Backup Software Recommendation

[Brian A.]

Brian:
Since you didn't refer to a specific posting I'm uncertain if you're referring to
my response to the OP in which I touted the Casper 4.0 disk-cloning program and
provided details concerning its use.

To keep our conversation in perspective for others, I commented:

In the event your comment re "a sales pitch" does *not* refer to my post, then
please ignore the following...

However, if you *are* referring to my comments re the Casper 4.0 program, then let
me state the following...

I have absolutely no connection with the developer of that program - commercial or
otherwise. My comments are based solely on the experience we have had using that
program (together with the experience of other Casper 4.0 users with whom I'm
familiar) over the past year or so.

I'll take your word on that, I have no reason not to. However even if it may seem
minor, the use of terms such as "we've, we're, we" meaning as a team/group to me,
put's in the wrong perspective as I see it the way it was written in context.

As you may possibly have noted from my past postings, we have had extensive
experience using a variety of disk cloning/disk imaging programs over a period of
many years, including various versions of Symantec's Ghost & Acronis True Image
programs. I do not denigrate those programs (with the possible exception of some
earlier versions of the Ghost program) and have, on a number of occasions
recommended those programs when responding to posters' queries re
disk-cloning/disk-imaging programs.

Yes, I have read a number of you're responses in the past and they were very well
written, but the one I responded to appeared to me as marketing in the complete
written context as I read it. I do apologize if it has offended you and will try to
humbly say, so as not to offend again: re-reading the response still appears to me
as a one sided biased marketing ploy in the context it's written.

That statement of mine can be read out of context as well, it's not meant in any
way to offend which I wish it won't. Wishing may be better than hoping for me at the
moment.

We have, however, found the Casper 4.0 a superior disk-cloning program for the
detailed reasons I've indicated in my previous post. We highly recommend this
program to users who are casting about for a comprehensive backup program related
to disk-to- disk cloning operations. We have, however, always encouraged potential
users to insofar as possible try out various disk-cloning or other backup-type
programs to determine if one or the other programs meets their particular interest.
Anna

Perhaps I'm missing any mention of trying out any various other applications.
Again, I do not have any intent to offend you in any way, but I just don't see it in
the response, maybe it's me having a senior moment.

Once more I apologize for any offense taken.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[WaIIy]

Wally:
None whatsoever. See my response to Brian earlier today.

Anna, I was just curious, as one that types about 25 words a minute.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[John Waller]

I'm beginning to wonder whether I should preface my posts - at

least those posts in which I recommend a particular product and provide
detailed instructions for using said product - with some "boilerplate" to
the effect that I have no commercial interest in the product I'm
recommending.

Anna,

That's always good practice and is the best way that I know of removing any
doubt regarding the intention of your post.

 

[Meebers]

I have been using Casper for several versions now and am very happy with it.
I use removable HDD racks for my backups and in the event of a main HDD
failure or software glitches, its a matter of minutes before I am back up
and running. Data is exactly as it was when you last did a backup. ( do it
often) The smart clone feature updates only what has changed since last
backup, and if done weekly takes 3-5 minutes typically. The only negative I
have of Casper is the license will not allow it on more than one computer.
(I would like a desktop/laptop license or one that you could use over your
own home network to backup your laptop)

 

[Anna]

I have been using Casper for several versions now and am very happy with
it. I use removable HDD racks for my backups and in the event of a main HDD
failure or software glitches, its a matter of minutes before I am back up
and running. Data is exactly as it was when you last did a backup. ( do it
often) The smart clone feature updates only what has changed since last
backup, and if done weekly takes 3-5 minutes typically. The only negative
I have of Casper is the license will not allow it on more than one
computer. (I would like a desktop/laptop license or one that you could use
over your own home network to backup your laptop)

Meebers:
Your experience parallels ours in that the "SmartClone" feature of Casper
4.0 is one of the primary reasons we highly recommend this disk-to-disk
cloning program.

I would just like to emphasize that the program we're talking about is the
Casper 4.0 program, not the Casper XP program which I believe may be still
available. We were never thrilled with the Casper XP program although we're
aware of users who thought well of it.

I was also glad to see your comment concerning the value of removable hard
drives, i.e., mobile racks with removable trays in a PC desktop environment.
We have been promoting the use of these devices for many years now. While
not every desktop PC can be so equipped, we encourage the use of removable
HDDs whenever possible. A pet statement of ours is "Once you've worked with
removable hard drives in your desktop PC, your only regret will be that you
did not previously equip your computer with this hardware arrangement." It's
that good.
Anna

 

[Anna]

Hello Anna,
I read your information above and although I'm not yet ready to
proceed with my external hard drive and my Seagate hard drive hasn't
arrived as yet I'm still considering building a external hard drive
and indeed I may have to to transfer my files etc and them copy them
back to the new drive. I know I may be getting ahead of myself here
but I have been reading the replies given and trying to learn what I
can, and it seems so daunting to change a drive, given the BIOS, RAID
and other terms which I'm just basically familar with. My question is
that you mentioned of buying a PCI card to upgrade my system to USB
2.0 and was wondering if you could recommend any? I saw Zonet, but I
really don't know what specs I'm looking for. Also can I use the same
kind of Seagate drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ebook&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1064401651619)

for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something with
much more memory?
Robert

Robert:
I take it that you've already ordered that 160 GB HDD Seagate and are
awaiting its arrival. Is that so?

I'm not sure I quite understand your objective at this particular point in
time. Are you planning to use the Seagate as a backup drive in a USB
external enclosure or are you planning to install it as your primary
internal HDD to replace your present HDD? Could you clarify your intentions
at this time?

As far as disk capacity I would think 160 GB disk capacity should suffice in
your specific situation. I don't imagine (based on your previous posts) that
the total data you are and will be working with in the future will be even
close to exceeding that disk capacity but you are the best judge of that. On
the other hand one would be hard-pressed to find someone complaining over
the fact that they should have bought a smaller capacity HDD than the larger
one they bought.

Anyway, assuming for a moment that you plan to use that Seagate (or some
other HDD) as the drive in a USB external enclosure and would be upgrading
your system from its present USB 1 (1.1) capability to USB 2.0 capability by
purchasing a PCI card having USB 2.0 capability...

I really don't have any specific recommendation for any particular USB 2.0
PCI card. We really haven't noticed any significant differences in any
particular brand or model of card as it affects the card's performance. They
all seem to do the job. The one I believe I previously referred to you at
http://www.directron.com/aud041.html should suffice. It's certainly cheap
enough and has four USB 2.0 ports. But take a look at the newegg.com
offerings re the different makes/models they carry and user comments.
Anna

 

[Anna]

Hi Anna,
Sorry if I haven't been all that clear. Yes, I've already ordered the
Seagate and LG DVD/RW drives and I'm waiting for them to arrive. The
LG shouldn't be any problem to install. So I'm not worried about
that.

I'm planning on using the Seagate as my primary hard drive and from
what I've read so far installation is very involved e.g. BIOS, Raid,
partitioning, etc. There's no reason to keep the old drive (master/
slave) other than transferring the files over then disconnect it or
delete the drive, or? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have
in this regard.

After I install the Seagate as my primary hard drive I was thinking of
buying an enclosure (any suggestions?) with perhaps another Seagate
for an external hard drive and buying a PCI card to upgrade my
computer from USB 1.0 to 2.0 so that the transfer is more acceptable.
Am I heading in the right direction with all of this?

I hope I made a little more sense this time but you have to understand
its allot to deal with, at least for me it is. I'll be allot happier
once I've installed my internal hard drive.

Robert

Robert:
1. Installing a new HDD to replace your present HDD isn't a particularly
involved operation. Assuming you've had no experience in these matters it's
always best if you had a knowledgeable friend at your side to guide you
through the operation. But there's no reason why you couldn't undertake the
process yourself. As I recall you have a Dell machine so it would be a good
idea to access Dell's site and locate their technical guide re your machine.
Generally speaking their diagrams & text are pretty good so it should help
you understand the process. You needn't be concerned with any RAID issues
nor is there likely to be any complicated BIOS-setting issues.

But there is something to consider before going ahead with this operation...
1. Are you planning to copy the *entire* contents of your present HDD onto
the new Seagate HDD, including the XP OS, all your programs & applications,
and your user-created data? In short, make a duplicate of your existing HDD?
This process is commonly known as a "disk-cloning" operation. Assuming the
Seagate you purchased is a retail, boxed version of the HDD it will include
a disk-to-disk cloning utility (Seagate has been using a version of the
Acronis True Image program and I believe it's still included with their
retail versions). But if not included because you purchased an OEM version
of the HDD you can still obtain the disk-cloning utility from Seagate's
site. (You also mentioned something about purchasing the ATI program in one
of your earlier posts as I recall. So that program would do the job as
well).

Anyway, if you go that route probably the most practical way in your
situation would be to first install the Seagate in a USB external enclosure
(I don't have any specific recommendation re that device - we've worked with
many different makes & models and they all seem to do the job, but again,
peruse newegg.com for their extensive offerings). Then you would use the
disk-cloning program to undertake that disk-to-disk cloning operation; after
which you would remove the Seagate from the enclosure and install it as your
Primary Master in your machine. You could then install your older HDD in the
USB enclosure and use that device as your routine backup device (using the
disk cloning program) assuming your old HDD remains functional.

2. On the other hand if you want to make a fresh install of the XP OS onto
the new Seagate HDD after it is installed as Primary Master, then you would
need the XP installation CD. (I don't know if you have this CD or merely
some "recovery" CD provided by Dell). But assuming you were able to install
a fresh copy of the XP OS onto your new HDD you would then need, of course,
to install whatever programs you desire on the new drive together with any
user-created data that you want from your old HDD. So you would probably
want to install the old HDD in the USB external enclosure after the new HDD
had been internally installed and at least have access to your user-created
data that way. But understand that you would need to have the installation
media for whatever programs you wanted to install on the new HDD. By & large
you could *not* "copy" them over from the old onto the new HDD.

It's possible in many cases to install both HDDs - the old & the new - as
internal HDDs in your desktop machine and carry out the disk-cloning (or
disk copying) operations that way - avoiding the need of a USB external
enclosure. I don't know if that's practical for you with your Dell machine.
But it's something to consider.
Anna

 

[Anna]

Hi Anna,
Yes I'm planning to clone the entire hdd to the new Seagate hdd. I did
check and Seagate does include their disk to disk cloning cd with the
hdd. I've also been reading up on the process:http://
seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?
p_faqid=3914&p_created=1178218024&p_sid=GMQ9vRRi&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xNDc5LDE0NzkmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1
and
http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...XBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=

Although I don't have anyone who can help me with this it doesn't seem
that difficult after all. What I plan to do is attach the Seagate as
the slave (making sure that the jumpers are set to Cable-Select) and
then after I've copied the entire drive and assured everything is
working I'll make the Seagate the master and disconnect the old hdd.
Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

Regarding an external hard drive; I would use my old hdd as my
external hdd but I'm sort of leery about its condition and usefulness
given its age so I think I'll just purchase another identical Seagate
hdd and enclosure along with a PCI card and CasperXp. Does this sound
like a reasonable way to go to you? I was going to use Norton Ghost
but given my experience with Norton and even though I've heard good
things about their Ghost program I would rather not deal with them
anymore. I like how Casper does a mirror image back-up which is
exactly what I want.

Robert

Robert:
Your plan, in general, sounds just fine. Just a point or two...

After you use the Seagate disk-cloning utility (which I assume is a version
of Acronis True Image) and successfully use that program to clone the
contents of your present HDD to your new Seagate - you may feel comfortable
enough with that program to continue to use it on a routine basis as your
disk-cloning backup program to your USB external HDD.

If, at some time, you decide you would prefer a different disk-cloning
program, I would strongly recommend the Casper 4.0 program in lieu of the
Casper XP program. You might have come across my recent posts concerning my
preference for the Casper 4.0 program in which I provided detailed
step-by-step instructions for using that program.

While we were heavy users of Symantec's Ghost 2003 program for a good number
of years in an XP environment our experience with their versions 9 & 10 was
rather negative and we gave up using or recommending those later versions of
the Ghost program. However, we haven't worked with later versions of
Symantec's Ghost program (I believe the latest version is 12) so I cannot
speak to them.

In any event, we're very satisfied with the Casper 4.0 program and highly
recommend that disk-cloning program.
Anna

 

[Olórin]

Robert:
Your plan, in general, sounds just fine. Just a point or two...

After you use the Seagate disk-cloning utility (which I assume is a
version of Acronis True Image) and successfully use that program to clone
the contents of your present HDD to your new Seagate - you may feel
comfortable enough with that program to continue to use it on a routine
basis as your disk-cloning backup program to your USB external HDD.

If, at some time, you decide you would prefer a different disk-cloning
program, I would strongly recommend the Casper 4.0 program in lieu of the
Casper XP program. You might have come across my recent posts concerning
my preference for the Casper 4.0 program in which I provided detailed
step-by-step instructions for using that program.

While we were heavy users of Symantec's Ghost 2003 program for a good
number of years in an XP environment our experience with their versions 9
& 10 was rather negative and we gave up using or recommending those later
versions of the Ghost program. However, we haven't worked with later
versions of Symantec's Ghost program (I believe the latest version is 12)
so I cannot speak to them.

In any event, we're very satisfied with the Casper 4.0 program and highly
recommend that disk-cloning program.
Anna

SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

 

[RA]

SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

You first.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

You first.

No, me first! I did it!

 

[Olórin]

You first.

It would have lessened the impact of my point to the principal protagonists,
methinks. Unlike now.