PC Disaster and Recovery

Chapter 1: PC Disasters and Recovery Overview

Figure 1.1: A PC hard drive

Chapter 2: How Your Hardware, Operating System, and Applications Work Together

Figure 2.1: An installed motherboard with its connections.

Figure 2.2: A CPU package and its fan installed to a motherboard.

Figure 2.3: Installed PC memory (SDRAM).

Figure 2.4: PC power supply with connectors.

Figure 2.5:  Connecting a monitor to a video adapter.

Figure 2.6: AGP video port with a video adapter.

Figure 2.7: Sound adapter connections at the back of the PC.

Figure 2.8: Drives installed inside the PC.

Figure 2.9: Keyboard and mouse ports.

Figure 2.10: External ports and connectors.

Chapter 3: Prevention: Limiting Your Risk

Figure 3.1: Windows power management options

Figure 3.2: Use the HCL to check compatibility

Chapter 4: Assembling Your PC Recovery Resource Kit

Figure 4.1: JDR Micro Devices is just one of many vendors selling packaged toolkits.

Chapter 5: Drafting Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Figure 5.1: Windows Backup can be set to backup all new and changed files since your last backup.

Figure 5.2: Application Help provides information about supported hardware.

Figure 5.3: You can create or restore points in System Restore.

Chapter 6: Transforming Yourself into a Smart Troubleshooter: Detecting, Analyzing, and Diagnosing

Figure 6.1: Keep a journal of repairs and changes.

Figure 6.2: Checking BOOTLOG.TXT for problems

Figure 6.3: Checking out system information using MSINFO32

Chapter 7: Restarting a Problem PC

Figure 7.1: Get a list of all Recovery Console commands.

Chapter 8: When Upgrades Go Wrong

Figure 8.1: The first step in flashing a BIOS

Figure 8.2: Wim’s BIOS Page

Figure 8.3: Dell’s web-based memory lookup tool

Figure 8.4: Kingston’s web-based memory lookup tool

Chapter 9: Stabilizing Your Operating System

Figure 9.1: Displaying installed updates for Windows

Figure 9.2: Removing installed updates for Windows

Chapter 10: Understanding and Troubleshooting Hardware Failures

Figure 10.1: Microsoft Knowledge Base can provide details on Device Manager error codes.

Figure 10.2: A Pentium II/III CPU fan removed for cleaning

Figure 10.3: PC memory sockets and installed RAM (SDRAM)

Chapter 11: Avoiding Power and Overheating Problems

Figure 11.1: PC power supply

Figure 11.2: An APC uninterruptible power supply

Chapter 12: PC Performance: Diagnosing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting

Figure 12.1: Click a topic to get more information.

Chapter 13: Recovering Lost or Damaged Files and Applications

Figure 13.1: File corruption may make the content look like “garbage.”

Figure 13.2: Finding a .tmp file that may contain my lost document

Figure 13.3: Choose carefully what you copy when cutting and pasting data into a second file.

Chapter 14: Disaster and Recovery Essentials for Your Small Network

Figure 14.1: Windows XP makes networking very easy.

Figure 14.2: Network hub with indicator lights on the front (The ports are hidden at the back.)

Figure 14.3: Network switch with cables

Figure 14.4: Results of using the IPConfig /all command

Figure 14.5: Connecting the Ethernet cable to the adapter connector at back of PC

Chapter 15: Finding Help Online

Figure 15.1: Western Digital makes it easy to check drive installation manuals online.

Figure 15.2: Use the Download Drivers section on sites like this to find drivers and software.

Figure 15.3: Busy message bases at the Tech Support Guy forums

Figure 15.4: PC Mechanic offers a mix of how-to tutorials and reviews.

Figure 15.5: My Computer Information provides information about the hardware and software on your PC.

Figure 15.6: Advanced System Information’s View the Error Log option gives you an indication of any problems on your PC.

Figure 15.7: Options available under View Invitation Status

Chapter 16: Starting from Scratch the Smart Way

Figure 16.1: The ribbon cable connection to the hard drive must be firmly connected.

Chapter 17: Resurrecting a Dead Hard Drive

Figure 17.1  Step 2 in data recovery in GetBackData: Selecting a drive to salvage

Figure 17.2: Drivesavers.com is one of the recovery specialists offering a free estimate.

Figure 17.3: How a hard drive is jumpered

Figure 17.4: A jumper diagram for a Western Digital Caviar drive from Western Digital’s web site

Figure 17.5: Attaching the data ribbon cable to the back of the drive