Comments on: Backup essentials

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:41:44 +0000

Another program is Farstone’s DriveClone Pro v3. It works both on XP and Vista -either 32 or 64 bit editions. The only problem is that it does support a limited amount of RAID controllers …

By: GeoM

GeoM — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:13:55 +0000

Another Backup program to consider is Paragon Drive Backup 8.51. Paragon also publishes a Partition Manager 8.5 which has a feel similar to the old Partition Manager before it was taken over by Semantic.
Both programs work equally well on NTFS, FAT32/16, LinuxExt2/3 and ReiserFS.
The output can be directed to local /network/internal/external or CD drives.
One can create a “capsule”, a hidden partition on a local disk, similar to those installed by the likes of Dell where as a last resort the computer can be restored to a working state.
I have been using both programs on XP and Business Vista (trail) and both work a treat.

By: David

David — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 21:55:20 +0000

Been using the complete PC backup with no issues. I wouldn’t mind if it were a bit more flexible, but other than that it’s fine.

By: Freud

Freud — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:22:49 +0000

Ed,

Apple’s Bootcamp creates a dynamic partition for the installation of Windows. (There are numerous references to this but I’ll paste one below just for documentation purposes).

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/E9EC61A2-E110-42C0-8C48-CD7D62197D32.html

“All Boot Camp itself does is set up the hard drive so that both Mac OS X and Windows can coexist. It creates two partitions from the single, existing Mac partition, using dynamic repartitioning. The Mac partition is shrunk down to make space for a Windows partition, but the existing contents of the Mac drive are preserved intact.”

By: Ed Bott

Ed Bott — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:13:24 +0000

Freud,

You’re booting from a dynamic disk?

AFAIK, Windows Home Server will back up any NTFS volume. I am almost certain I have imaged some dynamic disks with it, but I have never booted from a dynamic disk so can’t speak to that configuration.

By: Freud

Freud — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:10:29 +0000

I have tried Acronis 10 and Ghost 12 with a MacBook Pro running Vista on a bootcamp partition. Both products fail because they will not image a dynamic disk. Does anyone know if Home Server has this limitation also?

By: JustDavid

JustDavid — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:47:39 +0000

I’ve used Home Server to restore images several times, works flawlessly. I also do a monthly drive image using Ghost 12, which has also always worked when needed.

One of the great things about restoring using Home Server is how easily you can restore to a new, larger hard drive. One downside of Home Server is the beta doesn’t support backing up a Vista X64 system.

By: Donny

Donny — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:29:04 +0000

Ghost 12 and the built-in Vista Complete PC Backup failed during my extensive testing. (Yes, it worked sometimes, but not always. This is unacceptable for a backup/recovery solution. The whole point is to use a tool that works, as intended, every single time.)

I highly recommend Acronis True Image. The Acronis boot disc uses proprietary software and it works, no matter what is on the primary hard disk of the target machine. Unlike Ghost or the Vista disc, the Acronis boot media does not rely on Vista technology. The programmers deserve a lot of credit for getting a great product to the market so quickly.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:06:26 +0000

I mentioned Norton 12 …. it’s official Symantec Ghost 12.0

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:00:16 +0000

I use Vista Home Premium 32b.

With XP i never had problems with Acronis but with Vista it screwed up my new laptop (Acer Aspire). After installation i get the BSOD.

Now, Norton 12 works fine for me. Reliable and fast.

By: Deepak

Deepak — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:15:31 +0000

What about DirveImage XML. http://runtime.org/driveimage_faq.htm. I’ve been using it to image my x86 Vista laptop for close to a year now.

By: mgo

mgo — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:49:22 +0000

Yep…Acronis is -king- of the imaging programs. I discovered it after finally giving up on that cranky old Drive Image from years back. I’m a great big fan of their Disk Director partitioning program, too.

Now that you mention Windows Home Server again, Ed, I may just take a look at that as part of my “fun experiments” with my herd of ThinkPads that I own. (I have four of them-not quite the conspicuous excess of your Home Entertainment Center, but close) -just kidding there–

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:27:55 +0000

Bootit NG is also a great alternative for partition backup. More importantly it also contains BCD editing tools to repair the Vista boot configuration if required.

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:50:59 +0000

Ed, you might enjoy Mark Minasi’s epic writings on the various complications of Complete PC Backup. It’s exhausting just reading it:
http://www.minasi.com/newsletters/nws0707.htm
http://www.minasi.com/newsletters/nws0708.htm

A better option for some than the trial version of Acronis True Image Home is the entirely free OEM version offered by Seagate for those with Maxtor or Seagate drives (MaxBlast and DiscWizard respectively).
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/

Those are not your father’s MaxBlast and DiscWizard, as they were updated a few months ago around the Acronis product. Not all Acronis features are present, but most are.

By: Ed Bott

Ed Bott — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:43:09 +0000

Yes, hen770, the storage work in Windows Home Server is nothing short of amazing. That’s why I said it’s the best choice for backing up multiple-PC households.