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Go the extra mile...
Agree 100%! Having one gigantic partition - especially with todays massive drives is just asking for problems, and is just plain lazy!
But I go even farther than that! I use Partition Magic and split into 4 partitions. Then I use Norton Ghost to copy the system and data partitions completely. Then I Use Partition Magic to HIDE the copies! making them effectively invisible to Windows.
This has saved my bacon more than once when a user has screwed something up, or when malware has taken its toll!
When people go on vacation, I do a complete servicing of their system to ensure that all patches have been applied, and that the machine is virus and malware free. Then I re-ghost the hidden copies.
I am pretty much a one man show and I just cannot aford the time to play around trying to fiure out if malware has been truly completely removed! An ounce of prevention is worth sixteen tonnes of cure from where I sit. Barring an actual hard drive crash, I could have most users "up and running" in 30 minutes! They might have to pick up some pieces, but that is THEIR time - not mine!
And for some "mission critical" PCs (like the CEO and the Head of R&D) I actually do an additional ghost onto and external hard drive and then stash the drive - just in case! Hard drives are CHEAP - lost productivity is NOT!
And generally, we don't have problems - well not ones that have a lasting impact.
A couple of other things I do before commissioning a system:
1) Use SpinRite 6 to do a complete scan of the hard drive to make sure it is sound
2) Use RAMExam to do a comprehensive memory test
Years ago when I set up my first WinNT server, I had heard all the horror stories. When I did my research, it occurred to me that most people were not validating the hardware before deploying it! So I did just that. I tested EVERYTHING. Then I made sure I had all the correct drivers on disk BEFORE the install!
That installation AND deploymet went off without a hitch, and took less than a day - and that server was rock solid. Only required reboot for MS Updates.
It is very easy to take pot-shots at Micro$haft, but often the problems can be traced back to flakey hardware! If you make sure the hardware is sound before deployment, then you take that variable out of the support equation. And that is a GOOD thing!
But I go even farther than that! I use Partition Magic and split into 4 partitions. Then I use Norton Ghost to copy the system and data partitions completely. Then I Use Partition Magic to HIDE the copies! making them effectively invisible to Windows.
This has saved my bacon more than once when a user has screwed something up, or when malware has taken its toll!
When people go on vacation, I do a complete servicing of their system to ensure that all patches have been applied, and that the machine is virus and malware free. Then I re-ghost the hidden copies.
I am pretty much a one man show and I just cannot aford the time to play around trying to fiure out if malware has been truly completely removed! An ounce of prevention is worth sixteen tonnes of cure from where I sit. Barring an actual hard drive crash, I could have most users "up and running" in 30 minutes! They might have to pick up some pieces, but that is THEIR time - not mine!
And for some "mission critical" PCs (like the CEO and the Head of R&D) I actually do an additional ghost onto and external hard drive and then stash the drive - just in case! Hard drives are CHEAP - lost productivity is NOT!And generally, we don't have problems - well not ones that have a lasting impact.
A couple of other things I do before commissioning a system:
1) Use SpinRite 6 to do a complete scan of the hard drive to make sure it is sound
2) Use RAMExam to do a comprehensive memory test
Years ago when I set up my first WinNT server, I had heard all the horror stories. When I did my research, it occurred to me that most people were not validating the hardware before deploying it! So I did just that. I tested EVERYTHING. Then I made sure I had all the correct drivers on disk BEFORE the install!
That installation AND deploymet went off without a hitch, and took less than a day - and that server was rock solid. Only required reboot for MS Updates.
It is very easy to take pot-shots at Micro$haft, but often the problems can be traced back to flakey hardware! If you make sure the hardware is sound before deployment, then you take that variable out of the support equation. And that is a GOOD thing!
Posted by cloakedrun2001@...
24th Jan 2007
