Make a "Break open in case of emergency pack"
 
Make a "Break open in case of emergency pack"
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* Keep personal data (you can remap My Documents easily) on a seperate partition or drive.
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* You can use NTBackup (Built in XP Pro and above, an MS download for XP Home) and make a scheduled backup (daily preferable!) of your C:\Documents and Settings\MyName directory (C:\Users on Vista) to keep a backup of your profile (and any data on your Desktop etc). This will keep your documents and settings safe (you can skip this step) But please, for the love of all is holy make sure you have a backup of your PERSONAL data.
 
* Use Acronis TrueImage(easy but commercial) or [http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm DriveImageXML] (free) and keep a backup of your C drive to an external drive! Keep it updated at least once a month (this step alone will save you huge amounts of grief). If using Acronis then create a bootable CD, if using DriveImageXML then get yourself the relevant BartPE plugin. (See below)
 
* Use Acronis TrueImage(easy but commercial) or [http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm DriveImageXML] (free) and keep a backup of your C drive to an external drive! Keep it updated at least once a month (this step alone will save you huge amounts of grief). If using Acronis then create a bootable CD, if using DriveImageXML then get yourself the relevant BartPE plugin. (See below)
 
* Make yourself a recent version of BartPE (it is possible to get one via torrents but the legality is dubious) Winternals ERD is what the professionals use but is very expensive and so not something I can suggest here. [[Image:broom.gif]] But is good as it does a lot of things. If you had both you'd almost ready for anything!
 
* Make yourself a recent version of BartPE (it is possible to get one via torrents but the legality is dubious) Winternals ERD is what the professionals use but is very expensive and so not something I can suggest here. [[Image:broom.gif]] But is good as it does a lot of things. If you had both you'd almost ready for anything!
 
* Lastly keep your Windows install CD and serial safe with these too.
 
* Lastly keep your Windows install CD and serial safe with these too.
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