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Computer newbies: What kind of backup sw?
What kind of backup sw?
by Stephen2217 - 9/11/09 6:36 AMI just did an OS reinstall of Windows XP Pro, and have read that now is the time to do a backup of this. I don't really want just a "copied" backup of all the individual files, I'd prefer something like an entire drive image copy of the now-clean install.
So next time a reinstall could be maybe done simply from such an "image disc", or so I've read. What s/w do I need? One I've heard of is Acronis True Image. Is there a freeware that does what I'm asking?
Thanks for any help
Stephen
Re: freeware for disk image software
by Kees Bakker
- 9/11/09 6:51 AM
In reply to: What kind of backup sw? by Stephen2217
http://lifehacker.com/5303067/five-best-free-system-restore-tools
Nothing wrong, of course, with Acronis, but it won't harm to try the free ones first.
Kees
Let's start with FREE ones.
by R. Proffitt - 9/11/09 6:52 AM
In reply to: What kind of backup sw? by Stephen2217
Pick from http://lifehacker.com/5303067/five-best-free-system-restore-tools
Thank you
by Stephen2217 - 9/11/09 8:05 AM In reply to: Let's start with FREE ones. by R. Proffitt
for the info and link, helpful and so quick too!
A few detail questions
by Stephen2217 - 9/15/09 6:22 PM In reply to: Let's start with FREE ones. by R. Proffitt
The sw I tried is Macrium; 2 types of discs can be made. a "disc image" and a "bootable rescue CD". Do I need both? Will the 1st allow me to just 'copy over' my system to effect a reinstall (wiping drive clean first, just like a true reinstall?), as this would be much faster than the OS reinstall process.
Why would I need a bootable rescue CD, in case the disc image won't work? How is the bootable CD an advantage over an actual OS reinstall?
I made a disc image of my hard drive C after my OS reinstall to an external HD; the image size total is only the total of the new C, abt 16GB, and not the size of the whole partition. Image is not one file but 4GB segments(I guess) to make the 16gig total. And...the files on the EHD are FAT32, not the NTFS used on reinstall.
Since I won't know if my disc image is any good until I need to use it, I ask, is what I made sound functional? (FAT32 etc.)
Thanks
Stephen
For a few dollars, the test.
by R. Proffitt - 9/15/09 6:47 PM
In reply to: A few detail questions by Stephen2217
Let's look at the price of a 500GB hard drive. For less than 50 bucks I get one of those and slip it into the common desktop and restore from my backup. If my backup is valid I boot and carry on. If not, I make new plans.
Also, how many backup copies are there? There must be more than 1 or it's not a backup.
Bob
Stephen - two disks.
by tomsw - 9/19/09 4:57 AM In reply to: A few detail questions by Stephen2217OK, your question - why 2 disks? With this software, it appears that when you are going to wipe the hard drive clean and put your saved image on, there are two steps. (I'm going to assume your Macrium works the same as my old "Drive Image" software.) The first step is booting to some operating environment so the image can be put on the drive. For a number of reasons, you don't want to trust booting to your hard drive, so they have you make the Boot CD. Once the Boot CD is made, you should be able to keep it for any future restores. (Note: Being able to boot to CD is an option you may have to allow for in the BIOS settings of the computer.) This boot CD may be almost empty - containing just enough to start up the computer in the restore environment.
The second step is the Boot CD will prompt you to put in the "disk image" disk. (Is this a DVD?) It will put the boot drive back to where it was when the image was made. This contains all the information needed to restore the drive. It's possible that one DVD disk will not be enough to hold the full image, but it sounds like you don't have that issue. Yet. I prefer the "C" drive to be the operating system only, which makes the image an easily manageable size. Then I use other drives for everything else.
Unlike the boot CD, you will make a new "disk image" each time you make a new back up of the operating system. You are so right that making this image after doing a clean install and getting all updates is a real time saver over doing that install again! But think about 6 months or a year down the road, if you are still happy with the computer performance, you might want to make a new "disk image" then as well. That way all your updates, installed programs and settings can be quickly restored back to that point also. Of course at that point in the future, you can decide which image you want to restore back to if you took the time to label the disks and document where you were when each one was made.
Now as to that awful question of you don't know if the image is good until you make it and use it... you are right! So before you get too far down the road, perhaps you should image two or more different ways and they try the restores NOW! You will then feel much better about your prospects when you really need it.
Answer: Whatever works for you.
by Paul C - 9/16/09 2:12 AM In reply to: What kind of backup sw? by Stephen2217Paid, free, it makes no difference; what does matter is that the backup strategy you select is one that's easy enough for you to use and does what you want it to.
Bob Proffitt mentioned making multiple copies of backups. That's a good idea. I keep copies of backups on CD/DVD at work, for example. Another good suggestion is that whatever backup software you use MUST be able to verify the integrity of the backup as part of its operation. There's nothing so frustrating as having 2-3 copies of a corrupted or otherwise unusable backup.
Paul
Agreed
by Zouch - 9/18/09 7:00 PM In reply to: Answer: Whatever works for you. by Paul CI agree with Paul, your backup strategy is more important than the tools you use.
My approach is whenever I rebuild a system, after I have loaded up all the applications, I take two full backups on separate physical external hard drives and these remain untouched until I next rebuild the system. Then on an ongoing basis, I take another full backup with weekly incremental backups for a month, then start a new full backup. I keep three generations of these backups, overwriting the oldest in month 4. In all cases, I verify the backup when I make it - you MUST do this to be sure you do have a usable backup.
I use Acronis True Image. It isn't free but then compared to the value of my data, it isn't expensive. I like that it offers full 256 bit AES encryption for the backup image and that it will restore an individual folder or file from a full backup.
Nope
by Dango517 - 9/19/09 1:45 AM In reply to: What kind of backup sw? by Stephen2217Buy a second internal hard drive and drag and drop your "users" files and your E-mails to it. Why? Because if you have corrupt files on your PC you'll be backing up corrupt files using a shadow copy software backup system.
Yes, you will have to reload the OS and your programs if the drive crashes or becomes corrupt and reset the settings using this method which may take hours but you'll have a clean install of the system.
Always triple backup important files, maybe to USB. Things like those photos, tax returns, billing information and receipts, you'll want to keep for a very long time.
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