Backup?

[LL]

Hi,

Can I backup the whole system while the OS is still running?

Thanks...

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Hi,

Can I backup the whole system while the OS is still running?

Using NTBackup (which uses Shadow Copy) yes you can. Other utilities
vary in their ability to do that.

 

[LL]

Using NTBackup (which uses Shadow Copy) yes you can. Other utilities
vary in their ability to do that.

If the computer crashed, how to restoer it from the backup file?
Also how long it take to backup the whole system(Usually)?

Thanks for the help!

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

If the computer crashed, how to restoer it from the backup file?
Also how long it take to backup the whole system(Usually)?

if you have XP pro, you can use ASR (start, help, ASR) to get your
system back to where you can use NTBackup's 'restore' to get the rest
back. If you don't have XP pro, you have to get to where you can run
'restore' some other way.

As for 'how long', it's 'how long it a piece of string'. Depends on how
big/fast your hard drive is (i.e. how much are you backing up) and what
you back it up to - tape drives vary in speed enormously (but even the
fast ones are slower than disk).

NTBackup (with verify) takes me a couple of hours to a Travan Tr-4 tape
drive, backing up about 3GBytes.

 

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

NTBackup (with verify) takes me a couple of hours to a Travan Tr-4
tape drive, backing up about 3GBytes.

I finally broke down and bought an external hard drive that connects with an USB
cable. PowerQuest's Drive Image 7 supports it so I can restore from the USB
drive. Works great. I do a complete system backup every week now. The rest of
the time the external drive is unpowered and disconnected. Any event that zaps
my computer shouldn't nuke the external drive... at least that's my theory.

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I finally broke down and bought an external hard drive that connects
with an USB
cable. PowerQuest's Drive Image 7 supports it so I can restore from the USB
drive. Works great. I do a complete system backup every week now. The
rest of
the time the external drive is unpowered and disconnected. Any event that zaps
my computer shouldn't nuke the external drive... at least that's my theory.

Yes, you're probably Ok, although a house fire will still get both
(unless you have a fireproof safe). It's always a trade off between
'hassle/expense' and 'scope of disaster being guarded against'.