XP: System utility apps questions

[JerryLevin]

Hi all.

This all pertains to WinXP Pro only.

I currently own older versions of some key utilities that I'm planning on either upgrading or replacing if there are better versions out there. I have two new Dell boxes and four older Dell boxes and have some reconfiguring to do.

Fortunately, budget is not a major issue (not that I want to spend lots here), but I do want to see what the most robust and/or highest quality apps and recommendations are.

In particular:
1. Partition Magic (for repartitioning hard disks).
I'm running version 7.0, most current is 8.0 and is now part of the Norton family. I'm not very keen on other Norton offerings, but PM has worked well for me in the past.

2. Drive Image (for system and disk drive back ups)
I'm running version 7.0, curious what the best backup software out there is. I recently acquired Symantec Backup Exec which I use for tape archives, but haven't utilized for system backups per se. For tape, this has worked well.

3. Any PC "tune-up" apps for cleaning registry leftovers, etc. that folks can recommend?

Many thanks as always,

[MarkAlsop]

Partition Magic: XP Pro has the ability to partition a hard drive without Partition Magic, it is just not quite so user friendly or flexible. I haven’t used Partition Magic since Windows 98SE.

Drive Image: Not needed for Vista but very necessary for XP Pro (IMHO). The Drive Image user interface is much better than the Vista image backup utility but the Vista utility seems to work quite nicely (on Vista) with USB drives as the target storage device. I'd get Drive Image for XP.

BTW Drive Image is now owned by Symantec and goes by the name Ghost. Symantec had a drive image application of their own when they purchased Powerquest and the transition of the Powerquest Drive Image to Ghost was a bit messy but the latest version of Ghost is quite good and easy to use.

Registry Cleaner: I’ve used paid-for versions of 3 or 4 on XP, the most recent one was Registry Fix. I’m not real fond of these and always carefully limited their actions to what I knew would be okay.

After running Registry Fix it gives you a list of items in each of the selected categories before it makes any changes. You can then mark selected items to be cleaned up or selected items to be ignored. Very flexible but also very time-consuming if you really look at what it proposes to do. This is also very enlightening since you get to peek at the mess some applications make or leave behind after installing or uninstalling.

[Charles_Matter]

Originally Posted by JerryLevin

Hi all.

This all pertains to WinXP Pro only.

I currently own older versions of some key utilities that I'm planning on either upgrading or replacing if there are better versions out there. I have two new Dell boxes and four older Dell boxes and have some reconfiguring to do.

Fortunately, budget is not a major issue (not that I want to spend lots here), but I do want to see what the most robust and/or highest quality apps and recommendations are.

In particular:
1. Partition Magic (for repartitioning hard disks).
I'm running version 7.0, most current is 8.0 and is now part of the Norton family. I'm not very keen on other Norton offerings, but PM has worked well for me in the past.

2. Drive Image (for system and disk drive back ups)
I'm running version 7.0, curious what the best backup software out there is. I recently acquired Symantec Backup Exec which I use for tape archives, but haven't utilized for system backups per se. For tape, this has worked well.

3. Any PC "tune-up" apps for cleaning registry leftovers, etc. that folks can recommend?

Many thanks as always,

Definitely call Dell on this one. I went thru hell recently with my 2 Dell XpPro machines. As MS continues to update (patch).. add shit.. it can cause driver conflicts and be big time trouble.. maybe even needing to re-install the OS. A lot of older periphirals just don't have updated drivers for XP's current state. They warned me also to be careful about installing older apps, too. Best to get driver updates from Dell, too. If they don't have them get a new thing. Old one's probably USB1 anyway.

[Charles_Matter]

Yea.. and I got fed up with Norton.. I'm currently using MS's new Live One set-up. It's a little clunky.. doesn't always seem totally sync with other utilities in XP.. but really seems to work very well. It has a file back-up section that can be set to automatic.. either their's or third party app. I've been terrible about back-up.. but, then just look at my desk. :-)

[Aaron Winters]

I slightly old post but I will add to it anyway..

Partition Magic 8 is nice and works as well as it always has.

I do not backup my system drive as I don't see too much point in it. I used to make an image of the system once I got a clean install and the apps put on it but not any more. I don't see much point in it because I never kept the image updated and with all the patches and application updates it is just a pain. I just do a format and install now when needed.

To backup my other stuff I use Syncback. It is a very simple effective tool for making backups and works very well.