i really enjoy windows 7 as an end user, however it is far from satisfying my demands when it comes to doing some serious work. that's unless of course i don't begin buying some very expensive softwares right from the beginning.
and why should i do that? i had already built a perfectly working system in my windows xp. i already had all the softwares and tools i needed to do my job, and i learnt how to work with them to get the best they can give me.
the compability options in windows 7 are pretty good when it comes to playing games, so i installed and played some of my good old games, but when it comes to video editing: it sucks big time. well, i managed to find a way to work with some of my softwares, but it pretty much looks like pushing a car on the neutral gear to try to make it work rather than stepping on it. this is no way doing a business.
so, i was planning to find a second hand pc with a working xp on it. perhaps that would be the best solution but then it occured to me that i could use a dual boot. this means, installing my windows xp in my new box, next to my windows 7. so i will not have to buy another pc and morever, i will be able to use my softwares on a much faster computer. wow, that would be great.
not so easy.
after a lot of try and errors, i figured that installing xp next to windows7 is not as easy as it is told on the internet. now, in a nutshell, when you open your computer, one of the first things it does is to look for an operating system to run. and this is done by a small file generally named a bootloader. if you have two operating systems, the bootloader is supposed to ask you which one you are willing to run. but the problem is, windows 7 uses a completely different bootlader system. it is not a big deal if you install xp first and then windows 7. the new bootlader can handle that. but if you try to install xp after the windows 7, then you have a problem.
after lots of long hours, i finally figured a way and managed to run the two operating systems. good for me. but the thing is, now i had two fresh starters, meaning that all my documents and configurations were lost in windows 7. never mind about the configurations, can do that any time but i really needed some of the docs in my c drive where all these installings and re-installings took place.
but, before i started all this, i took an image of my c drive. i knew that it would be handy if things get worse. simply put, an image means the exact copy of your computer, or a part of your computer which you choose. so, if things get irreversible, you can always use that copy to go back to the exact point when you made the copy.
in a typical computer there are usually 2 hard drives. and in fact this a logically partitioned one physcial hard disc. there are many benefits of cutting your hard disc into 2 virtual parts. first of all, since the area your computer has to run in that hard disc is lowered, it runs faster. but more importantly, the part you install your operating system might be very unstable as in my case so it is a good practice to keep your archive in the other hard drive which is supposed to be intact.
i keep most of my files in my d drive. this drive is essential for me. and doing so, i can play with my c drive as much as i can, knowing that my sensitive data will not get any harm.
and therefore, there is no need to make an image of my d drive. becuse it is supposed to be immune from the instabilities of my c drive. also, the bulk of my files are in d drive and it is sort of impracticble to make an image of it.
so you see, i managed to run 2 operating systems just as i needed, but they were fresh and i needed some of the files which happened to be in my former sytesm which already had an image. trusting that i know how to do it now, i decided to copy back my image one more last time to get those documents and then repeat the entire process once again. so i copied back my image file.
remember that i never made an image of my d drive. and i didnt intend to touch it anyway. but the thing is, the whole drive blew up because somehow, the system thought my d drive was an empty one and erased everything on it. amd this is a true disaster because the files in my d drive are far more important than the ones in my c drive. they are vital. and they dont have an updated back up. and i cant even retrieve the ones i already have, because i lost the directory too.
it is good thing that there are ways of restoring deleted files. but it was already too late and i just couldnt find the right tool at the time, but i am hoping to restore a lot deal of my lost files back.
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