Backup/mirror question

[Magsmom]

I have been reading a lot of posts which give bits and pieces of info, but
I'm having trouble putting it all together to get the full picture.
I have XP home, I have an external hard drive with more capacity than my
desktop HD.
1. Can I backup my entire HD to the external hard drive so that I could
simply boot off of the external HD in case my desktop hd crashed?

2. Could I restore all application programs (except for OS), applications
from the external HD to either my existing desktop, or to a new one?

3. Can this be done with special "mirroring" hardware?

 

[JS]

1) Boot from external drive, See:
http://www.infopackets.com/news/sof...ve_to_boot_windows_incase_c_drive_crashes.htm

2) You can not move most applications from one PC to another using the
method you described.
The problem is that most applications use the Registry and that can not be
moved from one PC to
another with special "mirroring" hardware, with out causing problems.

3) If you have the Windows XP CDs (Retail and not OEM from PC maker)
and the key codes for both computers then a "Repair Install" may work,
but this is risky and I would make an Image backup of the
hard drives in "Both" computers to a third drive that will be used only for
storing the image backup files(s) before attempting this.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[Big_Al]

Magsmom said this on 12/18/2008 8:22 PM:

I have been reading a lot of posts which give bits and pieces of info, but
I'm having trouble putting it all together to get the full picture.
I have XP home, I have an external hard drive with more capacity than my
desktop HD.
1. Can I backup my entire HD to the external hard drive so that I could
simply boot off of the external HD in case my desktop hd crashed?

2. Could I restore all application programs (except for OS), applications
from the external HD to either my existing desktop, or to a new one?

3. Can this be done with special "mirroring" hardware?

1. You can make a clone of your main HD to an external, yes, but you
normally remove the HD from the external and put it into the PC and boot
off it just as you would your original. This Clone is meant to be
made and then used as a replacement, not an alternative drive. Most
clone programs will clone the data from lets say C: to H: and then fix
it so that H: gets renamed to C: when it reboots. Almost has to since
your Microsoft office has entries in the registry that its installed on
C:\..... and if the drive was H:\... things would fail really fast
wouldn't they.

2. No you cannot install applications from a running system to another.
This is a constant question that seems to arise, and due to the
pieces of an install being scattered all over the drive in the registry
etc, its not probable you'll ever figure out a program install. Some
little programs like autoruns.exe can be moved but....

3. Mirroring hardware like a controller card, duplicates the drives for
backup purposes/reliability, like putting 2 250Gig drives in the same
PC, and duplicating the data on both drives, thus when one fails, the
other has a copy up to the minute and usually will keep the PC running.
you only get 250gigs out of the 500 you installed but thats the
price of backup and reliability. Google "raid".

 

[Rich Barry]

Look into Norton's Ghost and Acronis Drive Image. Yes, you take a
snapshot or image of your drive or partition and save it to your External
HD. Using the aforementioned Programs you can restore that image whenever
you want or need to. No, you cannot restore applications by themselves. You
can save the ones you download. The others require
the install media CD or Dvd. No, it's mirroring software not hardware.

 

[Richie Hardwick]

Look into Norton's Ghost and Acronis Drive Image.

Acronis True Image

Richie Hardwick

 

[Daave]

1. Can I backup my entire HD to the external hard drive so that I
could
simply boot off of the external HD in case my desktop hd crashed?

You can do this *only* if the external drive is eSATA *and* if you made
it a bootable clone.

Is your external hard drive USB or eSATA? If so, you can use one of
these programs to create a bootable clone:

Casper
Acronis True Image
XXCLONE (free)

Personally, I prefer to image my hard drive rather than clone it.
Acronis True Image is definitely good for creating images.

This thread addresses the difference between an image and a clone:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp...e_frm/thread/f50872325fa48aa/a97cb19acfae4275

 

[Magsmom]

Thanks to all. That certainly gives me a lot to think about. I keep hoping
that my lost Microsoft Office CD's will turn up. I had to pack up everything
so we could get some remodeling done, and I'm hoping that it is just not
found yet, instead of getting accidentally thrown out.

 

[Daave]

Thanks to all. That certainly gives me a lot to think about. I keep
hoping
that my lost Microsoft Office CD's will turn up. I had to pack up
everything
so we could get some remodeling done, and I'm hoping that it is just
not
found yet, instead of getting accidentally thrown out.

If you have a Retail version of Office and you still have the receipt,
you're in luck:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326246

 

[dadiOH]

Thanks to all. That certainly gives me a lot to think about. I keep
hoping that my lost Microsoft Office CD's will turn up. I had to
pack up everything so we could get some remodeling done, and I'm
hoping that it is just not found yet, instead of getting accidentally
thrown out.

No big loss if you don't find it, just use Open Office.
http://openoffice-software.com/new/home/?affebnid=124&gid=&ovid=&yid=&msid=&hop=howgood

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have been reading a lot of posts which give bits and pieces of info, but
I'm having trouble putting it all together to get the full picture.

You might like to read this article on backup I wrote recently: "Back
Up Your Computer Regularly and Reliably" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314

I have XP home, I have an external hard drive with more capacity than my
desktop HD.
1. Can I backup my entire HD to the external hard drive so that I could
simply boot off of the external HD in case my desktop hd crashed?

No. You'd have to back up your drive as a clone or image, and also
restore the external clone or image backup to an internal drive--a
replacement internal drive if necessary.

2. Could I restore all application programs (except for OS), applications
from the external HD to either my existing desktop, or to a new one?

No. Backups of programs are useless unless they are done as part of a
backup of Windows and are restored along with Windows (normally as a
clone or image). That's because almost all programs have pieces of
themselves within Windows--in the registry and elsewhere.

3. Can this be done with special "mirroring" hardware?

No. Do not confuse backup and mirroring, they are two different
things, and mirroring is a very poor substitute for backing up.

Many people completely misunderstand what RAID 1 is all about.
RAID 1 (mirroring) is *not* a backup solution. RAID 1 uses two or more
drives, each a duplicate of the others, to provide redundancy, not
backup. It's used in situations (almost always within corporations,
not in homes) where any downtime can't be tolerated, because the way
it works is that if one drive fails the other takes over seamlessly
and almost instantly.

Although some people thing of mirroring as a backup technique, that is
*not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, user
errors, virus attacks, theft of the computer, etc. Backup media or
backup devices should be removed from the computer and stored away
from it. Most companies that use RAID 1 also have a strong external
backup plan in place.

 

[Magsmom]

My version of office was "1997" and receipt is out there in some remote
galaxy. I have Microsoft Works which is sufficent for my basic needs, but my
Outlook is my main concern. I couldn't live without my Outlook e mail,
calendar, tasks, contacts etc. I have other similar programs, but none that
I like as well.

 

[Daave]

My version of office was "1997" and receipt is out there in some
remote
my Outlook is my main concern. I couldn't live without my Outlook
e mail, calendar, tasks, contacts etc. I have other similar programs,
but
none that I like as well.

From
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/11/25/free-microsoft-office-alternatives-or-replacements/

Free Alternative for Microsoft Outlook (PIM)


Novell Evolution (Windows version)
http://www.dipconsultants.com/evolution/

A personal information manager and workgroup information management tool
which combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management
functions. Evolution has user interface and functionality that are
similar to Microsoft Outlook, but support iCalendar, full-text indexing
of all incoming mail, powerful email filters writable in Scheme, a
"Search Folders" feature (i.e., saved searches that look like normal
mail folders), Ximian Connector to connect to Microsoft Exchange Server
using web interface, and synchronize with Palm Pilot devices using
gnome-pilot or other mobiles telephones and PDAs using OpenSync.
Evolution available for GNOME, Windows (beta) and Mac OS X.



Mozilla Thunderbird with Lightning
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/index.html

Mozilla Lightning is an iCalendar compatible calendar extension that
adds calendar and scheduling functionality to the Mozilla Thunderbird
mail and newsgroups client.

[Daave's note: I would consider the Mozilla programs first. Also, always
be careful with beta programs!]

If you can't find a suitable replacement for Outlook, you may need to
bite the bullet and purchase it again if you do not have the receipt.
:-( But give Thunderbird and Lightning a try; you might find they are
more than adequate. Also, Open Office is a very decent free alternative
to Microsoft Office, and it's *much* better than Works!

 

[Magsmom]

Thanks loads: I'll look into those two options for Outlook.
As for the Microsoft works, it is sufficient for my current needs. Before I
retired, I did a lot of work at home and had to use the Office package
because that's what we had at work, and my company had paid for my Office.
Now that I am retired, I don't need all the bells and whistles that I needed
before, but I was addicted to my Outlook functions. However, I do have one
complaint with Outlook. Maybe one of those other programs will be even
better.

I would like to be able to sycronize my Palm to my Outlook, but the Palm
gives you the ability to mark selected memos as "private" and you need to
enter your password to get access to them. Outlook does not have that
function, so I have to sycronize my Palm handheld to my Palm desktop instead
of Outlook.. I have a lot of confidential info on that Palm. But, the Palm
desktop does not have the e mail function. Oh well, you can't have
everything, but that does not stop me from wanting it all.

My version of office was "1997" and receipt is out there in some
remote
my Outlook is my main concern. I couldn't live without my Outlook
e mail, calendar, tasks, contacts etc. I have other similar programs,
but
none that I like as well.

From
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/11/25/free-microsoft-office-alternatives-or-replacements/

Free Alternative for Microsoft Outlook (PIM)


Novell Evolution (Windows version)
http://www.dipconsultants.com/evolution/

A personal information manager and workgroup information management tool
which combines e-mail, calendar, address book, and task list management
functions. Evolution has user interface and functionality that are
similar to Microsoft Outlook, but support iCalendar, full-text indexing
of all incoming mail, powerful email filters writable in Scheme, a
"Search Folders" feature (i.e., saved searches that look like normal
mail folders), Ximian Connector to connect to Microsoft Exchange Server
using web interface, and synchronize with Palm Pilot devices using
gnome-pilot or other mobiles telephones and PDAs using OpenSync.
Evolution available for GNOME, Windows (beta) and Mac OS X.



Mozilla Thunderbird with Lightning
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/index.html

Mozilla Lightning is an iCalendar compatible calendar extension that
adds calendar and scheduling functionality to the Mozilla Thunderbird
mail and newsgroups client.

[Daave's note: I would consider the Mozilla programs first. Also, always
be careful with beta programs!]

If you can't find a suitable replacement for Outlook, you may need to
bite the bullet and purchase it again if you do not have the receipt.
:-( But give Thunderbird and Lightning a try; you might find they are
more than adequate. Also, Open Office is a very decent free alternative
to Microsoft Office, and it's *much* better than Works!