Boot from external hard drive if PC won't boot?

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my
desktop pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or
clone, backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and
then periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

I could have sworn we went over this before, but maybe it was someone
else.

You can make the Acronis Rescue Media on a CD or on a USB stick (key).

To use the Rescue Media, you must set your Boot Options in the BIOS
setup of the computer to boot first from the media you are
using...either CD drive or USB memory media.

Your computer BIOS must have the option to boot from USB memory media in
order to use Rescue Media on your USB key.

Your external hard drive, if you are using Acronis True Image to make
images of your hard drive, will be holding Acronis True Image image
files. You CANNOT boot the computer using the image files (which have a
..TIB file extension). You must boot the computer with your Rescue
Media, then in the Acronis program that starts from that media, you can
RESTORE your image from the external hard drive TO your internal
computer hard drive. Once an image is successfully restore to the
internal hard drive, then you can boot from your internal hard drive
again.

It is a moot point whether or not an external hard drive is bootable.
Your external hard drive, if it contains True Image backups, will not of
itself be bootable ....as explained above, it contains only image files
to be used for restoring to the internal drive. The image file is just
that, and exact image of the entire hard drive and everything on it at
the moment the image was made. If you are periodically using Acronis to
do an incremental update to the image, then it will contain multiple
images, updating the original.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
A+
http://dts-l.net/

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my
desktop pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or
clone, backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and
then periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

I could have sworn we went over this before, but maybe it was someone
else.

You can make the Acronis Rescue Media on a CD or on a USB stick (key).

To use the Rescue Media, you must set your Boot Options in the BIOS
setup of the computer to boot first from the media you are
using...either CD drive or USB memory media.

Your computer BIOS must have the option to boot from USB memory media in
order to use Rescue Media on your USB key.

Your external hard drive, if you are using Acronis True Image to make
images of your hard drive, will be holding Acronis True Image image
files. You CANNOT boot the computer using the image files (which have a
..TIB file extension). You must boot the computer with your Rescue
Media, then in the Acronis program that starts from that media, you can
RESTORE your image from the external hard drive TO your internal
computer hard drive. Once an image is successfully restore to the
internal hard drive, then you can boot from your internal hard drive
again.

It is a moot point whether or not an external hard drive is bootable.
Your external hard drive, if it contains True Image backups, will not of
itself be bootable ....as explained above, it contains only image files
to be used for restoring to the internal drive. The image file is just
that, and exact image of the entire hard drive and everything on it at
the moment the image was made. If you are periodically using Acronis to
do an incremental update to the image, then it will contain multiple
images, updating the original.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
A+
http://dts-l.net/

And use the Acronis clone file to do so

"Unknown" wrote in message
...
The subject is whether or not you can boot from USB.
"DL" wrote in message
...
The Acronis bootable rescue media is designed to boot from, obviously,
then use its tools to recover the image you have stored on your external
drive.
You can also boot from the Acronis cd, then recover

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

And use the Acronis clone file to do so

"Unknown" wrote in message
...
The subject is whether or not you can boot from USB.
"DL" wrote in message
...
The Acronis bootable rescue media is designed to boot from, obviously,
then use its tools to recover the image you have stored on your external
drive.
You can also boot from the Acronis cd, then recover

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Indeed, but some may like to challenge Patti's seeming assumption that, if
she can't boot her PC from a Bootable Rescue Media on a USB key, she's been
wasting her time and will ditch Acronis and "copy my data and... reinstall
all the programs, settings, etc"

Patti, the chap in the computer shop may well be right *in your case*, that
*your* machine can't boot from a USB device (though as a generalisation he's
wrong - and, has he actually *seen* your machine, or was it just talk?). In
which case, can you not create your rescue media on CD instead of a USB key,
boot to that, then restore image files from the external hard drive, as
others have suggested?

"DL" wrote in message
...
And use the Acronis clone file to do so

"Unknown" wrote in message
...
The subject is whether or not you can boot from USB.
"DL" wrote in message
...
The Acronis bootable rescue media is designed to boot from, obviously,
then use its tools to recover the image you have stored on your external
drive.
You can also boot from the Acronis cd, then recover

snip

Indeed, but some may like to challenge Patti's seeming assumption that, if
she can't boot her PC from a Bootable Rescue Media on a USB key, she's been
wasting her time and will ditch Acronis and "copy my data and... reinstall
all the programs, settings, etc"

Patti, the chap in the computer shop may well be right *in your case*, that
*your* machine can't boot from a USB device (though as a generalisation he's
wrong - and, has he actually *seen* your machine, or was it just talk?). In
which case, can you not create your rescue media on CD instead of a USB key,
boot to that, then restore image files from the external hard drive, as
others have suggested?

"DL" wrote in message
...
And use the Acronis clone file to do so

"Unknown" wrote in message
...
The subject is whether or not you can boot from USB.
"DL" wrote in message
...
The Acronis bootable rescue media is designed to boot from, obviously,
then use its tools to recover the image you have stored on your external
drive.
You can also boot from the Acronis cd, then recover

snip

Before we all get involved in 'boot from usb' maybe think of the context in
which she was asking, ie using Acronis

"Tim Meddick" wrote in message
...
This is by no means a "fact"!

Whether or not you can boot from a USB source depends on the PC's BIOS and
is not some sort of "golden rule".

Just because most PCs are not able to, still doesn't mean you are right in
saying that...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Peter Foldes" wrote in message
...
You cannot boot from an external USB drive or any external drive. Your
computer guy was correct in advising you

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Before we all get involved in 'boot from usb' maybe think of the context in
which she was asking, ie using Acronis

"Tim Meddick" wrote in message
...
This is by no means a "fact"!

Whether or not you can boot from a USB source depends on the PC's BIOS and
is not some sort of "golden rule".

Just because most PCs are not able to, still doesn't mean you are right in
saying that...

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"Peter Foldes" wrote in message
...
You cannot boot from an external USB drive or any external drive. Your
computer guy was correct in advising you

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my
external hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of
time trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti

you could just remake the Rescue Media onto a CD/DVD.
You can still image/backup your HD to the USB connected external drive.
The Rescue Media will see all of the drives connected internal or
external.
I use Acronis True Image and have made the Rescue Media but I made it on a
CD.
I image my HD to an external USB connected HD.I have tested and it works.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my external
hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of time
trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti

you could just remake the Rescue Media onto a CD/DVD.
You can still image/backup your HD to the USB connected external drive.
The Rescue Media will see all of the drives connected internal or
external.
I use Acronis True Image and have made the Rescue Media but I made it on a
CD.
I image my HD to an external USB connected HD.I have tested and it works.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my external
hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of time
trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Yes I made the Acronis Rescue Disk on CD
I inserted the Rescue disk and rebooted
A message came up to push any key to boot off CD
I did and it booted off the CD
The Acronis interface came up and I found both Images I had created.
One on a USB connected External drive and the other on one of the 4 HD I have
installed
which has the Acronis Secure Zone on it.
I used the Image on the external drive and restored it.
The Same Rescue disk also boots on my Laptop and the same External HD is
accesible
from my Laptop.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti

you could just remake the Rescue Media onto a CD/DVD.
You can still image/backup your HD to the USB connected external drive.
The Rescue Media will see all of the drives connected internal or
external.
I use Acronis True Image and have made the Rescue Media but I made it on a
CD.
I image my HD to an external USB connected HD.I have tested and it works.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my external
hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of time
trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

Yes I made the Acronis Rescue Disk on CD
I inserted the Rescue disk and rebooted
A message came up to push any key to boot off CD
I did and it booted off the CD
The Acronis interface came up and I found both Images I had created.
One on a USB connected External drive and the other on one of the 4 HD I have
installed
which has the Acronis Secure Zone on it.
I used the Image on the external drive and restored it.
The Same Rescue disk also boots on my Laptop and the same External HD is
accesible
from my Laptop.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti

you could just remake the Rescue Media onto a CD/DVD.
You can still image/backup your HD to the USB connected external drive.
The Rescue Media will see all of the drives connected internal or
external.
I use Acronis True Image and have made the Rescue Media but I made it on a
CD.
I image my HD to an external USB connected HD.I have tested and it works.

peter

--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)

"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop
pc with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my external
hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of time
trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall
all the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti

In message , Patti Barden
writes:
Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

For each of the first, second, and third options, there should be a way
of selecting from a table. The options available for each one will
include those you have listed. If they also include USB, then your
motherboard has the ability to boot from USB; if not, it doesn't.

(I'm a bit surprised RAID is there as the first one. Do you have more
than one disc drive [inside the PC I mean]? If not, I don't _think_ you
can use RAID; if I'm right, amending the above will make your boot
process faster, though only by a very tiny amount. [RAID = redundant
array of inexpensive disks; a way of using two or more physical hard
drives to either make things go faster {by striping all bytes across
multiple discs - high nibble on one, low on other, or something like
that}, more reliable {by mirroring the contents across the discs}, or a
combination. I don't _think_ you can use RAID techniques if you have
less than two physical drives.])

If boot from USB _is_ possible from your motherboard, then you also need
to be using a USB device that can be booted from. I know some memory
sticks are marketed as bootable, which suggests that some aren't - I
don't know; I certainly don't know for things like USB hard drives. But
even if it is, it will only be of any use if the motherboard is
USB-bootable.

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti
[]
Most of these system backup utilities offer to make such a disk. It's
often (though they may well not say so) a version of Linux that can be
run (and booted) from the CD; I don't know if this is the case for
Acronis. Once it has booted, it is highly likely that it (the computer,
running the operating system it has booted from that disc) will be able
to read external drives, such as USB sticks and USB hard drives, and
thus restore your images from them to the hard disc. One minor point to
note - external drives (stick or HD) will appear as a certain drive
letter under Windows, when you are running Acronis to do the backup;
when running the operating system that boots from the CD, they may
appear as different letters. So for example, under Windows, you may use
Acronis to make a backup of C to external drive H; when doing the
restore, you may have to restore the image from E (though it's still the
same external drive plugged into the same USB port), probably still to C
though not necessarily so.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

"It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it's
the part that I do understand." - Mark Twain

In message , Patti Barden
writes:
Thanks to all who responded.

"peter" wrote in message
...
you did not give us any info on your mobo so we could check if it was
capable of booting
from USB...not all are capable of this but if it is it would be listed in
your BIOS settings
under boot devices...
I looked on the Bios today (a mystery to me) The Setup utility page comes up
Boot Order: RAID, 1st boot device: CD Rom, 2nd boot device: HDD-1, 3rd:
boot device: disabled, Floppy Disabled. Should I change this??

For each of the first, second, and third options, there should be a way
of selecting from a table. The options available for each one will
include those you have listed. If they also include USB, then your
motherboard has the ability to boot from USB; if not, it doesn't.

(I'm a bit surprised RAID is there as the first one. Do you have more
than one disc drive [inside the PC I mean]? If not, I don't _think_ you
can use RAID; if I'm right, amending the above will make your boot
process faster, though only by a very tiny amount. [RAID = redundant
array of inexpensive disks; a way of using two or more physical hard
drives to either make things go faster {by striping all bytes across
multiple discs - high nibble on one, low on other, or something like
that}, more reliable {by mirroring the contents across the discs}, or a
combination. I don't _think_ you can use RAID techniques if you have
less than two physical drives.])

If boot from USB _is_ possible from your motherboard, then you also need
to be using a USB device that can be booted from. I know some memory
sticks are marketed as bootable, which suggests that some aren't - I
don't know; I certainly don't know for things like USB hard drives. But
even if it is, it will only be of any use if the motherboard is
USB-bootable.

I will make an Acronis Rescue Media on a CD.

If my PC does not start (like in Oct. and my PC disk failed) will my PC boot
up
from the Acronis Rescue Disk? Is that how you tested it.
Thanks for your patience.
Patti
[]
Most of these system backup utilities offer to make such a disk. It's
often (though they may well not say so) a version of Linux that can be
run (and booted) from the CD; I don't know if this is the case for
Acronis. Once it has booted, it is highly likely that it (the computer,
running the operating system it has booted from that disc) will be able
to read external drives, such as USB sticks and USB hard drives, and
thus restore your images from them to the hard disc. One minor point to
note - external drives (stick or HD) will appear as a certain drive
letter under Windows, when you are running Acronis to do the backup;
when running the operating system that boots from the CD, they may
appear as different letters. So for example, under Windows, you may use
Acronis to make a backup of C to external drive H; when doing the
restore, you may have to restore the image from E (though it's still the
same external drive plugged into the same USB port), probably still to C
though not necessarily so.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

"It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it's
the part that I do understand." - Mark Twain

Thanks to everyone for responding. You have given me a lot to think about.
Thanks again. Patti


"Patti Barden" wrote in message
...
Running XP Sp3, OE6, IE8
I recently bought an external hard disk which is attached to my desktop pc
with USB.
I also have a program called Acronis which is supposed to copy or clone,
backup, etc.
It has you create a Bootable Rescue Media Builder which I put on a USB
key.

My idea was to copy my entire pc disk to the external hard disk and then
periodically
back it up and if my pc went (it is old) I could restart from my external
hard disk.

In talking with a guy who owns a computer shop, he tells me I cannot
reboot from a
USB. He insists that is the case. If so I have been wasting a lot of time
trying to
insure I don't have to reinstall everything or lose my data.

Perhaps I should just copy my data and figure I will have to reinstall all
the programs,
settings, etc.?
I am getting more confused.
Patti