Best Backup Program

[David]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available.

My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually
upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus.

I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable
external drive.

I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive
to a different external drive.

I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk.

Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus.

Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB
internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that
is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a
file if I choose.

Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I
can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are
fine.

 

[Jim]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available.

My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually
upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus.

I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable
external drive.

I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive
to a different external drive.

I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk.

Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus.

Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB
internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that
is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a
file if I choose.

Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I
can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are
fine.

Acronis True Image (£/$ )
Macrium Reflect (£/$)
Paragon (£/$)
Macrium and Paragon also have free software .

 

[Daave]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available.

My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually
upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus.

I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable
external drive.

I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive
to a different external drive.

I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk.

Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus.

Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB
internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that
is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a
file if I choose.

Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I
can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are
fine.

If it weren't for your second paragraph, I would recommend Acronis True
Image in a heartbeat. This program creates self-contained images of the
hard drive (including incremental images) and can create bootable clones
and can also back up just data ("individual directories/files").

Actually, that program would still meet your needs. However, since you
stated you are interested in a bootable clone (at least, that was the
inference I drew), *and* if you want to be able to quickly create
subesequent (i.e., incremental) clones, Casper would be better.

Regarding individual directories/files, you would back them up to a
different drive (i.e., not the bootable clone drive). XP Pro's native
ntbackup program is fine for this if you back up to another hard drive.
Actually, Acronis is fine, too. *And* it can create clones, which is a
nice plus. What it can't do (and what Casper can) is create incremental
clones (which translates to "fast").

I think clones are better for those who cannot afford to wait the amount
of time it takes to restore an image. Since how I use a PC (mostly
casual use) doesn't require bootable clones, I am happy with Acronis.
However, if I were working on time-critical tasks (e.g., day-trading!),
I could see the value of a bootable clone.

More info:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/smartclone.aspx

Bootom line:

If you must have an up-to-date bootable clone and if you want to create
these in the fastest way possible, go for Casper. For the individual
files/directories, use ntbackup.

If you want to image your hard drive regularly (and quickly) and also
want to back up data (and still have the option to create a bootable
clone -- just without the ability to create quicker incremental bootable
clones), go with Acronis.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available.

My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually
upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus.

I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable
external drive.

What do you mean by "mirror." That term is normally used just for
RAID1, which is very different from backup.

But if you just mean something like "copy," no problem.

I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive
to a different external drive.

I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk.

Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus.

Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB
internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that
is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a
file if I choose.

Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I
can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are
fine.

Acronis True Image.

 

[David]

Ken:

I do mean mirror, not copy.

Unless I am mistaken, when you copy one drive to another, you get the
contents of the first drive copied to the second. This means that the
contents are the same, but the location on the second drive may not be
the same.

Mirroring a drive (at least to me) means just that. Not only are the
contents copied, but the exact locations on the second drive are the
same. Mirroring, I believe, also copies the boot tracks which is
essential if the mirrored drive is to be used as a replacement boot
drive in the event c: fails.

I have an external USB hard drive. the bios on my workstation allows
the external USB drive to be bootable (assuming I read the manual
correctly). I want the c: drive to be mirrored to the external USB
hard drive so I have a functional backup hard drive in case c: fails.

David

 

[Big_Al]

David said this on 5/11/2010 3:06 PM:

Ken:

I do mean mirror, not copy.

Unless I am mistaken, when you copy one drive to another, you get the
contents of the first drive copied to the second. This means that the
contents are the same, but the location on the second drive may not be
the same.

Mirroring a drive (at least to me) means just that. Not only are the
contents copied, but the exact locations on the second drive are the
same. Mirroring, I believe, also copies the boot tracks which is
essential if the mirrored drive is to be used as a replacement boot
drive in the event c: fails.

I have an external USB hard drive. the bios on my workstation allows
the external USB drive to be bootable (assuming I read the manual
correctly). I want the c: drive to be mirrored to the external USB
hard drive so I have a functional backup hard drive in case c: fails.

David

I've used Acronis to image a drive and then apply that image to another
drive. I guess in your terms this is copy. I then opened defrag to
look at the layout, and the drive was 100% defragged. Swap and MFT and
all. Really cool. So YES to your first comment about the location
on the drive not being the same on a copy.

I've never done a clone test to see how and what it does.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available.

Norton Ghost 15 or Norton 360; highly recommended by professionals in
the know.

I don't take any advice from Microsoft Valuable Pigs or MVPs after their
name as some form of microsoft tag to isolate them from ordinary pigs
not eaten by jews and muslims.

hth

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program
available.

My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually
upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus.

I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable
external drive.

I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external
drive to a different external drive.

I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk.

Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus.

Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150
GB internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup -
that is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup &
retrieve a file if I choose.

Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost.
If I can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple
programs are fine.

500GB Seagate Replica.

 

[Daave]

The term "mirror" is used for RAID technology:

http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/raid-1.htm

http://www.recoverdata.com/raidfaq.htm

This does not sound like what you were asking about.

From your description below, you are referring to cloning. Is your
external hard drive specifically an eSATA hard drive? Does your
motherboard support eSATA hard drives. If you answer yes to both, then
you can use a cloning program to accomplish what you want.

Also know you can create an image of your hard drive and then restore
that image to the same or a different hard drive and your new drive is
*effectively* a clone of the original. It takes longer, but it still
safeguards all your data and allows you the luxury of not having to
reinstall the OS, updates, applications, etc.

Or you can choose to clone directly. Your choice.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The term "mirror" is used for RAID technology:

I tried to tell him that, but since he just wanted to argue with me, I
didn't bother replying to his second message, quoted below.

 

[Daave]

Yeah, I saw that.

But I don't think he intended to be belligerent. I think he was confused
and meant to say he was interested in not just copying data but having a
perfect copy of the hard drive. To him, this (incorrectly) meant the
word "mirror."

We'll see what he really means if makes another reply. ;-)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Yeah, I saw that.

But I don't think he intended to be belligerent. I think he was confused
and meant to say he was interested in not just copying data but having a
perfect copy of the hard drive. To him, this (incorrectly) meant the
word "mirror."

We'll see what he really means if makes another reply. ;-)

Glad to hear you say that, and I hope you're right and I was wrong.

 

[Andy]

Norton Ghost properly set up

 

[Stan Brown]

Tue, 11 May 2010 22:00:03 +0100 from ANONYMOUS

Norton Ghost 15 or Norton 360; highly recommended by professionals in
the know.

Translation: POSes that *no one* without an ax to grind would
recommend.

I'd go with Acronis True Image, but I bought my copy in 2005, which
is about a century ago in computer years, so I don't know if the
current version is still as good.

 

[David]

Ken:

Perhaps you just wanted to argue with yourself. I don't know. In any
case, I used the wrong term. Does a mistake like that constitute an
arguement?

The whole point that I tried to make is I want my external USB drive
to boot Win/XP PRO in case the main hard drive fails. I had thought
an image would require a second hard drive exactly the same. I am not
sufficiently well versed to know. In any case my main hard drive is
150GB and the USB drive is 1TB. The 150GB drive is listed in my
paperwork as serial-ATA. The 1TB USB drive is an IOMEGA eGO desktop
USB drive in its own case, type unknown.

Perhaps we could reinitiate this conversation in a more amiable
manner. I was hopeful you might have a solution to my real problem -
making the USB drive XP/PRO bootable.

 

[Anthony Buckland]

...
I'd go with Acronis True Image, but I bought my copy in 2005, which
is about a century ago in computer years, so I don't know if the
current version is still as good.
...

I continue to use TI, but am careful about new versions.
Acronis tends IMHO to let loose beta versions loose on
the public for them to find the last few bugs, which can
be risky for the one program you have to be able to
rely on in a disaster. I wouldn't do anything irrevocable
to my system until after I'd created an image, verified it,
and made a recovery, which is a time-consuming
checkout. I'm currently using version 9, build 2337,
and have made a successful recovery during the last
12 months. "A century ago" indeed, but a byte is a byte
regardless of the versions of everything else on my
machine, and I continue to rely on that build.

 

[Milt]

David,

I'm sure that many of the imaging programs are fine. I have been using
Norton Ghost for about fifteen years, as best as I can remember. I make
monthly new images and daily incremental backups.

It has worked the eight or ten times I've used it to restore a corrupted or
damaged HD. I'm now using Ghost 9 on two machines and Ghost 10 on another. I
back up the images to a second HD, and then copy them to a 16 gig. thumb
drive for off site storage.

Milt

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Perhaps we could reinitiate this conversation in a more amiable
manner. I was hopeful you might have a solution to my real problem
- making the USB drive XP/PRO bootable.

In general - Windows XP will not boot from an USB drive.

If you _cloned_ your disk to it (with your favorite imaging program), took
it out of the USB case, put it in the machine - it probably would work just
fine - boot and be happy after a few tweaks in the BIOS and *maybe* one to
the drive itself.

BartPE and its children-projects will boot from USB/CD/DVD - but you
wouldn't be making an image of what you have to to that - not the way it
works and it would be quite limited in functionality in comparison to what
you want.

With any imaging application worth its salt - the size of the cloned-to disk
is only a concern if it is smaller than the data on the original source
disk. Usually a good cloning application would give you the choice of
taking up just what you need *or* the rest of the disk you are cloning to
(or something in-between.)

I believe your best bet would be one of two things:

1) Imaging the disk to an external file(set of files actually) for
restoration at a later time. This way you can keep your external drive
formatted as is/use it for other things, etc. This could just be a
directory on the external disk. The disadvantage is that to really get a
good solid image with most applications of the entire disk - you should
likely boot to something other than what you are taking the image of for
speed and 'files in use' reasons. That means having a BartPE or UBCD for
Windows CD, boot from it, mount your external drive, start up your imaging
application, make your image, boot back to the internal hard drive.
Advantage - the process to restore it back to that point in time is the same
in reverse - apply the image to the disk (or any disk you put in that
machine.) Also - you could have several different images representing
different points in time - as long as you have space on the drive.

2) Just get a drive exclusively for backup - the Seagate Replica is a good
example. It can back up all your files/folders, keep 'versions' of files
you change often so you can go back to yesterdays, the day before, etc and
can do a bare metal restore if needed. (Everything crashed - you need to
start over.) Not ot mention if you get the 500GB version - you could use it
on multiple machines to work its full magic.

 

[Daave]

It looks like you missed Ken's other post where he said:

"Glad to hear you say that, and I hope you're right and I was wrong."

You seem to be confusing the terms image and clone.

An image is one gigantic archive file (or it can be a series of such
files) that contains the "essence" of the totality of what is on the
hard drive. You can store this archive anywhere you'd like: on an
external drive (but it would be non-bootable *in that state*) or on a
DVD (or several DVDs, depending on the size of the archive -- even with
compression, images can be quite large!)

You can use the same software that created the image to restore it back
to the same hard drive (or another hard drive in its place, say if the
first drive physically dies). Once the image is restored, the result is
a hard drive effectively identical to how it was when the image of it
was made. Therefore, it would be bootable.

If for some reason, you desire to make an exact copy of the hard drive
directly to another hard drive, this would be a clone. If this other
hard drive is in an external enclosure, unless it is eSATA, you would
need to remove it and place it in the correct slot in your desktop tower
(probably where the original one was). This drive would also be
bootable. It's like an identical twin.

Note that if you restore an image to a bare metal drive, the result is
the same: something that is effectively an identical twin.

Cloning is preferable if you do not want to take extra time to restore
the image. You can configure your motherboard's BIOS to boot off an
eSATA clone, even if it is not in the tower. With eSATA, the PC doesn't
distinguish between internal or external drives.

If you clone your drive to a drive that is in an external USB enclosure,
it will only boot if you physically remove it from the enclosure and
place it inside the tower. It will not boot from the external enclosure
if there is no eSATA connection (despite what WaIIy stated).

 

[Steve Hayes]

The whole point that I tried to make is I want my external USB drive
to boot Win/XP PRO in case the main hard drive fails. I had thought
an image would require a second hard drive exactly the same. I am not
sufficiently well versed to know. In any case my main hard drive is
150GB and the USB drive is 1TB. The 150GB drive is listed in my
paperwork as serial-ATA. The 1TB USB drive is an IOMEGA eGO desktop
USB drive in its own case, type unknown.

Perhaps we could reinitiate this conversation in a more amiable
manner. I was hopeful you might have a solution to my real problem -
making the USB drive XP/PRO bootable.

I don't know if it is possible to make the external USB drive bootable, but I
made Acronis images of my laptop hard drive, and it also lets you make a
bootable CD rescue disc, which has the Acronis restore program on it.

When my laptop locked up because of a faulty antivirus program and i couldn't
get to the system restore point, I used the rescue disc and restored from the
image on the USB drive, and everything worked again.

It's one more step than booting from the USB drive, but it's not an onerous
one.