Backup

[dadiOH]

What is the name of the backup program are you using.
I was trying to use the Windows Backup Utility found in System tools.

what is the model (and number) of your WD external drive?
My external hard drive 250GB My Passport Essential from WD,

What is currently on it?
I have some pictures and music, not a whole lot, but important things
to me.

How many partitions are on it?
I don't know. How do I find out?

How much free space does it have?
It shows 226 GB free space

The simplest thing for you would be to forget about the Windows Backup
Utility (or any other) and...

1. Assure that your drive is plugged in

2. Press the Windows key + E simultaneously. That opens Windows
Explorer...there are other ways to open it, use whatever suits you.

3. Resize the Explorer window so it only occupies about half of your monitor
them browse to your My Passport Essential drive in the left hand pane of
Windows Explorer. It probably has the drive letter D: If your CD/DVD drive
is D: then look for E:. You can assure you have found the right one by
checking the size...right click it and click "Properties".

4. Select it by left clicking on it then click on the right hand pane. Make
a new folder naming it, perhaps, "My Backup".

5. Open another instance of Windows Explorer and resize it as you did the
first one. Your goal is to be able to see all of each Explorer window.

6. In the second Explorer window, browse to where you have the material you
want to back up. With luck, all your pictures will be in the folder named
"My Pictures" and your music in "My Music".

7. Once you find the folders containing your photos, select it clicking then
drag it to the new folder you made on your backup drive (Explorer window
#1). Windows will copy the selected folder and contents to your backup
drive. Repeat for any other folders/files you want to back up.

8. You now have "just in case" copies of the things you said were important
to you. You can "restore" them to your main drive in the same way...just
copy over.

Note that you *cannot* back up your installed programs or Windows
installation in this manner which is why people were talking about imaging
software such as Acronis True Image. It is not a bad idea to make images
but for what you want to do it is overkill...plain old copying will do you
just fine and there should be no learning curve as there would be with
imaging.

BTW, if you don't know how many partitions are on your backup drive it is
safe to assume there is only one. Not really important for your purpose
anyway.

--

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]

Hi, I am trying to backup my system's files to a 50 GB hard drive, but I can
only backup up to 4 GB. After reading other posts here, it seems that my
external HD must be formatted to Fat 32.

Wrong. It already *is* FAT32 and that's why you're having the problem.
FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB.

If you try to write a file larger than 4GB you get the very poor,
misleading message you got.

Change it to NTFS.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I actually have a 250GB HD not 50GB. I found out how to convert Fat 32 to
NTFS at Western Digital, wich is the brand of driver. But, can anybody tell
me;
is it safe to do that?

Yes.


Won't it ruin the drive?

No.


Should I remove what I have there before I continue?

If you don't need what's there, reformatting it as FAT32 rather than
converting it is much simpler and better.

But if you do convert it, you use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an important issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your
drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is
always possible that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's
prudent to make sure you have a backup of anything you can't afford to
lose before beginning.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi, I am trying to backup my system's files to a 50 GB hard drive, but I
can
only backup up to 4 GB. After reading other posts here, it seems that my
external HD must be formatted to Fat 32. (whatever that means). Somebedy
said
you can "direct your backup to split the files at less than 4gb, say,
around
3gb". How you do that?

If I can't backup to my external hard drive, can I do it to CD's, or
prefferably to DVD's, (more space)? And about how many would I need? The
size
of of what I woluld like to backup is 12,631,699,375, bytes (how much is
that
in GB)?

I use Windows XP/SP3

--
edith
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FAT32 is the name given to a method by which hard drives handle files. The
newer version is called NTFS.
External drives are usually formatted for FAT32 by default because older
versions of Windows (95, 98 etc) will not recognise NTFS drives (the
standard for Windows XP). As you have discovered FAT32 doesn't recognise
drives bigger than 4GB so you will have to reformat the external drive to
NTFS.

That last statement is complete nonsense. FAT32 *can* be used on drives
MUCH larger than 4 GB!. But what IS true is that *no single file* can be
larger than 4 GB - BIG difference there.

 

[Daave]

How you change from Fat32 to NTFS?

See this page:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...h_text=ntfs&p_widx=1&p_faqid=1021&p_topview=1

Will changing to NTFS damage some things I already have in my
external HD? (Some files from My Documents. They are using less than
I GB).

Highly unliklely. To be on the safe side, make sure you have copies of
those particular files elsewhere.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:18:57 AM, and on a whim,
Daave pounded out on the keyboard:

That doesn't sound good! Which version of Acronis? I'm still using
Version 9, and it works flawlessly.

Version 9.7.0.8206. Do you use it with USB drives? Have you tried to
restore a complete image?


Terry R.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:58:39 AM, and on a whim,
R. McCarty pounded out on the keyboard:

I'm seeing some issues with the latest True Image home. I use a wide
range of versions. I suppose my favorite is Version 10.0. As with so
many products as they evolve and offer more features they tend to get
more quirks and anomalies. I have some setups with the latest chipsets
that older TI versions don't support with their boot builder. I still like
and recommend the product. Just a few days ago I helped a customer
try out Windows Seven and the older TI missed the scheduled backup
so we had to upgrade to TI Version 2009. (~$29).

It's an going problem with product recommendations. You're always
at risk advising someone to use a product if you haven't actually got the
latest version yourself. Things change constantly.

This is with TI Workstation, version 9.7.0.8206.

I have a partition of Win7 I'm running also. I don't see moving any of
our workstations to it, regardless. It looks better than Vista so far,
but losing a lot of capabilities we have now in software that is no
longer compatible isn't worth changing, at least for our uses. We have
been able to get older Creative Live sound cards working with XP
drivers, but none of the software used with them works. Our video
software doesn't work smoothly enough on our hardware although it works
fine using XP.

But, why wouldn't Acronis enable Verify as a default? I have failures
on a regular basis with it on, and without the Verify, I would never be
aware of it.

Terry R.

 

[Daave]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:18:57 AM, and on a
whim, Daave pounded out on the keyboard:


Version 9.7.0.8206.

Mine is 9.0 (build 3854).

Do you use it with USB drives?
Yes.

Have you tried to
restore a complete image?

Yes.

FWIW, I created a Bart PE rescue CD, adding the Acronis plugin (and that
might be the difference). I did this because the bootable installation
CD didn't seem to function well.

 

[Daave]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:18:57 AM, and on a
whim, Daave pounded out on the keyboard:


Version 9.7.0.8206.

Ah, I just realized we are using different programs! I use Acronis True
Image *Home* (not TI Workstation).

 

[em21]

OK, I thought something like that would work, but when I hear about making
sure of making a System Backup, I thought I had to go and backup the whole
hard drive in my computer.

Now, if you don't mind one more question. You think then, that Just keeping
a backup of my personal files would be enough?

These two discs I have, (XP Operating System Disc, and System Recovery
Disc), would they be the same as the System Backup I always hear about?

So I don't have to worry about making one?

Thanks, so very much

 

[Daave]

OK, I thought something like that would work, but when I hear about
making sure of making a System Backup, I thought I had to go and
backup the whole hard drive in my computer.

"System backup" is a vague term. What exactly is your goal? Do you want
to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may restored in
case something bad happens? That is, do you want to duplicate (in
addition to all you important documents, photos, music, e-mails, etc.)
the operating system and its current settings and configurations along
with all the installed programs and their settings and configurations?
[If so, that is smart. ] In that case, you need to either clone or
image your hard drive. If you were to simply copy the contents of your
hard drive to another hard drive, that unfortunately won't work. You
need to do this job in a specific, special way -- with either cloning or
imaging software.

Anna mentioned Casper, which is a good program to clone the hard drive.
The result is a perfectly cloned hard drive that you can physically swap
with the other one should the need arise, and your PC will not know any
difference.

If you wish to create an image archive of your hard drive (like a
compressed snapshot that can later be expanded), you need to use an
imaging program like Acronis True Image (which also can clone your hard
drive -- but note that Casper's cloning system is superior since it is
faster and allows for the making of "incremental" clones). If you would
rather use a free imaging program, DriveImageXML works well. But ATI is
superior and well worth the $35. Actually, it looks like there is a
rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200008

Now, if you don't mind one more question. You think then, that Just
keeping a backup of my personal files would be enough?

Not the best way to "back up," but it's certainly much better than
nothing! Cloning or imaging is much better because it allows you to undo
disaster (caused by malware, a flaky update, or failing hardware).

These two discs I have, (XP Operating System Disc, and System Recovery
Disc), would they be the same as the System Backup I always hear
about?

No, not at all. The XP disc allows you to perform a Clean Install (where
everything is wiped clean -- that is, all your documents, etc. will be
erased) or a Repair Install of Windows XP. I am guessing the Recovery
Disc returns your PC to its fresh-from the-factory condition (similar to
a clean install, but there is no need to install drivers for your
hardware components).

 

[em21]

Hi Daave,

What I want to do?
As I pointed out earlier,
"What I wanted to do was a backup of my C drive like that one that was made
automatically when I performed a Windows System Restore.This backup contained
the whole C drive and was stored right there in C/. under the name "MY
Backup."

That was great. I was able to use that to quickly restore all my downloaded
software, my games with the current scores, and all my personal files. It
made me feel secure knowing that if I was missing something, I could find it
there. I wanted that same thing, but I wanted to put it in an external
device, wether in my external hard drive, or on some CD's, or DVD's".

I thought I could do that using the Windows Backup Utility.
Then I run into the Fat32 conflict. It seems that the only way I can do what
I wanted to do is to change my HD from Fat32 to NTFS. I didn't really want to
go that route, and was open to other suggestions.

"Do you want to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may
restored in
case something bad happens?"

"In that case, you need to either clone or image your hard drive."

That is not what I had in mind. Since I have the "System Restore Disc" and
the Windows Operating System Disc?"I didn't think I needed to go to that
extreme. Aren't those discs just like clones of my hard drive? This is a
questions I have asked before, but have not gotten an answer yet.

For now, I have settled with just copying to my external hard drive some
files I want saved, like dadiOH suggested.

Thanks Daave for your interest. I appreciate it.
Edith


-- Do you want
to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may restored in
case something bad happens? T
edith

OK, I thought something like that would work, but when I hear about
making sure of making a System Backup, I thought I had to go and
backup the whole hard drive in my computer.

"System backup" is a vague term. What exactly is your goal? Do you want
to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may restored in
case something bad happens? That is, do you want to duplicate (in
addition to all you important documents, photos, music, e-mails, etc.)
the operating system and its current settings and configurations along
with all the installed programs and their settings and configurations?
[If so, that is smart. ] In that case, you need to either clone or
image your hard drive. If you were to simply copy the contents of your
hard drive to another hard drive, that unfortunately won't work. You
need to do this job in a specific, special way -- with either cloning or
imaging software.

Anna mentioned Casper, which is a good program to clone the hard drive.
The result is a perfectly cloned hard drive that you can physically swap
with the other one should the need arise, and your PC will not know any
difference.

If you wish to create an image archive of your hard drive (like a
compressed snapshot that can later be expanded), you need to use an
imaging program like Acronis True Image (which also can clone your hard
drive -- but note that Casper's cloning system is superior since it is
faster and allows for the making of "incremental" clones). If you would
rather use a free imaging program, DriveImageXML works well. But ATI is
superior and well worth the $35. Actually, it looks like there is a
rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200008

Now, if you don't mind one more question. You think then, that Just
keeping a backup of my personal files would be enough?

Not the best way to "back up," but it's certainly much better than
nothing! Cloning or imaging is much better because it allows you to undo
disaster (caused by malware, a flaky update, or failing hardware).

These two discs I have, (XP Operating System Disc, and System Recovery
Disc), would they be the same as the System Backup I always hear
about?

No, not at all. The XP disc allows you to perform a Clean Install (where
everything is wiped clean -- that is, all your documents, etc. will be
erased) or a Repair Install of Windows XP. I am guessing the Recovery
Disc returns your PC to its fresh-from the-factory condition (similar to
a clean install, but there is no need to install drivers for your
hardware components).

 

[Daave]

Hi Daave,

What I want to do?
As I pointed out earlier,
"What I wanted to do was a backup of my C drive like that one that
was made automatically when I performed a Windows System Restore.This
backup contained the whole C drive and was stored right there in C/.
under the name "MY Backup."

What you are describing does *not* sound like Windows System Restore.
Windows System Restore has more to do with your registry and some other
settings. See this article:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx

I believe some PCs (e.g., HPs) come with software that creates a "my
backup" folder in C:. My guess is you are confusing Windows System
Restore with something else. (That is why I earlier asked what the name
of your backup program was.)

That was great. I was able to use that to quickly restore all my
downloaded software, my games with the current scores, and all my
personal files. It made me feel secure knowing that if I was missing
something, I could find it there. I wanted that same thing, but I
wanted to put it in an external device, wether in my external hard
drive, or on some CD's, or DVD's".

I thought I could do that using the Windows Backup Utility.

Ntbackup can certainly make backups (although it won't help with the
programs -- unless you are referring to program installation files). But
it's not the best program out there; it's not as good as imaging or
cloning -- for reasons already given. Also, you cannot use ntbackup with
CDs or DVDs.

Then I run into the Fat32 conflict. It seems that the only way I can
do what I wanted to do is to change my HD from Fat32 to NTFS. I
didn't really want to go that route, and was open to other
suggestions.

You should reconsider since NTFS is the better way to go in this
situation. (I'm assuming you want to elimiate the file size problem you
earlier described.) And if you *only* want to back up your data, then
ntbackup will work fine with an external hard drive (which, again, might
as well be NTFS).

"Do you want to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may
restored in
case something bad happens?"

"In that case, you need to either clone or image your hard drive."

That is not what I had in mind. Since I have the "System Restore
Disc" and the Windows Operating System Disc?"I didn't think I needed
to go to that extreme. Aren't those discs just like clones of my hard
drive? This is a questions I have asked before, but have not gotten
an answer yet.

I did answer (scroll down to the very bottom). My apologies if I wasn't
clear. Think of a journal. You purchase a brand new journal, then you
add entries every day for one whole year. You decide to make a copy of
this journal (for safety reasons -- these entries are important and you
don't want to lose them). The copy is the clone. Can you see how
restoring your jourrnal to its original state (without any of the year's
worth of entries) isn't a copy? It's good if you want to start from
scratch, but not good if you value the year's worth of entries! The two
discs basically restore your PC to its original condition. Perhaps the
System Restore CD (not to be confused with Windows XP System Restore!!!)
can allow you to save all your data (journal entries) and lay down a
fresh install of the operating system only (I don't know.. I don't know
what program it is or even the model/number of the PC). But it's still
not a clone (or image, for that matter), which would be an *exact* copy
of your hard drive.

For now, I have settled with just copying to my external hard drive
some files I want saved, like dadiOH suggested.

It is always good to make sure you copy your important documents. It's
not as good as imaging or cloning, but it's much better than what most
people do. Pat yourself on the back!

Thanks Daave for your interest. I appreciate it.
Edith

You're welcome, Edith.

-- Do you want
to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may restored in
case something bad happens? T
edith

OK, I thought something like that would work, but when I hear about
making sure of making a System Backup, I thought I had to go and
backup the whole hard drive in my computer.

"System backup" is a vague term. What exactly is your goal? Do you
want to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may
restored in case something bad happens? That is, do you want to
duplicate (in addition to all you important documents, photos,
music, e-mails, etc.) the operating system and its current settings
and configurations along with all the installed programs and their
settings and configurations? [If so, that is smart. ] In that
case, you need to either clone or image your hard drive. If you were
to simply copy the contents of your hard drive to another hard
drive, that unfortunately won't work. You need to do this job in a
specific, special way -- with either cloning or imaging software.

Anna mentioned Casper, which is a good program to clone the hard
drive. The result is a perfectly cloned hard drive that you can
physically swap with the other one should the need arise, and your
PC will not know any difference.

If you wish to create an image archive of your hard drive (like a
compressed snapshot that can later be expanded), you need to use an
imaging program like Acronis True Image (which also can clone your
hard drive -- but note that Casper's cloning system is superior
since it is faster and allows for the making of "incremental"
clones). If you would rather use a free imaging program,
DriveImageXML works well. But ATI is superior and well worth the
$35. Actually, it looks like there is a rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200008

Now, if you don't mind one more question. You think then, that Just
keeping a backup of my personal files would be enough?

Not the best way to "back up," but it's certainly much better than
nothing! Cloning or imaging is much better because it allows you to
undo disaster (caused by malware, a flaky update, or failing
hardware).

These two discs I have, (XP Operating System Disc, and System
Recovery Disc), would they be the same as the System Backup I
always hear about?

No, not at all. The XP disc allows you to perform a Clean Install
(where everything is wiped clean -- that is, all your documents,
etc. will be erased) or a Repair Install of Windows XP. I am
guessing the Recovery Disc returns your PC to its fresh-from
the-factory condition (similar to a clean install, but there is no
need to install drivers for your hardware components).

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:06:42 PM, and on a whim,
Daave pounded out on the keyboard:

Ah, I just realized we are using different programs! I use Acronis True
Image *Home* (not TI Workstation).

Yes. But shouldn't they both support the same?


Terry R.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:04:21 PM, and on a whim,
Daave pounded out on the keyboard:

Mine is 9.0 (build 3854).


Yes.

FWIW, I created a Bart PE rescue CD, adding the Acronis plugin (and that
might be the difference). I did this because the bootable installation
CD didn't seem to function well.

I haven't created a BPE CD with the plugin, I only created the recovery
CD. I'll have to try that. But it should have worked either way. Even
the Windows programs restarted but failed when the USB drive wasn't
found. The CD couldn't see the USB drive to restore, but if I wanted to
(can't remember the exact terminolgy) create a clean drive (?), it could
see the USB drive. I didn't understand that at all.


Terry R.

 

[dadiOH]

Hi Daave,

What I want to do?
As I pointed out earlier,
"What I wanted to do was a backup of my C drive like that one that
was made automatically when I performed a Windows System Restore.This
backup contained the whole C drive and was stored right there in C/.
under the name "MY Backup."

That was great. I was able to use that to quickly restore all my
downloaded software, my games with the current scores, and all my
personal files. It made me feel secure knowing that if I was missing
something, I could find it there. I wanted that same thing, but I
wanted to put it in an external device, wether in my external hard
drive, or on some CD's, or DVD's".

I have no idea what made the "My Backup" but - unless it is just one big
file - what's stopping you from just moving it to where you want it?

--

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

 

[dadiOH]

OK, I thought something like that would work, but when I hear about
making sure of making a System Backup, I thought I had to go and
backup the whole hard drive in my computer.

Now, if you don't mind one more question. You think then, that Just
keeping a backup of my personal files would be enough?

It depends entirely what you want and I fear I misread that. In the post to
which I replied, you mentioned photos and music and I mistakenly thought
those were the things you wanted to backup. I now see they were things
already *on* the backup drive.
_________________

These two discs I have, (XP Operating System Disc, and System Recovery
Disc), would they be the same as the System Backup I always hear
about?

No.

The primary use of the XP disc is to install XP either as a new, fresh
install or as a "repair" install. I don't know what your "System Recovery
Disc" is for sure but it is probably one provided by the machine
manufacturer to restore the machine to the condition it was in when
purchased.

A "system backup" means duplicating everything that comprises *your* system.
In your case, that seems to be everything that is on your internal hard
drive. Someone else might consider just Windows to be the system.

The backup can be made by replicating all source folders and files on the
backup drive; that results in you being able to browse the backup drive just
as you would the source drive. However, with WinXP, you cannot just copy
everything from your main drive to the backup one, gotta use special
programs as XP won't let you copy files it is using.

The other type of backup is compressed, sort of like a zip file. Those also
need special "imaging" programs. The result can either be one big file or
several smaller ones depending on the option selected. You cannot browse
those files as you would using Windows; they can be browsed - and restored -
but only via the program that made them.
____________________

So I don't have to worry about making one?

Of all the millions of PCs in the world, I doubt that no more than a tiny
percentage are ever backed up. Does that mean you shouldn't? NO! It just
means that most people have never heard of doing so; of those who are aware
of it, most have no idea of how to do so. You seem to want to do so. This
is what I'd suggest...

1. Convert your backup drive to NTFS. If you worry about adverse effect on
what is currently on it, copy same to your internal drive, convert external.
The reason for changing it to NTFS is that the file size restrictions are
much less onerous than with FAT32; it is also the file system that XP uses
so you might as well use the same. The only negative is that NTFS files
can't be seen (read) by Win9x but I doubt that would be a consideration for
you.

2. Get a program to copy or image your internal drive. Paragon makes
numerous, all are good.
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/

They sometimes have promotions for free or deeply discounted software. This
site lists some, I don't know if the offers are still current.
http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/02/free-paragon-software-special-editions/

Most all drive manufacturers - including Western Digital - have free
software to copy old internal drives to new ones and make the new one
bootable. However, yours is external and I have no idea what software they
might have for it. You might check...
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

There are lots of other imaging/backup/copy programs, some free some paid.
All have a certain learning curve.

3. Read the help file for whatever program you may get. You need to
understand *what* the program will do, *how* it does it , what options are
available and how they affect the result.

4. Once you have your head around things, do it to it.

--

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

 

[Anna]

(PARTIAL RESPONSE TO OP'S QUERY)...

"Do you want to make a perfect copy of your hard drive so that it may
restored in case something bad happens?"
"In that case, you need to either clone or image your hard drive."

(SNIP)

That is not what I had in mind. Since I have the "System Restore Disc" and
the Windows Operating System Disc?"I didn't think I needed to go to that
extreme. Aren't those discs just like clones of my hard drive? This is a
questions I have asked before, but have not gotten an answer yet.
Edith

Edith:
You've received a substantial number of responses to your query together
with suggestions involving different techniques for maintaining a backup
system. I've already indicated my suggested approach so I'll try not to be
unduly repetitive in my following comments...

For the reasons I previously stated, it's hard for me to imagine a better
backup system for the average PC user than having another HDD containing a
"clone" of the user's day-to-day HDD. That is to say a precise copy of *all*
the contents on the user's "source" HDD.

While there's nothing inherently "wrong" in simply copying one's personal
data files to some other media for backup pursposes, it seems to me this
technique does not yield the enormous benefits one gains from having a clone
of one's system - a complete copy of the contents of their day-to-day
working HDD.

Think about the consequences of a system that becomes unbootable because of
a corrupted OS. Or your HDD or some other major component of your PC becomes
defective and you have a dysfunctional computer on your hands. These are not
unusual or rare circumstances by any means. Just glance at the posts to this
& similar newsgroups. Hardly a minute goes by before someone is pleading for
help because his/her system is unusable for one reason or another.

While having copies of your personal data is surely better than nothing in
terms of a backup "system", think of the onerous chore of having to install
your OS from scratch, downloading/installing all the Microsoft Critical
Updates, reinstalling each & every program you previously worked with. And
what about your mail program assuming you're working with an integrated mail
program such as Outlook Express or MS Outlook? Your address book? All the
mail in your Inbox & Sent Items folder? Your Favorites? Etc., etc. Most of
us would not look forward to this onerous chore with any delight.

And there's an important side-benefit to using a disk-cloning program.
Before making major changes in your system, e.g., installing a new Service
Pack or program, or making some significant change in your configuration,
you can *first* clone the contents of your HDD as a "safety-valve", so that
if things go awry (and we all know from bitter experience that they
frequently do - again, just peruse this newsgroup), you can easily restore
your system to its previous functional state. This advantage is not to be
minimized.

With a disk clone, all the preceding would be safely intact on a HDD that is
a precise duplicate of your once functional HDD. So there would be a simple,
straightforward, and reasonably quick way of returning your system to a
bootable & completely functional system. Does that have no appeal for you?

You ask (with respect to the disk-cloning process) whether it's necessary
"to go to that extreme". Please understand as I've tried to make clear -
that at least with respect to the Casper 5 program I recommended - this
disk-cloning process is extremely simple to undertake and breathtakingly
quick in operation in backing up your *complete* system when the program is
used on a frequent, routine basis. It's virtually "child's play", even for
an inexperienced user.

And understand there is also nothing to prevent you from copying personal
data files for backup pursposes "on-the-fly" at any given time - to a flash
drive for instance, or even to your USB external HDD that would also be
serving as the recipient of your internal HDD's clone.

Anyway, before you completely discard the notion of a disk-cloning (or
disk-imaging) program to serve as your primary comprehensive backup system,
at least give these programs a try. Some other programs such as Acronis True
Image have also been recommended to you. Many of these programs have trial
versions so you have nothing to lose by experimenting with them. Do yourself
a favor and do so.
Anna

 

[Daave]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:06:42 PM, and on a
whim, Daave pounded out on the keyboard:

Yes. But shouldn't they both support the same?

They *should*, but apparently they don't.

I would be curious if ATI Home would produce the same results for you as
ATI Workstation. There definitely is a problem; I'm just not sure as to
what it is.

 

[Daave]

The date and time was Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:04:21 PM, and on a
whim, Daave pounded out on the keyboard:


I haven't created a BPE CD with the plugin, I only created the
recovery CD. I'll have to try that. But it should have worked
either way. Even the Windows programs restarted but failed when the
USB drive wasn't found. The CD couldn't see the USB drive to restore,
but if I wanted to (can't remember the exact terminolgy) create a
clean drive (?), it could see the USB drive. I didn't understand
that at all.

The bootable CD works in a Linux environment. Bart PE works in a Windows
environment. That might have something to do with it.