Backing up removable HDD

[Mike G]

I have a "test" computer that has a removable HDD bay. I use it to work
with different OS and would like to be able to remove the HDD and connect it
via USB to my main computer and produce an image of that drive from time to
time. I have the hardware to do this, but find most software either wants a
dedicated partition to write the image to, or writes the image back to
itself. Looking for suggestions on backup methods/software to do this.
TIA

 

[Rock]

I have a "test" computer that has a removable HDD bay. I use it to work
with different OS and would like to be able to remove the HDD and connect
it via USB to my main computer and produce an image of that drive from time
to time. I have the hardware to do this, but find most software either
wants a dedicated partition to write the image to, or writes the image back
to itself. Looking for suggestions on backup methods/software to do this.
TIA

Have you looked at either Symantec Ghost, Acronis True Image, Terabyte
Unlimited's Image for Windows, or CasperXP?

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Ghost had the possibility of creating an backup image file, which you could
store almost anywhere.

 

[Anna]

I have a "test" computer that has a removable HDD bay. I use it to work
with different OS and would like to be able to remove the HDD and connect
it via USB to my main computer and produce an image of that drive from time
to time. I have the hardware to do this, but find most software either
wants a dedicated partition to write the image to, or writes the image back
to itself. Looking for suggestions on backup methods/software to do this.
TIA

Mike:
As has been suggested, a disk imaging program such as Acronis True Image
will apparently do what you want to do, i.e., in terms of creating a disk
image of the contents of your removable HDD.

Since you're using a mobile rack to house your removable HDD, is there any
possibility you could install another rack (same make & model) in your main
computer? That would certainly simplify things and avoid the need for using
a slower performing device such as a USB external HDD enclosure.

But I'm not entirely certain of your exact objective. When you say you want
to "produce an image of that drive from time to time", what is it that you
have in mind for that "image"? Is it merely to store that image on your main
computer for additional backup safety purposes? Or would you be intending to
create on your main computer a secondary HDD from the contents of the
removable HDD so that those contents could be accessed within your main
computer? Or are you planning to create a bootable HDD on your main computer
from the contents of the removable HDD?

All this might have a bearing on whether you really want to create a disk
image of the contents of your removable HDD or whether a disk-to-disk clone
would be more appropriate for your needs.
Anna

 

[Mike G]

I use Casper Xp on my main computer however, it likes a clean partition to
write to. Warns that all existing data will be lost on the destination
drive. I also use Ghost, however it must be installed on the HDD I am making
an image of. I use three HDD to swap in/out and to be legal, do not want to
buy 3 copies of ghost. Hence, I "transport" the drive to the main computer,
connect via USB, use GHost and write an image. I can't seem to get it to
backup over my home network, which is what I would like to do and would be
the easiest. What I am doing, is mostly a hobby type experimenting. I like
to download a lot of programs, trial software etc and get a feel for them
before using them on my main machine. Installing/un-installing these types
of things seem to "gum" up the works after a while and windows slows down.
Restoring an image seems easier to me than getting the kinks out on a
slow/damaged system. Stored images are updated good configurations
containing latest updates etc. Thanks for the comments/suggestions.

 

[Anna]

I use Casper Xp on my main computer however, it likes a clean partition to
write to. Warns that all existing data will be lost on the destination
drive. I also use Ghost, however it must be installed on the HDD I am
making an image of. I use three HDD to swap in/out and to be legal, do not
want to buy 3 copies of ghost. Hence, I "transport" the drive to the main
computer, connect via USB, use GHost and write an image. I can't seem to
get it to backup over my home network, which is what I would like to do and
would be the easiest. What I am doing, is mostly a hobby type
experimenting. I like to download a lot of programs, trial software etc
and get a feel for them before using them on my main machine.
Installing/un-installing these types of things seem to "gum" up the works
after a while and windows slows down. Restoring an image seems easier to me
than getting the kinks out on a slow/damaged system. Stored images are
updated good configurations containing latest updates etc. Thanks for the
comments/suggestions.

Mike:
While I'm not exactly crystal-clear on precisely what your objective(s) is
(are) and how you're pursuing those objectives, I think I have at least a
general idea...

With that in mind, i.e., I may not be understanding your present situation,
let me add a few thoughts...

As I previously suggested, couldn't you simply add another mobile rack to
your main computer (I'm assuming it's a desktop PC) and use a bootable
removable HDD to accomplish your purpose(s), i.e., experiment with various
programs, configurations, etc., using that HDD? Using your present disk
imaging program, would it not be practicable to clone the contents of your
day-to-day working HDD in that machine to the removable HDD so that you
would have another boot drive which you could use for your purposes?

As a matter of fact, since you have three additional HDDs at your disposal,
couldn't each cloned drive be installed in a removable tray used by the
mobile rack (assuming they're not already housed that way), and wouldn't
that hardware configuration give you the flexibility you need using a single
machine?

As I've said, I may be completely misunderstanding your present situation
and your objectives here. If I am, and the above comments & queries are not
relevant to that situation, please feel free to ignore them.
Anna

 

[Jonny]

Thought Casper makes clones, not images...

The restoration of an image file may create a literal clone.

The creation of a clone will wipe an entire target hard disk of data/file
system/partition(s).

An image (image file) requires formatted storage area, does nothing to the
partition/file system its stored on.

 

[Mike G]

Anna.....Let me try to clarify. Situation 1. HDD in removable rack is
WinXP, it has ghost on it (or any other image program) I write an image to
the second HDD in that computer (as you suggest)...every thing is ok.
Situation 2. Hdd in removable rack is now Win2000, to accomplish the same
thing, I must install (buy) another copy of ghost to accomplish the same
thing since the one and only copy of ghost is on the WINXP disk that has
been removed. Situation 3. HDD in removable rack is now Linux....same
problem. etc. p.s. I think that I need to write an image rather than
doing a "clone". Images can be stored side by side on a single partition,
Quoting from "Jonny" next msg down "Thought Casper makes clones, not
images...The restoration of an image file may create a literal clone. The
creation of a clone will wipe an entire target hard disk of data/file
system/partition(s). An image (image file) requires formatted storage area,
does nothing to the partition/file system its stored on." ..... As he
points out, I want to make images, not clones for the reasoning that I would
then have to have a seperate HDD or a seperate partition to save "clones"
to. I hope you see the difference now, I do not want to buy 3 copies of
image software. ) Thanks for your input!!

 

[Anna]

Anna.....Let me try to clarify. Situation 1. HDD in removable rack is
WinXP, it has ghost on it (or any other image program) I write an image
to the second HDD in that computer (as you suggest)...every thing is ok.
Situation 2. Hdd in removable rack is now Win2000, to accomplish the same
thing, I must install (buy) another copy of ghost to accomplish the same
thing since the one and only copy of ghost is on the WINXP disk that has
been removed. Situation 3. HDD in removable rack is now Linux....same
problem. etc. p.s. I think that I need to write an image rather than
doing a "clone". Images can be stored side by side on a single partition,
Quoting from "Jonny" next msg down "Thought Casper makes clones, not
images...The restoration of an image file may create a literal clone. The
creation of a clone will wipe an entire target hard disk of data/file
system/partition(s). An image (image file) requires formatted storage
area, does nothing to the partition/file system its stored on." ..... As
he points out, I want to make images, not clones for the reasoning that I
would then have to have a seperate HDD or a seperate partition to save
"clones" to. I hope you see the difference now, I do not want to buy 3
copies of image software. ) Thanks for your input!!

Mike:
Let me address myself to your "Situation 2"...
Up until fairly recently we worked pretty much exclusively with Symantec's
Norton Ghost 2003 program even in an XP environment. We were less than
enthusiastic with the Ghost 9 & 10 versions for a number of reasons
involving (in our view given our objectives which I'll get to shortly) undue
complexity and an awkward interface.

Our use of Ghost 2003 (and we still use it from time to time) was
exclusively for disk-to-disk cloning. We had problems with that program
involving disk imaging but our use of the program for disk-to-disk cloning
was virtually flawless.

When we used the Ghost 2003 program we always (or nearly always) used the
Ghost bootable floppy disk (or a Ghost bootable CD) to undertake the disk
cloning operation. Note the portability advantage involved in using a floppy
disk or CD to perform these operations. There would be no need for the Ghost
program to be installed on the source or destination HDDs.

We have in the past year or so worked more & more with the Acronis True
Image program. We've been especially pleased with its straightforward design
(for the most part), its speed of operation (as contrasted with Ghost 2003)
and its ability to create disk images together with the recovery process.
You can use the program with a bootable CD which you create from the
program.

So if you're chiefly or exclusively interested in creating disk images
rather than disk-to-disk cloning, you might want to look into the Acronis
program. They do have, as I believe you've been told, a 15-day trial version
available, so you may want to give it a try.

I've had such limited experience with Linux that I won't comment on any
disk-cloning or disk-imaging issues here that might impact on that OS.
Anna