[ltp] Backup/Recovery for laptop

[Joerg Bruehe]

Hi all !

onion wrote (re-ordered):
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:27:23 +0200, Rhett Creighton 
> <Rhett@Creighton.com> wrote:
> 
>> I found a really good backup/recovery solution, that I wanted to share
>> with you guys.  It is especially useful right before I try to tweak my
>> machine, and I know I might screw a lot of things up.
>>
>> The software is Acronis True Image 11.  [[...]]
 >
> Thanks for tip, but I think such tools aren't needed for experiments you 
> are describing (kernel etc.).
> Concerning changes in /etc (so you can freely experiment), you can use 
> git [[...]]  Concerning kernel configuration, you can
> configure&compile new kernel, add it to your grub configuration, [[...]]
>       But generally yes - it's good to 
> backup whole system from time to time. Not really because of experiments 
> with configuration (because you simply cannot get to the state when 
> there is no option how to boot your system - wish I could say that about 
> Windows :D ) but it could be useful in case of HDD failure.
> Peter
> 
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:27:23 +0200, Rhett Creighton 
> <Rhett@Creighton.com> wrote:
> 
>> I found a really good backup/recovery solution, that I wanted to share
>> with you guys.  It is especially useful right before I try to tweak my
>> machine, and I know I might screw a lot of things up.
>>
>> The software is Acronis True Image 11.  [[...]]

IMO, both of you are right in stressing the importance of a full backup, 
and Peter is right about the possibilities available for fall-back even 
in a single installation.

But still I prefer a multi-boot installation:
I keep two bootable systems (root file system including /usr) in 
separate partitions, both access a common /home (separate partition).
This way, I can compare them on-disk, run diff on config files and 
transfer my own settings, check which program (package) the one has over 
the other, switch between them if they support different features (say, 
one can handle WLAN better and the other dual-display) until I get that 
fixed, etc.

Using grub, this is pretty easy to manage, installation tools can add 
boot entries for all bootable partitions (at least this worked for me 
when I installed SuSE 10.3 in parallel to 9.3), and today's disks are 
big enough to allow this.


Regards,
Joerg

-- 
Joerg Bruehe  - persoenliche Aeusserung / speaking only for himself
mailto:joerg.bruehe@web.de