Safeguarding Your

Computer
Mr. McBrien
TEJ2O
What Kinds of Things Safeguard Our
Computers?
 ?
What can I do to prevent my computer
from failing?
 A few things...
 Clean dust from computer fans periodically
 Take action if a fan starts making noise!
 Surge protection
 Run antivirus software
Remember the Second Law of
Thermodynamics
 In any process, entropy increases
 The universe is moving towards disorder
 $#!# Happens.

To be honest, the main thing that you need to do is to

prepare for the inevitable failure.
We Talked About Troubleshooting

 Diagnose and repair.

Today We’re Going to Prepare for the
Worst
The Restore Tripod

 Regular Data Backups

 System Image
 Windows Repair Disc
Why do we make backups?
 ?
What do we back up?

 ?
Windows Failure: Potential Causes

?

 HD failure
 Malware
 Corrupted registry
 Corrupted drivers or DLLs
So Windows Won’t Load. Now What?

 ?
Backing Up Data Isn’t the Only Story.
What about the installation?

 Our OS installation contains more than data:

 Apps

 Settings

 Drivers

 More.

It took a lot of work to get our computer where we

like it. Who wants to do this all over again?
The System Image

 While your data changes daily, your Windows installation

changes only rarely.
 While regular data backups need to be automated,
backing up your system can be manual.
 The System Image is a back up of your entire computer;
Windows has tools that you can use to restore your
installation if the worst occurs.
Windows 7
A Tip – That Old HD

 Your System Image is likely too large for a DVD

 It doesn’t need to be as big as your current HD!
 You can use a (large) flash drive
 Have you upgraded your HD recently?

Your old HD may not be big enough to use for day-to-day

work. It’s likely large enough for a system image.
Windows System Repair Disc

 Your system repair disc is a complement to your image

disc.
 You need this to restore your computer using the system
image.
 Windows will offer to make one of these for you after your
image process is complete.
 No need for a DVD – if you have a blank CD this will work.
Creating Your System Repair Disc

 Start…
 Repair…
 Create system repair disc
 Insert a blank CD/DVD.
 Click “create disc”
 Write on the disc and store it with your image disc.
So the Worst Happens. Now What?

 Buy a new HD (if necessary)

 Insert the Windows repair disc in DVD drive.
 Choose between the options:
One More Note

 If you upgrade the hard drive on your computer, the

process is the same as backup/restore.
 Create your image and recovery disc.
 Swap out your hard drive.
 Insert your repair disc and follow the process for restoring to the
new hard drive.
Key Points

 Windows installations can fail for various reasons.

 Data backups are critical, but system backups can save
days of effort.
 The system image is a second hard drive containing
settings and applications.
 The Windows repair disc is a utility to help you restore
windows to functionality when something goes wrong.
 These three resources can help you restore your computer
to functionality with only a few minutes’ work when
something goes wrong.
Homework

 Do you have a system image for your computers at home?

 Start working to get the system images in place.
References and Additional Reading

 https://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-systems
/windows-7/how-to-use-a-system-repair-disc-to-restore-w
indows-7/