Joe Starin said:
Okay, so the score so far is TrueImage "3" and everything else "0." And at
least one of you says ATI is simple to use. I'm somewhat PC savvy, but my
college kids need fast and simple. Thanks very much for the quick and
detailed replies. (Boy, that ATI version 9 for $9.95 sure look sweet
<grin>). Joe
Joe:
Well, not exactly...
Make that 3 to 1, at least for now...
The disk-cloning program we strongly recommend is the Casper 5 program. We
too have worked with a large variety of disk-to-disk cloning programs over
the years and we find the Casper program significantly superior to the
others, including the Acronis True Image program. Please understand I am not
demeaning the ATI program - many users (and you've heard from a few) find it
entirely suitable as a disk-cloning & disk-imaging program and by all means
you should try it out using Acronis's trial version. But we feel the Casper
program is superior for most PC users.
You say your "college kids need fast and simple". That's perfectly
understandable and surely desirable features for a disk-cloning program. And
those features are hallmarks of the Casper 5 program. Learning & using the
program is extraordinarily easy with this program - we've taught
10-year-olds how to use the program in less time in minutes than their age
in years. There's virtually no "learning curve" of any consequence and the
program goes about its business, i.e., cloning the contents of one HDD to
another HDD, quickly & flawlessly based upon our experience with hundreds of
PC systems and disk-cloning operations over the past three years or so that
we've been working with the Casper program.
But the truly supreme advantage of the Casper program as compared with other
disk-cloning programs that we're familiar with, e.g., Acronis True Image or
Symantec's Norton Ghost, among others, is its ability to create
*incremental* disk clones following the creation of the original (first)
disk clone. Employing what Casper calls its "SmartClone" technology the
program can create subsequent disk clones of the source HDD usually at a
fraction of the time it takes to create a "full" disk clone. This results in
a decided incentive for the user to undertake frequent complete backups of
his or her system knowing that they can create "incremental" disk clones in
a relatively short period of time. Understand that these "incremental" disk
clones that are created are *complete* disk clones - a true copy of the
"source" HDD that was cloned at that point in time. No "restoration" process
is necessary; the clone is a clone is a clone.
I cannot emphasize the usefulness of the preceding feature enough. Too many
users balk at using their disk-cloning program with any degree of frequency
because of the time it takes for the program to complete its disk-cloning
operations. Consequently they do not maintain as up-to-date backup system as
they should since they'll let days or weeks pass before undertaking the next
disk-cloning operation. Casper overcomes this disadvantage through its
"SmartClone" technology noted above. To give you a concrete example of how
this works...
Three days ago I cloned the contents of a HDD that contained about 25 GB of
data. During the past three days changes of course were made affecting the
data - the more-or-less usual kinds of data changes we PC users invariably
make involving file & program additions, changes, deletions, etc. I just
cloned that HDD again. It took three (3) minutes to complete the
disk-cloning operation. Three minutes. With any other disk-cloning program
(at least those I'm familiar with) it would have taken just about the same
time in minutes as it took for the original disk-cloning operation, maybe 30
to 45 minutes, perhaps even longer.
But there may be one or more downsides to the Casper program as it relates
to your particular situation. First, you've indicated a requirement that the
program be able to "update changed files". If you mean you need this
capability on a "real-time" basis, i.e., there would be a need for the
program to *automatically* (without user intervention) copy any file to
another HDD when the file contents have been changed, Casper does not have
this capability. I'm not aware of any disk-cloning program that does.
Incidentally, I should add at this point that Casper is capable of
scheduling the disk-cloning operation on a daily, weekly, or other time
period selected by the user.
Perhaps a more important potential negative in your case would be the cost
of the program. You've indicated a need to install the program on four PCs.
Casper does have a "Value Pack" pricing ($69.95) for the program but it
covers only three PCs. Single licenses cost $49.95 + $9.95 for the "Startup
Disk" (program to create a bootable CD containing the program). The Startup
Disk is a necessary adjunct to the program.
Anyway, a trial version of the program is available so give it a try. It's
slightly crippled but should give you an idea of whether it meets your
needs.
BTW, one other suggestion...
Regardless of what program you eventually settle on, consider purchasing USB
external enclosures that are designed for 2 1/2" (laptop) hard drives and,
of course, 2 1/2" drives for those enclosures. By so doing should your
children's internal laptop HDD become defective and need replacement they
will have such at hand that includes the cloned contents of their internal
HDD. While you could purchase a commercial "one-piece" USBEHD containing a 2
1/2" drive, it frequently becomes difficult, if not near-impossible to
remove the disk from the enclosure without damage to one or the other
component. And of course there would be warranty issues. Anyway, something
to consider.
Anna
