adamminorgeek

i've used Norton Ghost for over a decade. easy, reliable. yes, includes boot disc/usb the latest version is now named: Symantec System Recovery. looks just like ghost to me. runs incrementals automatically. manages backup destination automatically. backs up to network disks (NAS) on my 6-mo old toshiba satellite u845t-4155 it's hardly noticeable when running in background. it does go significantly faster using Gbps ethernet (rather than old skool fast enet, 100Mbps) i haven't used acronis. i have used have used paragon and ms DISM. prefer ghost. also allows mounting a recovery image as if it were a disk. very useful. have fun!

i'd like to suggest that the cc installer, when it finishes and offers to launch cc, should either launch it NOT elevated or not offer at all. the installer has to run elevated. that means whatever programs it launches will be elevated. this is not desirable for two reasons: 1. more risk from virus infections, etc., which is the reason we run not-elevated even if we are admins; and 2. when elevated, it seems to run under the SYSTEM account instead of mine. i was quite surprised to see my entire configuration gone! all the extra folders, choices, etc. would have been disastrous if i'd just run it as usual. this is also related to the decision to store config information on a per-user basis, which might be right for multi=user machines. mine's just me. so i'd be just as happy storing config info as global (under programdata). that would avoid the above problem. maybe an option for this? or just launch it not elevated. thanks for a great tool! cleaner and registry scanner. the latter shouldn't default to detecting unused extensions. microsoft intentionally pre-populated that for use as we add/remove files/products. some advanced users might have some reason to delete all those, but non-expert users should ignore those. besides, that's the misdirection that so many scammers use: run this. omg i have 100s of errors! i'd better buy it and get it cleaned up! sigh you don't wanna look like them. so default to ignoring the extensions.

thanks for the script suggestion, and nice to see psexec can run a program under SYSTEM credentials. unfortunately, on vista, this fails with error: Couldn't install PsExec service: Access is denied. the only way i can get psexec to work is to run it as admin or from admin cmd. which, of course, eliminates the need for system credentials. it remains impossible (as far as i can see) to invoke CCleaner from a (maintenance) script. fails due to vista's UAC. what a pain. any work-arounds?

UAC on vista traps CCleaner as needing admin approval. when run interactively, that's a don't care. when run from a script, like my daily/weekly maintenance scripts, it fails to run at all. this is probably more a vista question (all of which seem to be about security) than CCleaner? but i'm stuck. any help appreciated. thanks! adamminorgeek

i'm very happy to hear you've found the answer. would you care to share it with the rest of us? that's what a forum is about... thanks