Northwind Computers managed to defeat Microsoft and get Windows 7 Professional running on my new 1TB hard disk. Now I am restoring my last image file (which is a year old (I should make images more often). The next step is restore all my personal files from the other backup non my external drive. Then I get to reinstall probably thousands of Windows 7 updates, the various applications I installed over the last year (putting all the install programs from Downloads into a special folder) and reapply the Lenovo docking station drivers which have always had a less than friendly relationship with Windows 7 updates. I will be busy for many hours, I fear. On the other hand, I have a fresh install of Windows 7 with much of the debris that normally accumulates not there; 500 GB more storage in case I decide to Linux dual boot it; and I now have no excuse for failing to make a fresh system image.
This is embarrassing; my backup script has been carefully backing up everything in My Documents, but not the other library directories. Most wasn't terribly important, but I will do better next time.
Lessons learned: record all your Thunderbird settings port, password xmit method, etc. Last time I did this I backed up all my files and settings with Mozbackup. Every installer from Downloads should be copied to a backup folder, along with any license codes in your inbox.
Getting there: hostrocket.com helped me unravel the Thunderbird settings. Now I just need to find the right driver for my Lenovo USB 3.0 Dock. Ity seems to be harder than it should be. Not sure where I found it on Lenovo's web site, but the installer is called hlud04ww.exe and everything is working. Office 2013 is installed; just Corel VideoStudio remains.
Corel is a company I am beginning to dislike: Only the current version is supported, and the download that installs X6 appears to be an upgrade only from X5 which of course went away when the hard disk crashed. There's always a reason you need to buy the latest version.Actually, I was running the wrong installer. I found the right one, but it needs a serial number from a section of their website that is currently 404.
As a long time user of ThinkPads, I prefer to use ThinkVantage System Update. It gives me what I regard as the optimum balance of automation and control over the process.
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