Backing Up Windows

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Could anyone tell me if it is possible to make and exact copy of my primary
(C) drive so that if I need to I have it available?

Perhaps, is it possible to use the File Settings & Transfer wizard to copy
the drive to the other internal drive and then boot from that drive if
possible?
 
Microsoft said:
Could anyone tell me if it is possible to make and exact copy of my primary
(C) drive so that if I need to I have it available?

Perhaps, is it possible to use the File Settings & Transfer wizard to copy
the drive to the other internal drive and then boot from that drive if
possible?
Click to expand...

A method I use, which is free -

1) Download and burn a Ubuntu CD (ubuntu.com). Cost to you - one CD,
plus the download time.

2) Boot Ubuntu. Open a terminal window. Locate the hard drive.

ls /dev

3) You may see entries like hda1, hda2, which might be your hard drive.
Perhaps sda is your external USB drive and so on.

4) Linux understands NTFS and FAT32. For this job, the backup file will
be huge, so the external backup drive should be formatted NTFS. You
can format the drive in Windows first, to make it easier to do.

5) In Linux, use the file manager, and click on the external drive. That
will mount the file system for you. It helps, if you have "labels"
applied in Windows to each of your partitions. For example, the label
on my C: drive is "WinXP", the label on my backup partition is "Dumping"
and so on. Using labels in Windows, those labels show up in Ubuntu.

6) Once the external drive is mounted, you can copy C:

dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/media/dumping/winxp_Jul_31_2010.dd

The dev syntax, is a raw device (i.e. working at the sector level).
hda1 means use disk "hda", and copy partition 1 from it. The
entire partition is going to be copied, sector by sector.

The output in this case, is going to be one *huge* file, containing
an *exact* snapshot of my C: drive. For example, I do this process
regularly, and it puts a 76GB file on my NTFS dumping partition.

7) Now, say one day, I get a virus on C:, or my hard drive craps out or
whatever. As long as the new drive is partitioned *exactly* like the
old one, I can boot Ubuntu again, and reverse the process, putting the
contents of C: back.

dd if=/media/dumping/winxp_Jul_31_2010.dd of=/dev/hda1

Using PTEDIT32, free for download, I can get info on the original
partitioning scheme. (Example picture here.) In this example, the
C: drive would be partition 2, perhaps "hda2" when copying it.

http://www.vistax64.com/attachments...n-partiton-recovery-dell-xps-420-dell-tbl.gif

( ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/PTEDIT32.zip )

8) Another thing you can back up from the original drive, is the MBR.
The MBR has the primary partition table. Saving a copy of that,
means you'd taking a snapshot of how the disk was set up (at least,
for the primary partitions). Note that this is not a complete
specification - if you have an extended partition, with logical
partitions inside, you'd need to snapshot some other things as well.
This is effectively saving the stuff shown in the previous picture.

dd if=/dev/hda of=/media/dumping/MBR_Jul_31_2010.dd bs=512 count=1

That backs up a single sector and gives a 512 byte output file.

So it is possible to do backups, for the cost of a burned CD, plus
the cost of your external USB hard drive. The main reason for
wanting to boot Ubuntu to do this, is Windows is shut down, and
the C: drive is not "busy". That allows an exact copy to be made
without corruption.

If you have the money for backup software (which I don't), then
that software is going to be easier to use than the above procedure.
The nice thing about the above method, is it copies everything
*exactly*, because it works at the sector level, rather than the
file level. It is wasteful of disk space (using another backup
method, I might be able to save C: in only 30-40GB of space), but
it is an exact copy, copying all the "blank" space as well.

And when your Windows won't boot, having that CD to boot is
comforting. At least you have some way to run the computer,
prove the hardware is OK and so on.

Paul
 
Per Microsoft Newsgroups:
Could anyone tell me if it is possible to make and exact copy of my primary
(C) drive so that if I need to I have it available?
Click to expand...

Yes. It's called "Disc Imaging".

Two general kinds of programs:

1) Those that run under Windows. They are more
intuitive, but slower and - I think - more
expensive. Example: Acronis' "TrueImage".

2) Those that run from a DOS boot floppy or
CD. Faster, cheaper.... but not quite
as intuitive, lacking the Windows UI.
Example TeraByte's "Image".


I've tried the Acronis product and it certainly seems slick.

But I've always used the TeraByte DOS product and am comfortable
enough with it that I wouldn't switch unless I needed some
additional functionality - like Acronis' ability to change
partition size.
 
(PeteCresswell) said:
Per Microsoft Newsgroups:

Yes. It's called "Disc Imaging".

Two general kinds of programs:

1) Those that run under Windows. They are more
intuitive, but slower and - I think - more
expensive. Example: Acronis' "TrueImage".

2) Those that run from a DOS boot floppy or
CD. Faster, cheaper.... but not quite
as intuitive, lacking the Windows UI.
Example TeraByte's "Image".


I've tried the Acronis product and it certainly seems slick.

But I've always used the TeraByte DOS product and am comfortable
enough with it that I wouldn't switch unless I needed some
additional functionality - like Acronis' ability to change
partition size.
Click to expand...

Incidentally has anyone tried both Acronis and Paragon to see how they
compare?
 
Hi Paul-

And thank you for your reply. However, even though I ordered the Ubuntu
disk from the Netherlands, I don't that is going to be an option as it's a
bit too confusing to me and I don't want to take and risks with my sensitive
data.

It was my hope that I could use either the Windows NT Backup utility or the
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard for this.

Anyone else have any suggestions...?

BTW- Since you used external hard drive as your example I thought that now
would be a better time than ever to mention that the drive that I would like
to make a backup copy of my primary drive with operating system is also an
internal hard drive.
 
Could anyone tell me if it is possible to make and exact copy of my primary
(C) drive so that if I need to I have it available?

Perhaps, is it possible to use the File Settings& Transfer wizard to copy
the drive to the other internal drive and then boot from that drive if
possible?
Click to expand...

Use freeware version of Macrium Reflect. It will create an image of your
C: drive on another drive (external is best).

Now make the bootable Macrium CD and save it.

If you lose your C: drive, install a new drive for C:, then boot the
Macrium CD, and from there you restore the image mentioned in line one.

Presto, you are right back to the point in time when you created the
image. Your brand new drive is up and running.

I make a new image every week or so and keep them all on an external drive.

Wilby
 
<snipped>

NJITGS wrote:
BTW- Since you used external hard drive as your example I thought
that now would be a better time than ever to mention that the drive
that I would like to make a backup copy of my primary drive with
operating system is also an internal hard drive.
Click to expand...

I would like to address just that part...

This is my opinion - but I am betting many others who may either backup data
for a living or just had experiences surrounding backups (good or bad) will
agree:

Having your backup reside internally (same system) is not a backup in truth.

A backup is there in case you need to restore if something happened to said
data. While there are many things that could happen that would not affect
the other internal drive - there are many things that could. It is my
opinion a backup should reside external to the machine - whenever possible -
in a completely different physical residence (not even the same house when
practical, at least in some protected area of the same house - like a
fireproof/waterproof safe otherwise.)

Sound like overkill? Won't if lightning fries your computer and both hard
drives. Virus corrupts everything it can touch. The entire physical
machine is stolen. Etc and so on...

To me it's a lot like people who setup a mirrored 'array' and think their
data is now safe - they are wrong, they just don't know it. ;-)
 
Per (PeteCresswell):
But I've always used the TeraByte DOS product and am comfortable
enough with it that I wouldn't switch unless I needed some
additional functionality - like Acronis' ability to change
partition size.
Click to expand...

I should add that one should look into the concept of separating
system and data.

Without going into the full rant, there's a case for partitioning
one's hard drive into, say, 50 gigs for the system (AKA "C:") and
the rest for data (AKA "D:")

After that, one moves all their "MyThis" and "MyThat" folders to
the "Data" partition.

System backups, then are only taken occasionally - when some
significant change has occurred and one knows that the system is
good - i.e. not infected with anything.... and not otherwise
corrupted.

Data, OTOH, is backed up daily at least...keeping old copies as
well.

When the system bites the big one, the known good image of the
system is resorted - obliterating whatever was on C:... but, if
the move of data to D: was done thoroughly (don't forget email
programs, cookies....) no data is lost and the system is up and
running.

I speak from the experience of having teenagers pound on my boxes
a couple hours each day. I'm comfortable with my little scheme
to the point where if the system even *looks* flaky, I'll restore
the good image.

Tracking down all the data and moving it to D: takes a bit of the
obsessive/compulsive... but once you get it down pat it just
seems obvious.

Oops.... I guess that *was* the full rant.....
 
Shenan said:
<snipped>

NJITGS wrote:


I would like to address just that part...

This is my opinion - but I am betting many others who may either backup data
for a living or just had experiences surrounding backups (good or bad) will
agree:

Having your backup reside internally (same system) is not a backup in truth.

A backup is there in case you need to restore if something happened to said
data. While there are many things that could happen that would not affect
the other internal drive - there are many things that could. It is my
opinion a backup should reside external to the machine - whenever possible -
in a completely different physical residence (not even the same house when
practical, at least in some protected area of the same house - like a
fireproof/waterproof safe otherwise.)

Sound like overkill? Won't if lightning fries your computer and both hard
drives. Virus corrupts everything it can touch. The entire physical
machine is stolen. Etc and so on...

To me it's a lot like people who setup a mirrored 'array' and think their
data is now safe - they are wrong, they just don't know it. ;-)
Click to expand...

When, some time ago, I happened to describe the nightmare scenario, where
a computer power supply puts out 15V on the 12V rail, and ruins *all* the hard
drives inside the computer, I had one poster post back a reply, saying
exactly that happened to him. So unfortunate incidents like that, have
happened. It isn't just a theoretical consideration.

That's why a hard drive in an external enclosure, disconnected when you're not
using it, has some additional value. Because if the power supply fails
in just the right way, it can ruin practically everything inside the computer.
(The CPU and memory DIMMs typically survive such an event, other things don't).

External disks are available with USB, Firewire, or ESATA interfaces. Any of those
are options, as long as the computer case has the matching connector for it.
USB2 is the most common choice on PCs. ESATA gives good performance, but
isn't as common.

Paul
 
Paul said:
When, some time ago, I happened to describe the nightmare scenario, where
a computer power supply puts out 15V on the 12V rail, and ruins *all* the
hard
drives inside the computer, I had one poster post back a reply, saying
exactly that happened to him. So unfortunate incidents like that, have
happened. It isn't just a theoretical consideration.

That's why a hard drive in an external enclosure, disconnected when you're
not
using it, has some additional value. Because if the power supply fails
in just the right way, it can ruin practically everything inside the
computer.
(The CPU and memory DIMMs typically survive such an event, other things
don't).

External disks are available with USB, Firewire, or ESATA interfaces. Any
of those
are options, as long as the computer case has the matching connector for
it.
USB2 is the most common choice on PCs. ESATA gives good performance, but
isn't as common.

Paul
Click to expand...

Gonna be that extreme (justified or not) might as well make it an external
enclosure so after the backup is made you can take the disk out and put it
somewhere for safe keeping given that a "hardwired" external drive still has
some electrical components can fail which would make accessing the drive
difficult where-as an enclosure just pop the drive in another one.
 
Per pjp:
Gonna be that extreme (justified or not) might as well make it an external
enclosure so after the backup is made you can take the disk out and put it
somewhere for safe keeping
Click to expand...

I'll go one further: multiple drives that get rotated through an
offsite storage location (like the neighbor's garage or one's
workplace).

Drive A: Hooked up to the PC, contains most recent backup

Drive B: In transit to/from the other location

Drive C: At the other location


There's another benefit to that scheme. If the PC is frying
drives as they're hooked up (been there....) one is less likely
to fry all 3 drives when they cannot just hook up one drive after
another.

My personal practice, after one drive is fried, is to back up the
next drive on another PC before even bringing it into the house.
 
Per Anthony Buckland:
A problem is that the partitioning between data and
system isn't that simple. For example, the default
location of Outlook Express' mail files is not in My
Documents, but in an obscure place in what would at
first glance look like system files (a problem I fixed by
moving the mail files into My Documents). Other
applications have more or less important components
in odd places that would be lost with loss of the
system partition.
Click to expand...

That's the weak point in my little scheme - as I said, it takes a
bit of the obsessive-compulsive.....
 
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