Make a Ghost(tm) image for further protection of your PC

For many years that I had been tinkering with so many computers, I find the use of an imaging software so convenient in restoring back the life and limb of an erratic PC. The Symantec Norton Ghost(tm) is an excellent choice for me.

But there's a caveat before you make an image of your system so that you are assured that once you restore back your image, the PC is as healthy as expected.

I usually follow these steps:

1. Make a fresh installation of the operating system, say Microsoft Windows(tm) on the first partition of your hard disk.
2. Install all the software drivers that the hardware of the system would need to operate crisply.
3. Setup all the software that you wanted to be a part of the recovery image that would be made. Tinker with their settings so that they would function the way you like them before the entire system is imaged. This should include an updated virus definition for your favorite anti-virus software.
4. Do a little diskkeeping task by running a defragging tool to ensure faster access to the needed files when they are run by the system.
5. When satisfied with all your settings, shutdown the system.
6. Reboot the system but choose not to boot from the hard disk. Instead, use a boot CD which allows you to run the Symantec Norton Ghost(tm).
7. Once Symantec Norton Ghost(tm) is already running, choose the option that allows you to make an image of the partition where the entire operating system and all the software that you have installed reside. Save the image file in another partition of your hard disk. Once the image had been successfully done, you are now assured of a healthy recovery image that you can use when things would go wrong with your PC.

This has saved me a lot of man-hours to restore back the health of my notebook and other PCs as well whenever something goes wrong with them. It's quite a tedious task in the beginning but once the image is made, reinstallation, re: restoring back the good health of the PC, is as easy as a breeze. It does not even take 15 minutes to restore back the image.

Wanna try it? Ensure you have the necessary software to use.

Protect your PC with a freezing software

A very annoying and recurrent problem in most PCs is virus attack. Viruses come in many forms and get into the PC system in so many many ways. With most PCs nowadays connected to the Internet, viruses, worms, trojans, and many other forms of malwares can get through stealthily especially to an unsuspecting user. When a system gets infected, though it may have an antivirus software, the antivirus may no longer be able to perfectly clean the system especially if a wrong button or wrong option was executed by an inexperienced user when a warning prompt popped out during a scan. This happens most likely when a USB flash drive is inserted to a USB port. The antivirus could be configured to immediately scan any storage device attached to the system, but a wrong choice of commands or options on what to do with the antivirus warning could easilty upload the payloads of the the viruses residing in an infected flash drive.

The next time that the system is restarted, the virus could already become resident, waiting for its chances to spread like a ferocious wildfire.

To ensure protection, I highly recommend the use of third party software that locks a clean installation of the system. It is expected that before using the third party software, all application software had already been installed and configured. The job of the third party freezing software is to lock the system to its original, uninfected state.

I am fond of using WinRollBack that protects the system and maintains the original setup of the PC prior to its protection. I just have to protect the drive where the operating system is installed. Once WinRollBack is configured to protect the system drive, there would be no way that viruses can infect the system. Any infection is flushed out by the system once the PC is reboot.

Another is DeepFreeze. It also works like WinRollBack. Using any of the two could save the PC from harm caused by either viruses or test installations of software.

Get one now and try it.

Am back!

I truly hibernated for a while. I am pretty sure my followers missed my regular updating of my blog. Sorry for it. I was sooooo occupied with a lot of things that there's not much time left to write my thoughts. At this point, I took time out to relax a bit and break a leg for a while.

I miss blogging. No joke. Because this is the outlet of my soul. My blog chronicles the fragments of my soul. It immortalizes what's in me.

Lately, I was so engrossed with my desktop computer in my office. A brand new Acer Veriton X270. It is powered by Intel Core2Duo with 2GB RAM, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 7100 chipset and a huge 250GB HDD. It has a DVD super multiburner, Gigabit ethernet LAN, 5.1 channel audio, and an HDMI port.

What I like most about it is the audio jacks and the USB ports are just in front. It has a small form factor with its DVD writer lying on its side. The package comes with a 17" Acer LCD Monitor.

It is a sight to behold. So small yet powerful. I hope it will deliver my expectations based on its configurations.