Solved Toolbox


Haydon

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I looked at the tools that I made on USB sticks and DVDs: install, recovery, repair, rescue, and wonder how useful they are considering all the tools that are already provided on-board these days? (or downloadable, fresh download vs. x-year old download)

What can't be done with the on-board or downloadable tools?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Hm ... not sure what the message is ?

Did you mean to compare the on-board tools with roller skates and the troubled computer with the buffalo herd > on-board tools are not effective?

Did you mean to say that downloaded tools on an external medium is more effective? Tools that need to be prepared on a trouble-free machine?

Or did you mean to say that all the tools in my toolbox are useless? What tools should I have in my toolbox?

?

 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Hm ... not sure what the message is ?

Did you mean to compare the on-board tools with roller skates and the troubled computer with the buffalo herd > on-board tools are not effective?

Did you mean to say that downloaded tools on an external medium is more effective? Tools that need to be prepared on a trouble-free machine?

Or did you mean to say that all the tools in my toolbox are useless? What tools should I have in my toolbox?


I'm not sure what you mean by on-board tools.
Windows tools? Tools you already have?

These days, you can make a bootable image with multiple tools on it.
There's this... see post #2 for the updates...




And someone posted another method... it like Rufus for multiple bootable images on one device.
I think it was here on ElevenForum. I can't remember who posted it or what it was called.
I got the impression it was a "new" method.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Ventoy maybe?
It would make sense to update, alter your toolbox as you change OS builds, apps used, purpose for computer use etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Scan 3XS Custom 1700
    CPU
    Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)
    Motherboard
    Asus ProArt Creator B660 D4
    Memory
    64GB DDR 3600Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gigabyte G32QC 32inch 16:9 curved @2560 x 1440p 165Hz Freesync Premium Pro/ Dell SE2422H 24inch 16:9 1920 x 1080p 75Hz Freesync
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440p & 1920 x 1080p
    Hard Drives
    WD SN570 1TB NVME (Boot), Samsung 870QVO 1TB (SSD), SanDisk 3D Ultra 500Gb (SSD) x2, Seagate 3Tb Expansion Desk (Ext HDD), 2x Toshiba 1Tb P300 (Ext HDD)
    PSU
    Corsair RM1000X Modular
    Case
    Corsair 4000D Airflow Desktop
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H150i RGB Pro XT 360mm Liquid Cooler, 3 x 120mm fans, 1x Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    800Mbs
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Defender, Malwarebytes
Well, it just depends on your point of view. At the most basic, the key question is "what do I do if drive fails?".

As a minimum, you need a usb flash drive with a rescue drive or ia usb harddrive image backup in case hard drive fails.

Depending on a standard installation drive is ok provided you have a backup of drivers on pc as well.

Of course, all valuable data should be backed up to an external drive or cloud.

Regrettably, few people even meet these minimum constraints.

Everything else is icing on the cake.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Maybe I can say what let me start this thread.

System > Recovery provides access to some tools built into the OS. So, as long as I can boot and reach 'Recovery' I can try addressing perhaps not so serious problems. I am not sophisticated enough to address more serious problems anyway, I'd restore the machine from bare metal if there are more serious problems.

So, all I need is a VERY reliable bootable USB stick or DVD to reach 'Recovery' and then try to correct any not so serious problems.

That's at least the thinking behind my OP and questions about my toolbox. Has it the right tools, enough tools, useless tools, etc. for my needs. (Yes, I do have backups)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Based on your description of how you would proceed if encountering an issue I would say all you need is a relatively up to date Windows USB/ DVD created with the MSCT, depending on how your system is installed and boot options available to you.
It will allow you to clean install if needed, repair install if needed and, as long as the drive itself has not failed, there are methods to even recover individual files if needed using the USB/ DVD.
Anything more involved or advanced would probably be better addressed by creating a custom rescue/ troubleshooting disk, maybe even extending to a Linux disk.
There are plenty of tutorials on how to make advanced rescue disks using a variety of methods for both general and specific needs, both on these forums and other reputable forums.
Making use of an app like Macrium Free to image your system regularly can save you a lot of headaches when trouble hits as well, tutorials available on these forums and elsewhere.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2, build: 22621.521
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Scan 3XS Custom 1700
    CPU
    Intel i7-12700K 3.6GHz Base (5.0GHz Turbo)
    Motherboard
    Asus ProArt Creator B660 D4
    Memory
    64GB DDR 3600Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Tuff RTX 3080 10GB OC
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gigabyte G32QC 32inch 16:9 curved @2560 x 1440p 165Hz Freesync Premium Pro/ Dell SE2422H 24inch 16:9 1920 x 1080p 75Hz Freesync
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440p & 1920 x 1080p
    Hard Drives
    WD SN570 1TB NVME (Boot), Samsung 870QVO 1TB (SSD), SanDisk 3D Ultra 500Gb (SSD) x2, Seagate 3Tb Expansion Desk (Ext HDD), 2x Toshiba 1Tb P300 (Ext HDD)
    PSU
    Corsair RM1000X Modular
    Case
    Corsair 4000D Airflow Desktop
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H150i RGB Pro XT 360mm Liquid Cooler, 3 x 120mm fans, 1x Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    800Mbs
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Defender, Malwarebytes
All in all it sounds like I should rely more on my backup tools and rely less on my recovery tools. That I can do :D

I will mark this thread 'Solved' :cool:
Thanks to all who responded (y)

Edit: Lo and behold, right after posting this, I noticed the following case in point
Use Caution with the April Patch Tuesday Cumulative Update!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
I looked at the tools that I made on USB sticks and DVDs: install, recovery, repair, rescue, and wonder how useful they are considering all the tools that are already provided on-board these days? (or downloadable, fresh download vs. x-year old download)

What can't be done with the on-board or downloadable tools?
I tried that once, and with all the updates I was constantly replacing apps on the USB stick so I gave up it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware M18 R1
    CPU
    13th Gen Core i9 13900HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 @4800MHz 2x16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce RTX 4090HX 16GB
    Sound Card
    Nvidia HD / Realtek ALC3254
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18" QHD+
    Screen Resolution
    25660 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    C: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    D: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    Case
    Dark Metallic Moon
    Keyboard
    Alienware M Series per-key AlienFX RGB
    Mouse
    Alienware AW610M
    Browser
    Chrome and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    Killer E3000 Ethernet Controller
    Killer Killer AX1690 Wi-Fi Network Adaptor Wi-Fi 6E
    Bluetooth 5.2
    Alienware Z01G Graphic Amplifier
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware Area 51m R2
    CPU
    10th Gen i-9 10900 K
    Memory
    32Gb Dual Channel DDR4 @ 8843MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
    Sound Card
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Hard Drive C: Samsung 2TB SSD PM981a NVMe
    Hard Drive D:Samsung 2TB SSD 970 EVO Plus
    Mouse
    Alienware 610M
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton
All in all it sounds like I should rely more on my backup tools and rely less on my recovery tools. That I can do :D

I will mark this thread 'Solved' :cool:
Thanks to all who responded (y)

Edit: Lo and behold, right after posting this, I noticed the following case in point
Use Caution with the April Patch Tuesday Cumulative Update!

I rather tend to take posts like above with a pinch of salt.

No matter what upgrade happens, statistically somebody somewhere will get an issue.

To be fair, poster says "use with caution".

In the end, what caution can you really take?:

1) do not install it based on one post (harder said than done)

or

2) make an image backup, update and try it, knowing you can revert.

No contest really is it?

Ok, the warning may prompt you to make that image backup.

I have seen other post much more strongly e.g. "Do not install this update......", the logic being I have had issues thus all 1 billion users will get issues! These ones are more scaremongering and unhelpful.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I tried that once, and with all the updates I was constantly replacing apps on the USB stick so I gave up it.
I have great respect for the Win10XPE software but I rather agree that it is more hassle keeping everything up to date, and recompiling iso all the time you make a change.

For some, the Win10PXE has become very advanced to the point it is almost a mini windows OS.

TBH, it is just simply easier to create a Windows To Go usb drive, install apps you need, and then software updates are mostly a few simple clicks and no hassle in updating drive.

OK with a WTG drive, you really need a 32GB usb drive, but now such a drive is less than £10, it is no big deal anymore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
TBH, it is just simply easier to create a Windows To Go usb drive, install apps you need, and then software updates are mostly a few simple clicks and no hassle in updating drive.
I seem to remember that Windows-To-Go only runs on the host machine on which it is created (unless you pay up for a separate license). If the host machine is down, then the WTG is also down?

So, if I want operational continuity, then I pay up for a separate license for the WTG?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro

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