With regard to updates on XP, I can't imagine that MS will stop security updates for several more years.

Anyone used or has views on the Brother MFC-235C printer?

Bought myself a PC on ebay and I want to copy the HD before I use it so can clone it if the HD fails. The software is fully kosher but no install discs, so I want to protect my investment. What's the best software to do this, and would it be best to back this up to my portable HD as it only has a CD r/w drive?

Thanks

SC

All that you need to reinstall the OS on a new disk are the product keys as you can always get hold of a setup disk. The best way to record all of the product keys is to run Belarc advisor and save the output to your printer and an external disk. It may be that the install files are hidden on the hsrd disk.

To make a backup of the hard disk, use a program such as Paragon Partition Manager which will make a copy of your entire disk and save it to an external HD. You will end up with a file of several GB so it will not fit on a CD but may fit a DVD. In any case, save to a hard drive first.

Some versions of Paragon Partition Manager are availible free, although the latest one looks so good that I may buy it.

After you have a backup of the PC, it may be worth rebuilding from scratch as you don't really know what is on it.

Cheers Opti, that's superb and very comprehensive answer.

One solution to 90% of the problems on here.......











Buy an Imac !!

Can anyone tell me where the Firefox favourites file is located so I can copy to a new pc

It's spelt '...orites' not '...ourites' and is actually located within Windows.

Just to make sure they can be seen:

Right Click on My Computer on your Desktop. Select Explore. Select Tools from the Tool Bar. Then select Folder Options/View. Select Show hidden files and folders. Then go to C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Favorites. Right click/unhide.

brianboru

Or ypu could buy a lawnmower!

;)

ExecLine
I assumed they would be the favorites for IE and the firefox favorites would be somewhere else. Is that the case

Jeff

Firefox refers to Favorites as 'Bookmarks' and this task is generally called 'exporting' or 'importing' as the case may be.

I found this link: http://www.ehow.com/how_1000389_export-save-bookmarks.html

ExecLine
Thanks for the info. I found that the IE favs and Firefox favs are in the same folder.
Cheers

My browser (IE8 & BT/Yahoo) has stopped downloading the latest page when operating, so I have to refresh to get the most up to date page. I seem to recollect, in the dim & distant past, a setting in Internet Options, to always check that the page is always the most up to date or something similar. I can't find it.
Thanks in advance.

Could I just go back to Seymour's post 7641 and Opti's reply please? I have a similar problem and I don't know if I've understood things correctly.

For ages now the hard drive on my laptop has been showing signs of failure and I know that I either need to replace either the laptop or its hard drive. For now I'm just leaving the laptop on 24/7 because I know that if I turn it off, I might not be able to get it going again.

My problem is that I have some software on the laptop for which I can no longer find the installation CD and I don't really want to shell out 700 for a new copy if I don't need to. Would the installation files be buried somewhere on the hard drive? Or could I use one of these partition wotsits to recover it?

Bolshi

Click Tools-Interner Options and you want the Browsing History section.

In IE8, the Tools icon is sometimes in the hidden section of the Command Bar and is also on the Menu Bar but that is hidden by default. Right click a toolbar to select the ones you want.

Hilary

In SC's case he, appeared to have a fairly clean laptop so it is a safe bet that the software disks are obtainable. Also, most computers are sold with the setup files already on the hard drive so there is a chance that they may still be there.

In your case, you have some software that you installed so it is unlikely to have the full setup files. However, sometimes there is a setup program in the Program Files directory for a program.

If use of the program is controlled by a security key, then Belarc Advisor should give you the key so all you have to do is beg or borrow a copy of the setup disk.

I always copy setup CD's to a setup directory on my computer and install them from there. It is quicker to install that way and the are there when I need them.

If your disk is as bad as you say, you should stop using it NOW, remove it from the laptop and use another computer to copy it. There is a risk to the disk on startup but Windows is always using the disk so it is better to leave it switched off untill you can copy on another machine.

Post again if you need help removing / copying it.

Laptop cost 400+ , HDD 60 - no contest.

Thanks Opti. That's pretty much what I thought you'd say, but I did want to check. I've already checked and can't see any installation files, but I wondered if they might be hidden in a secret location somewhere. It seems not.

I've already backed up everything of importance from the bad disk drive to another PC (I did that some time ago), but I've been holding off from doing anything about replacing the drive yet in the hope that I might just accidentally trip over the missing installation CD for my bit of software. I've got an XP Pro installation CD and all of the other program CD's that I need - it's just this one that I can't find.

Optimist.
Thx for that. It was set to 'automatically' (which I thought was correct anyway). I've set it to 'every time I visit the webpage' & I'll see how I go.
Cheers

Hilary

If your system (as opposed to the disk) is working OK then there is very little point in going through all of the hassle in re-installing on to a new disk. Just use Paragon to clone it to a new drive.

Opti,

If I don't trip over my lost CD, then that's obviously an option that I've presumably got. Otherwise I quite like the idea of a clean install as an opportunity to get rid of some of the junk that's accumulated over time and hopefully give it a bit more va va voom.