

1. Backup your OE mail and news accounts.

Click Tools| Accounts, select the account to backup, then click the Export button. This will store the account's settings in a *.iaf file at the location you specify. You can later import any *.iaf file by clicking the Import button. Your account password is stored in encrypted form in the *.iaf file. Be sure to export all mail and news accounts, and any user-created LDAP accounts you might have created. The default LDAP accounts will always be created fresh when you install or upgrade OE.

2. Backup your address book.

Open the Address Book and click Help| About Address Book to see the full path to the current *.wab file used by all your Identities. Find that file in Windows Explorer and copy it to your backup media. You can later import the backup by opening OE and clicking File| Import| Address Book.

I recommend that you create an emergency backup of the Address Book as well. Open the Address Book by double-clicking the *.wab file. Click File| Export| Other Address Book, then click on Text File (Comma Separated Values). Click the Export button, specify a destination folder, and click Next. Select all the fields shown for a complete backup, then click Finish. The resulting *.csv file can later be imported using File| Import| Other Address Book| Text File (Comma Separated Values).

Note: If you do not see a path to a *.wab, then you have set OE to share the Contacts folder in Outlook98 or Outlook2000, and you should consult the Outlook Help file for instructions on backing up your entire Outlook *.pst file.

3. Backup your mail folders.

In OE, click Tools| Options| Maintenance| Store folder to see the path to the folder currently being used for your message store. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Store. Copy the Folders.dbx file and all <mail folder>.dbx files to your backup media. It is not necessary to copy any <newsgroup>.dbx file because OE will not import newsgroup messages, only messages in mail folders. You must include Folders.dbx in your backup or you will be unable to import the mail folders!

To restore your mail folders, open OE and click File| Import| Messages| OE5 (or OE6 if OE5 is not listed)| Message store directory, then browse to the folder containing your old messages. Do not copy the backup files into the current OE message store or the import will fail. If you saved your backup on a CD or a networked drive, you will need to copy the backup to your hard disk and verify that none of the *.dbx files are marked as "read only", or the import will fail

regards Ben
;)

Dear Ben,
Thank you for your useful post.
You begin your post like this:

Quote:

if you are doing it  file by file do not forget  your mails: Backup and Restore The Simple Backup Safe but Limited

I am quite confused.
Are "Backup and Restore" and "The Simple Backup" and "Safe but Limited" the names of programs, I can buy?  I just don't understand.
After you wrote that, you continued with specific backup OE and WAB instructions, which I do understand.
Thank you.

Report from the field:
First of all: Bart DID boot (the old Bart) and DID recongnize my USB ports.  What a wonderful suggestion. THANK YOU.

Are you awarre of a terrific (seemingly) program called "FIle and Settings Transfer Wizard"?  This program comes with XP.  It's purpose is to do (pretty much) exactly what I need to do - namely transfer OE, WAB, favorites and Word documents from ad old (Win98 FE) PC to  a new (XP) PC.

Basically, you run it.  It asks you "Old machine or New Machine".  You answer: old machine.  It then says: "I'm about to create a file, where do you want it?"  You then specify a pathname.  It then creates a giant file with all this good stuff compressed into it.  On the new machine, you run it again: Again it asks: Old machine or new machine: You answer "New".  It then asks when you put the file (pathname) created on the old machine.  It sucks all that good stuff (files, emails, settings, etc.) into the new machine - exactly where it needs to go, and you're lucky - lots of time saved.

This program is run from the XP CD on the old PC and is installed / available on all new XP PCs.

For those following this thread: I did a backup of critical files under Bart before running this.  I then ran this under WIn98.  I saved the file to the local C: drive.  It is completes successfully (still running when I last saw it), I will reboot in Bart and copy the file to the USB enclosure HDD.