Backup Software

G

Guest

Geez this is turning out to be quite a task. I have an external drive
on its way and I am looking forward to imaging my entire drive to the
backup. Only problem is I can't find a free or open-source program
that will do this for me. Any ideas? I was intrigued by Msoft's
Backup for XP but then I realized it doesn't really image the drive it
just copies files. Thanks.
 
G

GaryT

MLC said:
giovedì 30 marzo 2006 lennart ha scritto:



Yep, IMO it's the best.
Click to expand...

I see where Cobian can compress files and FTP them. Can it do all of that as
a single job, or sequentially?

Also, can one backup job pull files from disparate sources and put them into
one?

Gary
 
B

Bill Yerkes

I use Cobian at work (thank you, Luis) and it can take files from many
locations and FTP the results in one swoop. You do not have to set up
several jobs.

But in respose to the original problem, Cobian does not "image" like
Acronis TrueImage or Norton Ghost, both commercial products. These suck
up your entire disk down to the oxide, save it, and can restore it,
operating system and all. Plain old file backup programs don't do this.
 
J

John Corliss

mike555 said:
=== if you want this external hard drive bootable , you might want to
use " XXClone "

... http://www.xxclone.com/index.htm ...... the free version
will clone your hard drive to another partition or hard drive
Click to expand...

However, it won't do incremental clones unless you buy the Pro version.

--
Regards from John Corliss
I don't reply to trolls like Andy Mabbett, Doc (who uses sock puppets)
or Roger Johansson, for instance. No adware, cdware, commercial
software, crippleware, demoware, nagware, PROmotionware, shareware,
spyware, time-limited software, trialware, viruses or warez for me, please.
 
L

Luis Cobian

Bill Yerkes said:
I use Cobian at work (thank you, Luis) and it can take files from many
locations and FTP the results in one swoop. You do not have to set up
several jobs.
Click to expand...

Be welcome.
But in respose to the original problem, Cobian does not "image" like
Acronis TrueImage or Norton Ghost, both commercial products.
Click to expand...

That's true. The comming version may be available to do something like that,
though. I don't see the need for this kind of feature but aparently there
are many people who want it, so we'll see. I really think that people should
stick to backup the real important information (the user files) and don't
waste space and time backing up the OS and applications, but that's just me.


Another "problem": the original user was searching for an Open Source
program, I think. CB is not , Open Source, nor will it became such a beast.

Regards
 
L

lennart

"I don't see the need for this kind of feature (ghosting) but aparently
there
are many people who want it, so we'll see."

If you make a ghost of a fresh installed OS, you can always easily set
it back. I think you should always make 2 kinds of BU: one ghost of a
freshly installed OS and one with user files.

But at the other side: OS'es are changing, after a few months a ghost
isn't up to date anymore. And making a ghost of your actual
installation could be "wrong" (in case your OS has already a virus, or
is full of spyware)
 
C

Chris Lee

Be welcome.


That's true. The comming version may be available to do something
like that,
though. I don't see the need for this kind of feature but aparently
there
are many people who want it, so we'll see. I really think that
people should
stick to backup the real important information (the user files) and
don't
waste space and time backing up the OS and applications, but that's
just me.
Click to expand...

It *IS* just you. I prefer doing a disk-imaged backup using the partimage
software
found on the linux-based rescue cdroms such as RIP.

It's a hell of a lot easier restoring the backup from the disk images from these
bootable live cdroms and you don't have to worry about what to do if it's
the C: drive that's gotten trashed.
 
L

Luis Cobian

It *IS* just you. I prefer doing a disk-imaged backup using the partimage
software
found on the linux-based rescue cdroms such as RIP.
Click to expand...

Oh, and that *IS* you, I guess ;-)

Seriously, before the comming version I made a survey with 300 of my users
and aproximatly 50% wanted the image thingy , and the olther half didn't
cared about it, so it's really a tie. I'm adding it, though.
 
V

Vic Dura

Geez this is turning out to be quite a task. I have an external drive
on its way and I am looking forward to imaging my entire drive to the
backup. Only problem is I can't find a free or open-source program
that will do this for me. Any ideas? I was intrigued by Msoft's
Backup for XP but then I realized it doesn't really image the drive it
just copies files. Thanks.
Click to expand...


http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm

DriveImage XML V1.12

Price: Free
System Requirements:

Pentium processor

256 MB Ram

Windows XP or 2003

DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and
backing up partitions and logical drives.

The program allows you to:
Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
Browse these images, view and extract files
Restore these images to the same or a different drive
Copy directly from drive to drive
Schedule automatic backups with your Task Scheduler

Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing
you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use.

Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd
party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup!

Restore images to drives without having to reboot.

DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home, XP Professional and Windows
Server 2003 only.
The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT
12, 16, 32 and NTFS.

Since this program is currently distributed as freeware, we don't
offer phone support for it. Please direct any questions to
(e-mail address removed).

You can run DriveImage XML from a WinPE boot CD-Rom.
 
G

Guest

From what I've been reading, DriveImage looks the most promising to
actually image the drive. I'll give it a whirl tonight as my backup
drive is expected to be delivered and let everyone know how it went. I
guess another concern I have is the ability to recover after a crash.
Some other programs have said that I need a WinPE disk which I'm not
knowledgable enough to create while (for example) Acronis makes its own
recovery bootable cd. I couldn't tell how Driveimage does this but
will know by tonight.
It seems like a logical thing to want to do, ghost your drive, I only
wonder why more freeware/open source programs don't do it - must be a
hard thing to program. I've always used freeware since I'm a
cheapskate and I am continually impressed by the folks who produce it.
Just to ramble a bit, not that anyone cares, my favorite experience was
a piece of "post-card-ware" where I had to send the author a postcard
from my home town in order to get the registration number, he emailed
me back about my town etc... it was fun. Okay, that's my rambling for
the week.
 
M

Maynard Man

Luis Cobian said:
That's true. The comming version may be available to do something like
that, though. I don't see the need for this kind of feature but aparently
there are many people who want it.
Click to expand...
This is actually a fantastic feature. I am installing a new ICT suite in
school over the next week. I will fully configure one pc with all their
software, then use Arconis to create an image and place it on a DVD. From
there I will push it out to the other 15 pc's. At around 15 minutes to copy
the image per pc, this a massive time saving on loading all the software
individually. The customer will then be left with a copy of the image on the
server. If a hard disk gets replaced, they boot the pc from the image
location floppy and they can have the pc up and running during a break time!
Also, if you are someone who likes to reformat every year or every small
problem, then an image of your system from setup in the same way will save
hours after a format.

Dave
 
A

Al Klein

I don't see the need for this kind of feature but aparently there
are many people who want it, so we'll see. I really think that people should
stick to backup the real important information (the user files) and don't
waste space and time backing up the OS and applications, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

Luis, I have to bring my laptop in for a new hard drive tomorrow. I'm
imaging it, so I can restore the whole drive at once when I get it
back.

That's one need. Not to knock your program.
 
A

Al Klein

actually image the drive. I'll give it a whirl tonight as my backup
drive is expected to be delivered and let everyone know how it went. I
guess another concern I have is the ability to recover after a crash.
Some other programs have said that I need a WinPE disk which I'm not
knowledgable enough to create
Click to expand...

You're here, so you are.

Print out ALL the instructions, and just plod through them, following
everything, whether you understand it or not.

I went into "dumb follow-the-leader" mode one night and created one -
and it works - and if I had to do it again I'd need the instructions
again.

What can you lose? An hour and a 25 cent CD?
 

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