Windows 98 Installation & Configuration Handbook

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- 13 -

Setting Up Backup Systems


by Rob Tidrow

Installing Microsoft Backup

Microsoft has included a backup application along with Windows 98 that allows excellent integration with the operating system. This backup software works with the following media:

Several backup drives and media are available that Microsoft Backup does not support--notably, some DAT tape backup systems (Backup supports DDS1&2 DAT media). Although Microsoft Backup for Windows doesn't support these drives, manufacturers will provide Windows backup software that works with their drives. Usually, this software comes bundled with the drive or can be obtained from the manufacturer for an additional cost or the cost of downloading it from the World Wide Web.

After you install your internal tape backup drive by following the manufacturer's instructions or connect the external tape drive to the parallel port, you are ready to load the backup software. Windows' default installation does not load Microsoft Backup for Windows. However, you easily can install this accessory by using the following steps:

1. Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2.
Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.

3.
In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, select the Windows Setup page.

4.
Select System Tools from the Components list box.

5.
Click Details to display a list of the default Windows 98 system tools. The tools you currently have installed are marked with a check.

6.
Check the box next to Backup to mark it for installation, as shown in Figure 13.1.

FIG. 13.1 Marking Backup for installation.

7. Click OK twice. Windows prompts you to insert the appropriate disk or CD-ROM to load the Microsoft Backup for Windows software.

After the backup software is loaded, you can proceed to the next step by letting Microsoft Backup auto-detect your tape-drive system.

Letting Microsoft Backup Detect Tape Hardware

When you run Microsoft Backup for Windows the first time, it attempts to detect the type of backup system you have. Microsoft Backup for Windows supports those media devices listed earlier in the "Installing Microsoft Backup" section.

If your drive type is not listed there, see the next section, "Working with Legacy Backup Systems."

If your tape drive was detected, skip to the section later in this chapter, "Configuring Windows Backup."

Working with Legacy Backup Systems

Some legacy backup systems might not be supported by Microsoft Backup. Many vendors have their own backup software that works with their tape backup systems. Some of the systems listed here do not have Windows backup software, while others do. Check with your tape-drive manufacturer to see whether it has a Windows 98 backup solution or whether its current DOS or Windows backup software works with Windows 98.

DAT Tape Syatems  Most DAT tape backup systems connect to a SCSI interface board in the computer. Microsoft Backup supports DAT DDS1&2 media, but other DAT media devices are available. Windows 98 can detect and install drivers for many SCSI controllers; however, the manufacturer's Windows tape backup software still is required to perform the backup.

If you are using DOS-based tape backup software, Windows 98 prompts you with a warning message telling you to restart Windows 98 in a command-prompt only mode. This action enables older DOS programs that may communicate directly with the hardware to work properly. After you complete a backup using DOS backup software, you can reboot your system back to Windows mode.

Additionally, even if your program does run, you can back up only files and directories that match the DOS format FILENAME.EXT naming convention. While Windows 98 does a good job of shortening long directory names like Data Files down to DATAFI~1, you will not be able to restore the original directory to Data Files after you have backed it up.


CAUTION: If you ignore the warnings Windows displays and run your DOS tape backup software in a command-prompt box, you might cause Windows to lock up. In the worst case, your software might appear to work properly, but you might actually be losing data as it writes to the tape. If you run your software in this way, you need to verify every tape you write to ensure that no data has been lost. This is not recommended!

QIC-02 Tape Drives  Many companies have older tape backup hardware that is in its seventh year of active use or is gathering dust on a shelf in the storage room. In either case, you might want to use such a backup system under Windows 98.

QIC-02 tapes run off an interface board that is provided with the tape drive unit. These units typically are external, because the drive mechanism is about the size of a lunch box. It's unlikely that Windows 98 will recognize the QIC-02 adapter card in your system, so you should take care to verify that the settings of the tape drive adapter do not interfere with the settings of the other cards installed in your system.

After you install your hardware, you need to run the software supplied with the tape drive. Because these units typically are pre-Windows, you most likely will use DOS backup software. In addition to the fact that the programs were written in DOS, you should be aware that the backup programs were written for DOS versions that date back 10 years. The programmers did not have to worry about extended memory management or disk-compression software like DriveSpace. Your software may or may not run under Windows running in command-prompt mode.

Additionally, even if your program does run, you can back up only files and directories that match the DOS format FILENAME.EXT naming convention. Although Windows 98 does a good job of shorting long directory names like Data Files down to DATAFI~1, you cannot restore the original directory to Data Files after you have backed it up.


CAUTION: Using tape backup software built before 1990 might not work or might result in strange or unexpected results.

Other Tape Drives  Many other tape drives exist that may or may not have Windows backup software available. In all cases, you should contact the manufacturer to see whether it has a Windows 95 backup solution for your system. This way, you'll know that your system has been tested with Windows 98. If your manufacturer is not working on a Windows 95 version, ask whether it has a Windows 3.1 version that has been tested with Windows 98. Often, Windows 3.1 software works the same under Windows 98.

As the earlier sections on DAT and QIC-02 tape systems mentioned, if you have DOS-based software, run it only in Windows command-prompt mode. Also, remember that long filenames are shortened to fit DOS filename structures.

Configuring Windows Backup

Microsoft Backup can be configured with many options to suit your particular needs. This section shows you how to configure and run Microsoft Backup. The examples used in the following sections are based on a Ditto Easy 800 QIC-WIDE tape device. The actual screens you will see may differ slightly. However, the general information here should closely match your experience.

Creating Backup Jobs

You can back up files to the tape system in several ways. Your backup needs often determine which option you choose. Look at the Properties dialog box in Microsoft Backup to see what these options are. To start Backup, follow these steps:

1. Choose Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. The Microsoft Backup screen appears, as shown in Figure 13.2.

FIG. 13.2 The Welcome screen appears when you start Microsoft Backup.

2. From this screen, you can choose one of the following options:
3. These steps show what happens when you select the Create a New Backup Job option. This runs the Backup Wizard.

4.
Click OK. The Backup Wizard starts, as shown in Figure 13.3.

5.
Select one of the following options:

FIG. 13.3 The Backup Wizard walks you through the process of backing up your files.


TIP: It's recommended that you back up your entire PC at least once. That way, if you encounter a total system failure at some point, you can use these archived files to restore your PC.
The following steps show how to select specific files, folders, and drives to back up.

6.
Click Next. You now need to specify those files, folders, or drives you want to back up. In the What To Back Up window, click the check box next to the item you want to back up, as shown in Figure 13.4. To display the contents of a drive or folder, click the plus (+) sign next to the drive or folder. The contents of a folder are shown in the right window.


TIP: Click the Name, Size, Type, and Modified column headers in the right window to sort files by name, size, type, or modification date.
7. Select the items you want to back up. If you place a check mark next to a drive, the entire drive is selected. However, you can deselect specific folders or files by removing the check mark next to the items you want Backup to specifically ignore.

8.
Click Next. A Backup Wizard screen asks what files to back up, as shown in Figure 13.5. This might sound redundant (see step 7), but it's not. This screen asks whether you want to back up all files you've selected, regardless of whether you previously backed them up. Or, do you want to back up only new files and those files that have changed since your last backup session? The idea behind this is to avoid wasting time backing up files that haven't changed since your last backup.

9.
Select All Selected Files or New and Changed Files, depending on your needs.

10.
Click Next. In the Where to Back Up drop-down list, select the destination of the back up job, as shown in Figure 13.6. Your backup device is listed in this drop-down list, along with File. If your device is not listed, install it using the general steps for installing hardware devices in Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring New Hardware and Software." If you have multiple devices installed, they all show up on the Where to Back Up drop-down list.

FIG. 13.4 You need to specify the drives, folders, or files you want to back up by placing a check mark next to them.

FIG. 13.5 Sometimes you'll want to back up all files, regardless of whether these files already are included in a backup set.


NOTE: The File option on the Where to Back Up drop-down list enables you to back up items to a file stored on a local, floppy, or network drive (even an Internet drive, if you have access to one). If you select this option, another drop-down list appears in which you need to enter a filename for the backup file. See Figure 13.7. The default extension is .qic, but you can add your own extension if desired. The following steps assume that you select a backup destination other than the File option.

FIG. 13.6 Select the destination of your backup job from this screen.

FIG. 13.7 Selecting File enables you to back up to a drive or device that is not formatted specifically as a backup media, such as a shared network drive or a removable hard drive.

11. Click Next. You now can choose whether to have Microsoft Backup compare original files with backed up files to ensure that they back up properly. See Figure 13.8. You also can choose to compress backup files to reduce the amount of space the backup files consume. By default, both these options are selected.

FIG. 13.8 You should keep the two options shown on this dialog box enabled for most of your backup jobs.


TIP: Both of the preceding options are good ideas to select. By verifying backed up data as the backup set is being created, you can have some assurance that your files will not be corrupted on the backup set.
The downside to enabling one or both of these options is the time it takes to create the backup job. In some cases, the time is doubled or even tripled, depending on the size of individual files and the drive's I/O capabilities. Likewise, the time it takes to restore a compressed backup job usually is doubled, because Backup first must uncompress the data before copying it to your local drive.


CAUTION: Data compression can be estimated only over a broad range of file types. For average users, this will approximate the 2:1 compression that most tape-system manufacturers advertise. However, you might not get a high compression ratio if you back up these types of files:


12. Click Next. Name the backup job, or select a name from the drop-down list, as shown in Figure 13.9. Backup jobs can have up to 130 characters in their names, including spaces. If you choose a name from the drop-down list, the previous backup job will be overwritten if a job by that same name appears on the storage media (such as a tape) you're now using.

FIG. 13.9 Be sure to specify a new name or use a different storage media if you do not want to overwrite old backup jobs.


NOTE: Be descriptive when naming files. If you have a data folder named Accounting Data, for example, you might want to name your set Accounting Data - Full Backup if you are performing a full backup. Try to avoid set names such as Data, Tape Backup, Stuff, or Files, because these are not very descriptive.
13. Click Start to begin the backup process. The Backup Progress dialog box opens to show you the status of the backup job, as shown in Figure 13.10. If you need to insert a storage media into your backup device, Windows prompts you to do so now, as shown in Figure 13.11.

FIG. 13.10 Watch the Backup Progress dialog box to see the status of your backup job.

FIG. 13.11 If a storage media is not in your backup device, you are prompted to insert one.

When your backup job completes, you receive a message telling you the job is finished. Click OK. Click OK again to remove the Backup Progress dialog box.

If you want to create another backup job but not use the Backup Wizard as shown in the preceding steps, perform the following steps:

1. Choose J_ob, New.

2.
Select All Selected Files or New and Changed Files on the Backup tab (see Figure 13.12).

3.
Select the drives, folders, or files you want to add to the new backup job.

4.
From the Where to Backup Up drop-down list (it's located at the bottom of the Backup tab), select the destination (such as a tape backup media) for the backup job.

5.
Choose J_ob, Options to display the Backup Job Options dialog box, as shown in Figure 13.13. From here, you can set options that affect your new backup job. Some of these options are available when running the Backup Wizard. Others, however, can be set only through this dialog box. Set options for your new job. The following section, "Setting Backup Job Options," describes each of these options in more detail.

FIG. 13.12 You use the Backup tab to set up new backup jobs.

FIG. 13.13 You can configure backup job options using this dialog box.

6. Click OK to close the Backup Job Options dialog box.

7.
Choose J_ob, Save, to display the Save Backup Job As dialog box, as shown in Figure 13.14.

8.
Name the new backup job (up to 130 characters) in the J_ob Name field. By default, the job's name is Untitled.

9.
Click Save. The new name now appears in the Backup Job drop-down list on the Backup tab.

10.
Click Start to run the new backup job.

FIG. 13.14 Enter a new job name in the Save Backup Job As dialog box.

Setting Backup Job Options

All backup jobs can use the same backup job settings. However, if you plan to create full backup sets on a weekly or monthly basis, and make daily backups of new or changed files, you might want to have different job settings for these different types of jobs.

You can specify job options by choosing J_ob, Options (or clicking the Job Options toolbar button). The Backup Job Options dialog box appears. Refer to Figure 13.14. On the General tab, you can change the following settings:


TIP: You always should choose to verify your backups after you have completed a full backup of your system. Although it will take twice as long to complete the entire operation, you can rely on the integrity of your system backup.

On the Password tab, you can password-protect your backup jobs, as shown in Figure 13.15. This is handy if the data you're backing is sensitive and there is a possibility that others may have access to your media. If you don't password-protect your backup jobs, there is no barrier for another user to use Microsoft Backup to restore your files on their systems.

FIG. 13.15 Be sure to remember the password you create for your backup jobs, or you will not be able to restore files copied to the backup set.

To set a password, enable the Protect This Backup with a Password check box. Enter a password in the Password field, and type it again in the Confirm Password field.

On the Type tab, you can specify the type of backup to make, as shown in Figure 13.16.

FIG. 13.16 You can specify the type of backup job to create using the Type tab.

The options on the Type page follow:


NOTE: Windows keeps track of which files you have modified since the last backup by using the Archive flag on each file. You can see how Windows stores this by right-clicking a file in Explorer and choosing Properties. The Archive check box indicates whether the file has been changed since the last backup.

When you perform a full backup, the Archive flag for every file is turned off when it is copied to tape. When you perform an incremental backup, the backup software searches your files for the Archive flag and copies only those files with that flag turned on. After the changed files have been saved on the tape, the Archive flag is turned off.


On the Exclude tab, you can specify the file types you want to exclude from the backup job, as shown in Figure 13.17. This is handy if you don't want to back up a specific type of file, such as Windows system files, in a backup job. If you back up all your data files, for example, you might not want to include .SYS files or similar files. This way, you don't clog up your backup sets with file types you don't want to archive.

FIG. 13.17 You might want to exclude certain file types from your backup job using the Exclude tab.

Click Add to display the Add Exclude dialog box, as shown in Figure 13.18. From this dialog box, select a file type in the Registered Type window and click OK. You also can enter a type not shown in the Registered Type window in the Custom Type field and click OK. The file types selected are displayed in the Do Not Back Up These File Types window on the Exclude tab. Click Remove to delete a file type from the Exclude tab.

FIG. 13.18 Use the Add Exclude dialog box to specify those files you do not want backed up.

On the Report tab, you can choose items to be included in a backup job report, as shown in Figure 13.19. These reports can be viewed or printed by choosing Tools, Report from the Microsoft Backup menu bar. The items available on this tab are straightforward enough that they do not need to be explained in detail.

FIG. 13.19 The Report tab enables you to specify the items you want included in the backup jobs report.

On the Advanced tab, you can select whether to have the Windows Registry backed up with your backup job, as shown in Figure 13.20. When you enable the Back Up Windows Registry check box, the Registry is backed up automatically when the Windows folder is selected to be backed up.

FIG. 13.20 You should back up the Registry if you need to restore your entire system at some point.


NOTE: When you create a Full System Backup set, Microsoft Backup automatically includes a copy of your Registry files. Registry files include detailed information that holds the configuration data for running Windows.

After you select the options for your backup, click OK to save your settings.

Restore Options

After you create a backup job, you might need to restore the files on that backup set. To access the Restore option settings, follow these steps:

1. Select the Restore tab in Microsoft Backup, as shown in Figure 13.21.

FIG. 13.21 The Restore tab shows the backup jobs contained on a selected media type.

2. Select the media type from which you want to restore a back job from the Restore From drop-down list.

3.
Choose View, Refresh (or click the Refresh button) to refresh the Restore tab view.

4.
Click Yes when asked whether you want to refresh the current view. The backup jobs for the selected media appear in the What to Restore area.

5.
Select the drives, folders, or files you want to restore.

6.
From the Where to Restore drop-down list, select the destination for the restored files.

7.
Click Options to modify restore options. These options are described in the following section, "Setting Restore Options."

8.
Click OK to save your option settings.

9.
Click Start to restore the selected files. You are requested to insert the media required to restore the backed up files.

When the restore finishes, a message displays reporting that the operation was completed. Click OK. Click OK again to close the Restore Progress dialog box.


TROUBLESHOOTING: I can't see the tape drive from within Microsoft Backup for Windows. You might not be using a supported tape drive unit. Check the list of supported media in the "Installing Microsoft Backup" section. If you have some other tape drive, you need to use the manufacturer's backup software.

Setting Restore Options

You can modify the restore options by choosing J_ob, Options or clicking the Options button on the Restore tab. The Restore Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 13.22.

FIG. 13.22 The Restore Options dialog box includes a few options for restoring backup jobs.

On the General tab, choose one of the following options:

The Report and Advanced tabs include settings identical to those discussed in the "Setting Backup Job Options" section, earlier in this chapter.

Click OK to save the backup job's restore options.

Setting Microsoft Backup Preferences

Along with the options you can set for backup and restore jobs, you also can set three preferences for Microsoft Backup. You can display the Preferences dialog box by choosing Tools, Preferences, as shown in Figure 13.23.

FIG. 13.23 You can set Microsoft Backup options from the Preferences dialog box.

From the Preferences dialog box, you can select the following options:

Creating Routines for Backing Up Standalone Computers and Networks

When choosing to back up your local workstation, you should set up a rotation of tapes to handle both full-system backups as well as incremental file backups. If you can afford it (in terms of time and economics), you should perform a full backup each time you run Microsoft Backup. However, if this is not a possibility, you should perform full backups on a periodic basis. A full system backup might occur only once per month or possibly as frequently as once per week. Incremental file backups can occur weekly (if you are performing full backups monthly) or daily (if your full backups are performed weekly).

The frequency of your backups depends on the usage of your machine to store data. If you store most of your data on a network server that is backed up by a computer-operations staff, you might find that your backups can occur quarterly. If you store your company's critical data on your computer, you might find that daily backups are essential. In either case, it is important that you actually do the backups when you've planned them.


TIP: You should perform a full-system backup at least twice a year or once each quarter. Even if you don't think your files change much in that time period, you will want to have a backup in case of emergencies.

You don't need to back up applications as frequently as the data files that you use on a day-to-day basis. Because applications can readily be reinstalled from the original disks or CD-ROMs, you should be most concerned about saving your data files, which might be difficult to reconstruct if you lose them. Additionally, backing up your applications will take a long time and a lot of room on your tape.


TIP: The My Documents folder, created when you install Windows 98, is intended to store all the files you create on your system. Whether or not you use this folder for this purpose, you should create a special folder in which you store all your data files. Not only does this make finding your data easier, but it also makes the job of backing it up all that much easier.

If your computer is used as a network server for other Windows workstations, or if you want to centralize the backup operations for all the workstations in your workgroup, you will want to set up a procedure for backing up your network. Microsoft Backup can back up other workstations on the network if the computer with the tape-backup drive can access the data on the other systems. You might want to set up some policies (either formally or informally) to ensure that network data can be accessed for backup during the specified times. It could even be as simple as keeping the read-only share password on everyone's local hard drive the same so that the person performing the backup can access the data to be saved to the tape.


TIP: Try to elect (or appoint) someone to maintain the backup rotation for your network. This person might be you, if your computer hosts the tape-backup system.

You should decide on a schedule for when the backups occur. Ideally, backup should happen after business hours when network traffic is light and the computers are not being used. If you plan on scheduling an after-hours backup, set up Task Scheduler to run unattended backups.

If your network data does not fit on one tape, however, you might need to switch tapes when they fill up. If you suspect that your network backups will fill up more than one tape, you might want to stagger which workstations are backed up each night or consider purchasing a larger tape-backup system to handle the larger volume of data.


TROUBLESHOOTING: The tape system I use is supposed to hold 2.5GB on a tape, but sometimes I can only get 1.5GB on one tape. Why? The tape-drive manufacturers often inflate their capacity claims to match an estimated 2:1 compression ratio. Your tape probably can hold only 1.5GB of uncompressed data. If you are experiencing less than a 2:1 compression ratio with the particular files you are backing up, your actual tape capacity is less. Or, the files you are backing up cannot be compressed, such as some graphics files that already are compressed (JPEG/JPG, for example).

You also will want to create a backup set that includes the data directories of the computers on you network. A backup set is essential if you are performing unattended backups and are extremely helpful even if you manually start the backup operation before you leave work.


CAUTION: If someone is using a file on the network or the file is left open during a network backup, that file will not be saved to tape, because the contents of that file are not accessible to another user while the file is open.

You probably will not want to make a full-system backup of every computer on the network onto a single medium (if the medium is large enough to hold several drives' worth of data). It would be much wiser to make individual full-system backups that you can identify easily if a problem occurs. Your schedule should be a weekly backup of all the data files and a daily backup of only the changed data files. You should have at least one tape for each day of the week and two tapes for alternating full backups. Make sure you buy enough tapes to handle this sort of rotation.


CAUTION: Do not store all your backup tapes near your computers. If you have a fire and all the tapes are destroyed, what good is your backup system? Keep at least the alternating weekly data backups off-site. If that means that you bring them home with you, then do it. You might save your company by performing this simple procedure.

Getting Your System Back on its Feet with System Recovery

Despite your best maintenance efforts, your system may crash hard enough that a simple recovery becomes impossible. In that case, you have no alternative but to format (or replace) your hard drive and start from scratch. However, that doesn't mean you have to laboriously reinstall Windows 98 and your applications. With some advance planning, you can use the new System Recovery utility to both reinstall Windows 98 and return your hard drive to its pre-crash state.

System Recovery consists of three pieces: PCRESTOR.BAT: After you format your hard drive, you boot from your startup disk and then run this batch file. PCRESTOR.BAT performs several chores, but its main task is to start the Windows 98 Setup program with various switches and parameters.

MSBATCH.INF: This is an information file that specifies a number of settings and parameters used by Setup. In particular, this file tells Setup to run the System Recover Wizard (see below). When PCRESTOR.BAT starts Setup, it tells the program to use MSBATCH.INF.

System Recovery Wizard: After Windows 98 is reinstalled, this Wizard loads automatically to take you through the rest of the recovery process, including restoring the files from your system backup.


NOTE: HOW DOES IT WORK?
How is Setup able to run the System Recovery Wizard automatically? The key (literally!) can be found inside MSBATCH.INF, where you'll find the following settings:

[RegistrySettings]
HKLM,%KEY_RUN%,BatchReg1,,"%11%\srw.exe"
[Strings]
KEY_RUN="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run"

These settings modify the following Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

This key is used to specify programs that run automatically at startup. In this case, the program SRW.EXE--the System Recovery Wizard--is added to the key.


To use System Recovery successfully, you must assume your machine will crash one day and so make the necessary preparations. Specifically, you must follow these guidelines:

Running System Recovery

System Recovery is one of those tools that you hope you never use. However, if the day does come when your system needs to be recovered, you'll be glad to know that doing so takes just a few steps:

1. Boot your system using the startup disk. Make sure you enable CD-ROM support.

2.
Format drive C if you haven't done so already.

3.
Insert your Windows 98 CD-ROM.

4.
Create a folder named WIN98 on your hard disk and then copy the Windows 98 Setup files (that is, all the files in the WIN98 folder of your Windows 98 CD-ROM) into that folder.

5.
In your Windows 98 CD-ROM, head for the folder named \TOOLS\SYSREC and copy PCRESTOR.BAT and MSBATCH.INF to the root folder of the same hard disk that you used to create the WIN98 folder in Step 4.

6.
In the root folder of your hard disk, run PCRESTOR.BAT and, once you've read the welcome message, press any key. The Windows 98 Setup begins.

7.
Once Setup is complete, the System Recovery Wizard loads, as shown in Figure 13.24. The initial dialog box offers an overview of the process, so click Next >. System Recovery prompts you to enter your name and company name.

FIG. 13.24 The System Recovery Wizard takes you through the process of restoring your system to its pre-crash state.

8. Enter your name and (optionally) your company name, and then click Next >. System Recovery lets you know that it is about to restore your system.

9.
Insert the backup media that contains your full system backup.

10.
In the final Wizard dialog box, click Finish. System Recovery launches Microsoft Backup.

11.
Use Backup to restore your files. (Make sure you choose to overwrite all files.) When Backup asks if you want to restore the Registry and the hardware and software settings within the Registry, make sure you select Yes.

12.
When the restore process is done, Backup will ask if you want to restart. Click Yes and, when Windows 98 restarts, your system will be completely recovered.

Making System Recovery More Flexible

As you've seen, System Recovery is quite rigid about a few things. For example, it will only reinstall Windows 98 into C:\WINDOWS, and it will only install from a hard disk. System Recovery would be a much more useful tool if it enabled you to overcome these and other limitations. However, although Microsoft does not recommend or support customized System Recovery procedures, it is possible to improve upon the basic process.

The reason System Recovery is so inflexible is that most of its options are set in advance within the PCRESTOR.BAT and MSBATCH.INF files. These are just text files, however, and text files can be edited, albeit with a modicum of caution and a nod to common sense. Here are a few techniques you can try: To reinstall Windows into a different directory: The installation directory is governed by the InstallDir setting within the [Setup] section of MSBATCH.INF. If you prefer to install Windows 98 on drive D, for example, you must modify this setting as follows:

InstallDir="D:\Windows"

Customizing the network logon: If you're on a network, Setup prompts you to log on to the network during the reinstall. However, System Recovery uses a generic username of "System Recovery" and a generic workgroup name of "WORKGROUP," which is also used as the logon domain. System Recovery also sets up a generic computer name of "Windows 98 User." You can customize all four values using the following settings in MSBATCH.INF (note that these values assume a Microsoft Networking login):

[NameAndOrg]
Name="System Recovery"
[Network]
ComputerName="Windows 98 User"
Workgroup="WORKGROUP"
[VREDIR]
LogonDomain="WORKGROUP"

To reinstall Windows from the CD-ROM: The reason you must reinstall Windows from a hard drive is that PCRESTOR.BAT launches Setup from a WIN98 directory that's in the same drive as PCRESTOR.BAT:

cd\
cd win98
setup.exe c:\restore\msbatch.inf /is /id /iq /im /id /ie /IW

To start Setup from another location, you must modify the first two lines. For example, if you want to run Setup from the Windows 98 CD-ROM in drive D, modify the first two lines as follows:

d:
cd\win98


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