Windows automatic update is an essential part of any Windows machine and a great tool that ensures that your machine has the latest patches and other updates. However, a lot of these updates can only be fully installed after the machine is restarted, since they deal with changes to the core system files. The reminders that come along every few minutes prompting you to restart now or restart later can be nagging, especially if you're in the middle of important work. At times, for certain updates, if you're not around to hit the restart later button, Windows will automatically restart after waiting for a few seconds!

Well, there is a way that you can change this behaviour of Windows. If you are logged in with admin privileges, head over to the run prompt and type in gpedit.msc and hit enter. In the new window that opens up, do the following:

1. Head over to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components.
2. Click on the Windows Update list.
3. On the right side, you will see a number of settings related to Windows Update.
4. Locate and double-click No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installations.
5. In the window that pops up, select Enabled and click the OK button.

There! Now, Windows will wait for the logged on user to manually shut down the machine instead of attempting to automatically restart, after a software installation. Of course, this means that if you are one of those people who keep their mahines running for ever without properly shutting them down (locking the system, hibernating etc), the updates will not get installed. So, if you are one of those people, maybe you shouldn't do this. You will also find other settings related to Windows update in the location that was mentioned above. A pretty good description for each setting is available - read and proceed at your own discretion. However, remember, it is never a wise idea to fully disable your Windows Updates. Please ensure that your machines are always updated with the latest patches from Microsoft.

One of the most useful little utilities you find in Windows is the Files and Settings Transfer (F.A.S.T. or FAST) Utility. I have always used it when I migrate from one PC to another, or even if I need to re-install the OS on the same PC. Of course, you can use your standard backups to restore all your files, and that is usually a better option than trying to copy all your files in one go when you are getting ready for the migration. However, the one thing that FAST can do additionally is to transfer all your settings. This includes your font library, your desktop wallpaper, your screen saver settings, your custom appearance settings and many other little things like these, which will get you up and running on the new machine without having to spend a lot of time and thought on having it back to how you liked it.

The other day, at work, one of my colleagues had a problem with her laptop, which required a good old reformat-and-reinstall. This obviously meant that she would have to spend quite a bit of time backing up all her files and then some more time restoring them. I suggested FAST - Set it up and it'll do the work for you, both when you are backing up the data and restoring it. Things went fine up to the point when she tried to use FAST on her "new" machine to restore the files and settings. To our horror, the wizard gave an error message stating that it could not find the required data.

A quick web search revealed a great page by Microsoft MVP (Most Valued Professional, for those who do not know), Ramesh Srinivasan, where he talks about this issue. He has given a quick checklist to go through, to ensure that you are not incorrectly assuming that the FAST file has been corrupted. He then goes on to tell you how you can use a Microsoft utility (which is no longer supported by Microsoft) called FastConv, to recover the data from a corrupted FAST file. Head over to his site for that info.

However, I still had some trouble before I could get FastConv to work properly, so I thought I'd put up a few simplified steps of how you can use the utility to recover data out of a corrupted FAST file, based on my experience. Before you begin, before you even think of downloading FastConv, copy and backup the FAST file that you are trying to extract out of. The last thing you want is to corrupt an already corrupted file and be left with absolutely nothing. So, please, copy the entire USMT2.UNC folder over to another location and use the FastConv utility on the copy. I also have to say that the following are simplified steps that worked in my case. These might not work for you. Please visit Ramesh's site or other tech forums to see if your specific problem can be addressed. Okay, so here we go:

1. Download the FastConv utility from Ramesh's Windows XP Troubleshooting site.
2. Extract the contents of the Zipped file. I am going to assume that you have extracted this to your desktop into a folder called FASTConv. This folder should contain two exe files - FASTConv.exe and rmv2opg.exe. I shall not discuss the use of the latter here, since I did not have to use it  (Again, refer Ramesh's site for details). 
3. Open up the command prompt (Start > Run > CMD). 
4. Brwose to the FASTConv folder on your desktop, using the CD command: 
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}>cd desktop 
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Desktop> cd fastconv
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Desktop\FASTConv>
5. I am going to assume that you have copied over the FAST file to the D drive (D:\USMT2.UNC). Create a destination folder, where your data will be extracted to. I shall use a folder called Destination on the D drive (D:\Destination). 
6. Now, we are ready to run the FastConv utility from the command prompt (not by double clicking the exe file). But before we do the actual extract, we can optionally use the verify feature of this utility to ensure that the file is usable, and which of its elements are corrupted.
7. On the command prompt type fastconv /v /s:"D:\USMT2.UNC"
   The text following the /s: is your source folder (USMT2.UNC on the D drive, in my case). Please ensure that you are pointing to the folder and not the .dat file within.
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user name} \Desktop\FASTConv>fastconv /v /s:"D:\USMT2.UNC"
8. The utility will begin to run and tell you how many files were examined and whether everything looks fine. The utility simply quits when it finds an unusable file. Note down the name of this file, since we need to "exclude" it.
9. Once the verification is over, proceed to do the actual extract. Type in the following command:
   fastconv /s:"D:\USMT2.UNC" /d:"D:\Destination" /e:"xxxxx.dat"
   where the text after /s: refers to the source file, as before
   the text after /d: refers to the destination folder you have created in step 5, above (D:\Destination, in my case)
   and the text following /e: indicates the file to be excluded.
   Please note that only one file can be excluded at one time and the quotes need to be present.
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user name} \Desktop\FASTConv>fastconv /s:"D:\USMT2.UNC" /d:"D:\destination"
10. Sit back and watch the text, or go catch a movie. This will take some time depending on the size of your FAST file (in turn, how many files are present in your backup) and obviously your computer's processing speed.

If all goes well, you will find a folder within your destination folder for each of the drives that you had backed up with all the data under the drive (eg., you will find a "C_" folder for your original C: drive, with your Documents and Settings folder present within).

Hope this helped. Drop a comment if it worked, or if you have any more suggestions to add.