Backing up a hard drive

[Guest]

Hi all,

I want to back up my hard drive but I have quite a bit of information. I
bought an external drive drive because it had the large capacity that I
needed but I was very unhappy with it because neither the software nor the
copy/paste format worked to do a complete mirror image of my hard drive. A
USB flash drive does not have the capacity that I need.

My question - I have Windows XP Home Edition and am wanting to back up all
my data/email in order to do a reformat of my hard drive.

I believe I've figured things out on how to reformat my hard drive, thanks
to others on this site. Now I just need to know how on earth can I back up
my hard drive without having to go and retry another external hard drive or
install another internal hard drive.

I want to make things really simple for myself. Suggestions?

 

[Guest]

http://www.acronis.com/
j;-j

 

[John R Weiss]

I want to back up my hard drive but I have quite a bit of information. I
bought an external drive drive because it had the large capacity that I
needed but I was very unhappy with it because neither the software nor the
copy/paste format worked to do a complete mirror image of my hard drive.

My question - I have Windows XP Home Edition and am wanting to back up all
my data/email in order to do a reformat of my hard drive.

I believe I've figured things out on how to reformat my hard drive, thanks
to others on this site. Now I just need to know how on earth can I back up
my hard drive without having to go and retry another external hard drive or
install another internal hard drive.

I want to make things really simple for myself. Suggestions?

Buy a disk imaging program like Acronis True Image or Norton (Symantec) Ghost.
Follow the instructions to copy the image to your external drive. Try a test
restore before formatting the main drive.

 

[Yvonne]

So, if I'm understanding both of you correctly, is that I purchase the
external hard drive, as well as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost?

From there, I make a back up copy of the files / folders on my hard drive
that I want to keep, then do a test restore. If that works, then go ahead
and reformat.

Yvonne

 

[PA20Pilot]

Hi Yvonne,

...... purchase the external hard drive, as well as Acronis True Image or
Norton Ghost?

You're probably looking to clone your drive. Before you buy a program
for that, check around the drive makers site, they more often than not
they'll offer free ones.

If you do want to buy a program, you'll find Ghost for less than $20 on
ebay.

---==X={}=X==---

Jim Self

AVIATION ANIMATION, the internet's largest depository.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com

Your only internet source for spiral staircase plans.
http://jself.com/stair/Stair.htm

Experimental Aircraft Association #140897
EAA Technical Counselor #4562

 

[Yvonne]

Well, at least to clone all of my data and email only, no programs or
anything else.

Basically, reinstall everything fresh.

 

[PA20Pilot]

Hi again Yvonne,

Making a "clone" of your drive will make a bootable copy of exactly what
you already have. You can easily restore your personal data from the
clone after you reformat.

Why do you want to reformat?


---==X={}=X==---

Jim Self

AVIATION ANIMATION, the internet's largest depository.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com

Your only internet source for spiral staircase plans.
http://jself.com/stair/Stair.htm

Experimental Aircraft Association #140897
EAA Technical Counselor #4562

 

[normc]

Hi Yvonne,

..... purchase the external hard drive, as well as Acronis True Image or
Norton Ghost?

You're probably looking to clone your drive. Before you buy a program
for that, check around the drive makers site, they more often than not
they'll offer free ones.

If you do want to buy a program, you'll find Ghost for less than $20 on
ebay.

Will Win98 version of Ghost work with XP Pro?

 

[PA20Pilot]

Hi,

.......Will Win98 version of Ghost work with XP Pro?

I don't know what "Win98 version" of Ghost is, but Ghost 2003 is working
well here with both W2000 & XP.


---==X={}=X==---

Jim Self

AVIATION ANIMATION, the internet's largest depository.
http://avanimation.avsupport.com

Your only internet source for spiral staircase plans.
http://jself.com/stair/Stair.htm

Experimental Aircraft Association #140897
EAA Technical Counselor #4562

 

[normc]

Sorry. What I meant is that it runs in 98SE. It was my understanding
that not all 98SE apps would run in XP. That's why I asked.

Will Ghost 2003 run on 98SE?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

What does the Symantec web site say?

 

[Anna]

Sorry. What I meant is that it runs in 98SE. It was my understanding
that not all 98SE apps would run in XP. That's why I asked.

Will Ghost 2003 run on 98SE?

Yes.
Anna