Best backup app for Vista

[Dan Hinsley]

Since the builtin backup app for Vista is pretty worthless, I'm
looking for a replacement. I had read about Cobian in this newsgroup,
but it doesn't appear to use shadow copy (or whatever the vista
equivalent is) as it allows you to close apps before the backup
starts. Also, the file selection seems pretty primitive. Unless I'm
missing something, you can't select your entire C drive, and then go
and remove certain directories/files you don't want to backup.

So, can someone recommend a reasonably priced backup app that works
well with Vista?

Dan

 

[thecreator]

Hi Dan,

Have you checked out Acronis True Image 10 Home?

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage/ 15-Day Trial Full
Version.

Also if buying if you like it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832200003

 

[Cheesus]

Have you checked out Acronis True Image 10 Home?

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage/ 15-Day Trial Full
Version.

Another vote for Acronis True Image.

After my intial Vista install I planned on making a backup
using Ghost 9. Upon installing it, I was told that it was
incompatible. So I tried the Vista backup.

The very next day I ran into a problem that I couldn't recover
from (Hibernation) and so I had to restore. I tried the Windows
restore twice. The first time it messed up the \boot directory. The
second time I got an endless stream of chkdsk errors.

I tried Acronis and it worked like a charm.

 

[Daze N. Knights]

I'm surprised to hear of your problems with Complete PC Backup. I wonder
if they are more common than I'd assumed. I have restored my Vista
system partition nearly ten times now, using at least five different
sets of backup disks, and everything has gone exceedingly well (and
fast) every time.

 

[Cheesus]

One possibility is that my laptop has a RAID controller. Even
though I don't use RAID, I have to load the drivers from my drivers
disk before the restore. Perhaps there's something odd about that
configuration?

 

[Eric Furness]

Since the builtin backup app for Vista is pretty worthless, I'm
looking for a replacement. I had read about Cobian in this newsgroup,
but it doesn't appear to use shadow copy (or whatever the vista
equivalent is) as it allows you to close apps before the backup
starts. Also, the file selection seems pretty primitive. Unless I'm
missing something, you can't select your entire C drive, and then go
and remove certain directories/files you don't want to backup.

So, can someone recommend a reasonably priced backup app that works
well with Vista?

Dan

I have been using NovaBackup, as I need tape support. It will also
backup to other media, and is reasonably priced and just came out with
a Vista version.

Eric

 

[BSchnur]

I have been using NovaBackup, as I need tape support. It will also

backup to other media, and is reasonably priced and just came out with
a Vista version.

I have used this at two client sites and also got the email indicating
Vista support. The two clients have tape systems (DAT4 in for one, and
LTO1 for the other).

 

[Gary]

Since the builtin backup app for Vista is pretty worthless, I'm
looking for a replacement. I had read about Cobian in this newsgroup,
but it doesn't appear to use shadow copy (or whatever the vista
equivalent is) as it allows you to close apps before the backup
starts. Also, the file selection seems pretty primitive. Unless I'm
missing something, you can't select your entire C drive, and then go
and remove certain directories/files you don't want to backup.

So, can someone recommend a reasonably priced backup app that works
well with Vista?

Dan

Another vote for True Image 10.

 

[MICHAEL]

Since the builtin backup app for Vista is pretty worthless, I'm
looking for a replacement. I had read about Cobian in this newsgroup,
but it doesn't appear to use shadow copy (or whatever the vista
equivalent is) as it allows you to close apps before the backup
starts. Also, the file selection seems pretty primitive. Unless I'm
missing something, you can't select your entire C drive, and then go
and remove certain directories/files you don't want to backup.

So, can someone recommend a reasonably priced backup app that works
well with Vista?

Dan

Dan,

I'm going to add a "me too" for Acronis True Image 10.

Simple and powerful. You can make full images or backup
only what you want. Acronis allows you to easily mount
images to explore their contents. You can do the same with
CompletePC Backup images using vhdmount that comes with
Virtual Server, but that is a pain in the arse.

I have tested CompletePC Backup several times, it does
work well. However, like you, many of us want more options
and more control over the process. Acronis True Image 10
is absolutely wonderful.


Take care,

Michael

 

[Dan Hinsley]

OK, I installed the demo version, but there are two things I don't
like, one of which is a show stopper. Let me know if I'm just missing
something:

1) the "nit" is that you can't setup a backup (select which files and
directories are going to be backed up and the various options) and
save it. You can sort of do this by creating a schedule, but that
appears to be the only way. The other nit related to this is that it
doesn't seem to use the Vista scheduler, so I guess you have to leave
it running all the time for scheduled runs to work?

2) the biggie though is that it appears that if you select "data" as
the backup type, it doesn't back up all the files, including the OS.
What I need to be able to do is to backup everything (including the
system files) but not backup certain directories (I have several
ephemeral directories that are quite large). Is there a way for
Acronis to do this?

I'm in the process of evaluating NovaStor, so we'll see how it works.
Since they wrote the backup app that shipped with XP, I'm hoping it's
more what I'm looking for.

Dan

 

[Daze N. Knights]

I've just discovered that I seem to have a problem restoring a Complete
PC Backup (from DVDs) to a partition that is smaller than the original,
even though the "smaller" partition is 30GB larger than the backup. I
don't quite get this. Previously, I had always restored to the same
partition that I had backed up, and done so with no problem . . .