backup my hard drive

[Guest]

I have Windows XP Professional in a Dell computer with a 60GB hard drive. I
also have a 120GB Western Digital External hard drive where I store music and
photos. I also have a 160Gb Seagate hard drive where I back up the other two
drives. Seagate says I need to upgrade my BounceBack Express backup software
to BounceBack Professional (at a cost of $50) to for "all-inclusive disaster
recovery and backup solution."

Here's my question: Can I do the same thing with Window XP Professional
Backup Wizard? in other works can I use Window XP Backup Wizard to backup up
my first two drives onto my third drive and have the capability of
all-inclusive disaster recovery, or would you recommend upgrading my
BouncBack Express software. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Carl

Does it actually say that you NEED to upgrade from Express to Professional,
or is it just suggesting that it may be a good idea to upgrade?..

 

[Guest]

H, Mike: It says that in order to get the "all-inclusive disaster
recovery and backup solution" I have to upgrade. In other words, what I have
now - Express - does not allow me to have the "all-inclusive disaster
recovery and backup solution."

 

[D.Currie]

If you didn't have it before and it did what you needed, you don't need it
now. They're just trying to get you to upgrade.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Carl

Windows Backup is good for small backups where just data is being saved, and
even then, for the amount of compression possible with certain file types,
it is as easy to just save them to a CD or slave HDD.. to do a full
'disaster recovery' backup, you should look to use Acronis TrueImage or
similar..

http://www.acronis.com

Hard drive manufacturers supply programs that can copy an entire system over
from one drive to another, but they can be problematic.. I used Maxtor's
Maxblast 4 recently.. it worked to a point, but corrupted MS Office, Paint
Shop Pro, Adobe Reader and a variety of arcade style games I had installed..

There is no good way to make recovery images without paying something for
them.. if you like the way that BounceBack works, then pay them the money,
otherwise look at the program I have suggested.. reports on it are
favourable.. personally, I prefer to re-install my own systems, but I accept
that in some environments, this is just not a possibility..

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Mike.

Carl

Windows Backup is good for small backups where just data is being saved, and
even then, for the amount of compression possible with certain file types,
it is as easy to just save them to a CD or slave HDD.. to do a full
'disaster recovery' backup, you should look to use Acronis TrueImage or
similar..

http://www.acronis.com

Hard drive manufacturers supply programs that can copy an entire system over
from one drive to another, but they can be problematic.. I used Maxtor's
Maxblast 4 recently.. it worked to a point, but corrupted MS Office, Paint
Shop Pro, Adobe Reader and a variety of arcade style games I had installed..

There is no good way to make recovery images without paying something for
them.. if you like the way that BounceBack works, then pay them the money,
otherwise look at the program I have suggested.. reports on it are
favourable.. personally, I prefer to re-install my own systems, but I accept
that in some environments, this is just not a possibility..