I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

My questions:

1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music on
it.

2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external drive
be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do most
cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been thinking
about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted here in
response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should consider
Norton Ghost as well.)

3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one and
then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my usual
work on the computer using the external drive?

As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

Thank you for your help!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne Naples wrote:
> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>
> My questions:
>
> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music on
> it.
>
> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external drive
> be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do most
> cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been thinking
> about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted here in
> response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should consider
> Norton Ghost as well.)
>
> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one and
> then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>
> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my usual
> work on the computer using the external drive?
>
> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Jo-Anne
>
>
Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and putting
everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new size of the
drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.
So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several 60 gig
partitions).

Imaging means to make a file that contains all the data on the 60 gig
drive that can be later used to re-image back onto another drive. But
its just a file, a bit smaller than the total contents of your data on
the 60 gig. (due to compression). So yes, you might get it down to
40 gig and can put lets say 7 or so on a 320 giger.

Backup (normally in this context of these three words) means to copy
files. However backup is truly a generic word. And backup is probably
the least favorable item of these 3 as you can do nothing with it but
get individual files out of the backup.

Either of the first two ways, will allow you to recover every bit of
data back onto an internal drive, OS and your data, as of the time you
did the operation. If you did it nightly you would feel no pain when a
HD crashes, (except the blisters from doing the labor of changing the
hardware :-) .

HTH.

On Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:14:37 GMT, Big Al <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and putting
>everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new size of the
>drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.
>So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several 60 gig
>partitions).

Cloning goes from disk to disk.

"Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>
> My questions:
>
> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music
> on it.
>
> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do
> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted
> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should
> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You
will use one or more DVDs instead.

>
> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one
> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>
> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>
> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Jo-Anne

Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What
you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality, this
is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of
the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your hard
disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and
program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time
and space.

You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single
backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one or
more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the
previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able
to go back to before the damage.

As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are
overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.
Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2 cases
start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

HTH
-pk

Patrick Keenan wrote:
> "Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>>
>> My questions:
>>
>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is
>> this
>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing
>> over
>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music
>> on it.
>>
>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not,
>> do
>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted
>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should
>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>
> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You
> will use one or more DVDs instead.

IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4G
each.

>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one
>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>>
>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>>
>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>>
>> Thank you for your help!
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>
> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What
> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.
>
> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,
> this
> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of
> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have
to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which
ones to use, etc).

> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your
> hard
> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and
> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time
> and space.

15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,
system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never be
caught off guard).

> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single
> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one
> or
> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.
>
> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the
> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able
> to go back to before the damage.
>
> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are
> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.
> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2
> cases
> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.
>
> HTH
> -pk

"Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Patrick Keenan wrote:
>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>>>
>>> My questions:
>>>
>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music
>>> on it.
>>>
>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do
>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted
>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should
>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>>
>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You
>> will use one or more DVDs instead.
>
> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4G
> each.
>
>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one
>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>>>
>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>>>
>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>>>
>>> Thank you for your help!
>>>
>>> Jo-Anne
>>
>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What
>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.
>>
>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality, this
>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of
>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.
>
> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have to
> keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which ones
> to use, etc).

As Patrick points out:
<quote>
It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier ones,
as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the previous
good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go back to
before the damage.
</quote>

Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two
times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps first
create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one. That
requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present image and
the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has been
completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.

>
>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your hard
>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and
>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time
>> and space.
>
> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,
> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never be
> caught off guard).
>
>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single
>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one or
>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less time
consuming and easier to use removable drives.
>>
>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the
>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able
>> to go back to before the damage.
>>
>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are
>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.
>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2 cases
>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.
>>
>> HTH
>> -pk
>
>


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Brian A. wrote:
> "Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Patrick Keenan wrote:
>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>>>>
>>>> My questions:
>>>>
>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able
>>>> to
>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is
>>>> this
>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing
>>>> over
>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge
>>>> external
>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store
>>>> music
>>>> on it.
>>>>
>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not,
>>>> do
>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions
>>>> posted
>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I
>>>> should
>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>>>
>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space.
>>> You
>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.
>>
>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly
>> 4 GB
>> each.
>>
>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another
>>>> one
>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>>>>
>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>>>>
>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your help!
>>>>
>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>
>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk.
>>> What
>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.
>>>
>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,
>>> this
>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features
>>> of
>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.
>>
>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER
>> have
>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and
>> which
>> ones to use, etc).
>
> As Patrick points out:
> <quote>
> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
> ones,
> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the
> previous
> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go
> back
> to before the damage.
> </quote>

OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed
occur):
As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail,
but both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have one
to fall back on.

Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a backup
if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two
> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps
> first
> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.

Are you so sure? I seem to recall having the backup partition practically
filled, and yet still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the
same file name). So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when
you write the new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then
and there, meaning its first erased, of course).

> That
> requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present image
> and
> the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has
> been
> completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.
>
>>
>>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your
>>> hard
>>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system
>>> and
>>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of
>>> time
>>> and space.
>>
>> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,
>> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never
>> be
>> caught off guard).
>>
>>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a
>>> single
>>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one
>>> or
>>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.
>
> Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less
> time
> consuming and easier to use removable drives.

Yeah, me too. MUCH easier to do, too, and you don't have to keep a stack
of DVDs around either. :-)

>>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
>>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces
>>> the
>>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be
>>> able
>>> to go back to before the damage.
>>>
>>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are
>>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.
>>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2
>>> cases
>>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.
>>>
>>> HTH
>>> -pk
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
>
> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
> Conflicts start where information lacks.
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>
> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

"Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:u$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Brian A. wrote:
>> "Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Patrick Keenan wrote:
>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
>>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
>>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
>>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>>>>>
>>>>> My questions:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
>>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
>>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
>>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
>>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music
>>>>> on it.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
>>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do
>>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
>>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted
>>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should
>>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>>>>
>>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You
>>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.
>>>
>>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4
>>> GB
>>> each.
>>>
>>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one
>>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
>>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>>>>>
>>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you for your help!
>>>>>
>>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>
>>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What
>>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,
>>>> this
>>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
>>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of
>>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.
>>>
>>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have
>>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which
>>> ones to use, etc).
>>
>> As Patrick points out:
>> <quote>
>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
>> ones,
>> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the previous
>> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go back
>> to before the damage.
>> </quote>
>
> OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed
> occur):
> As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail, but
> both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have one to
> fall back on.

Not if the backup (image/clone) is connected or improperly stored. There are
many different ways that a system could get toasted as well as the backup/image.
If you believe that overwriting an existing backup/image/clone is best, go with
it, I won't. I will overwrite images, yet I will always have one that is
previous to an overwritten one amd I will never only have one.

>
> Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a backup
> if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

When an image is created, the app creating it doesn't have a clue if any one
file within the system is corrupt, and it could care less. It's job is to
create the image, not to check the integrity of the system.

>
>> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two
>> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps
>> first
>> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.
>
> Are you so sure? I seem to recall having the backup partition practically
> filled, and yet still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the same
> file name). So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when you
> write the new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then and
> there, meaning its first erased, of course).

I'm 100% positive, RTFM. If your image even completes when there isn't the
available required space, it will complete with errors.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Best not to "clone" a drive but to create an Image backup.
A number of people use the two products list below.

Norton Ghost
http://www.symantec.com/norton/produ...r&pvid=ghost14

True Image (has a 15 day trial version also)
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/

I use Ghost but an earlier version (Ver. 10), each new image backup I create
goes into it's own folder on a separate internal drive on my PC and I also
make a DVD
copy of the image file for offline storage.

Whichever product you buy make certain that it comes with a 'Recovery CD',
which is a means of booting your PC from the CD and performing a recovery
using the most recent image backup you created.

Note: The current version of Ghost (Version 14) talks about a feature named:
"LightsOutRestore - Restores your system with an on-disk software recovery
environment-no bootable CD required."
Also you can download and read a .pdf version of their User's Guide from:
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/englis...st/14/manuals/

Using file compression you should be able to make multiple image backup to
the external drive.
For example if your 60GB drive is two thirds full (40GB used, 20 GB free) I
would expect that
you could create at least 10 image backups (each in it's own folder) on a
300GB external drive.

If your internal drive fails you can not use an Image backup which you
have stored on your external drive to boot and run/use Windows.
You must first replace the defective drive with a new drive and
then restore the image located on the external drive to the new drive
using the boot CD I mentioned above.

Once you have restored the image to the new drive then you can boot your PC
and use Windows. Note that what you then have is a working version of
Windows
as it was when you created your last and most recent image backup. Which
means
that if the last image backup is a month old then you will have lost
anything you
created after your made the image backup.

JS

"Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>
> My questions:
>
> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to
> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this
> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over
> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external
> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music
> on it.
>
> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do
> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted
> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should
> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>
> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one
> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>
> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>
> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Jo-Anne
>

"Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:u$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Brian A. wrote:
>> "Bill in Co." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Patrick Keenan wrote:
>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my
>>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB
>>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal
>>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.
>>>>>
>>>>> My questions:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able
>>>>> to
>>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is
>>>>> this
>>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing
>>>>> over
>>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge
>>>>> external
>>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store
>>>>> music
>>>>> on it.
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external
>>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If
>>>>> not, do
>>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been
>>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions
>>>>> posted
>>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I
>>>>> should
>>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)
>>>>
>>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space.
>>>> You
>>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.
>>>
>>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at
>>> roughly 4 GB
>>> each.
>>>
>>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another
>>>>> one
>>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my
>>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?
>>>>>
>>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you for your help!
>>>>>
>>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>
>>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What
>>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,
>>>> this
>>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.
>>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features
>>>> of
>>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed
>>>> files.
>>>
>>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER
>>> have
>>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and
>>> which
>>> ones to use, etc).
>>
>> As Patrick points out:
>> <quote>
>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier
>> ones,
>> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the
>> previous
>> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go
>> back
>> to before the damage.
>> </quote>
>
> OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed
> occur):

Unfortunately, it's not a long shot. It happens. I've personally seen
it happen, and I've read posts recently in one of these groups where a user
had it happen.


> As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail,
> but both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have
> one to fall back on.

Yes, both can fail at the same time, and a copy of a corrupted install is of
limited value.

>
> Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a
> backup if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. It happens.

>
>> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be
>> two
>> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps
>> first
>> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.
>
> Are you so sure?

Yes.

HTH
-pk

> I seem to recall having the backup partition practically filled, and yet
> still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the same file name).
> So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when you write the
> new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then and there,
> meaning its first erased, of course).
>
>> That
>> requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present
>> image and
>> the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has
>> been
>> completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.
>>
>>>
>>>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your
>>>> hard
>>>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system
>>>> and
>>>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of
>>>> time
>>>> and space.
>>>
>>> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes
>>> programs,
>>> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never
>>> be
>>> caught off guard).
>>>
>>>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a
>>>> single
>>>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to
>>>> one or
>>>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.
>>
>> Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less
>> time
>> consuming and easier to use removable drives.
>
> Yeah, me too. MUCH easier to do, too, and you don't have to keep a
> stack of DVDs around either. :-)
>
>>>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces
>>>> earlier
>>>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces
>>>> the
>>>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be
>>>> able
>>>> to go back to before the damage.
>>>>
>>>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are
>>>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.
>>>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2
>>>> cases
>>>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.
>>>>
>>>> HTH
>>>> -pk
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
>> Conflicts start where information lacks.
>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>>
>> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
>> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>
>