Best way to create a bootable backup for XP ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jack S
  • Start date Start date
J

Jack S

I'd like to create a bootable backup for an XP installation, preserving all
the settings, in case something goes wrong with it. This is for a single
user home office computer.

I'd like to make the backup on a separate internal hard drive in the
computer.

Any suggestions? I once had a problem with a 2002 version of Symantec
Ghost - it simply went dead and would not backup anything or go back into
Windows, so I'm a little reluctant to rely on it.


Thanks
 
Jack said:
I'd like to create a bootable backup for an XP installation,
preserving all the settings, in case something goes wrong with it.
This is for a single user home office computer.

I'd like to make the backup on a separate internal hard drive in the
computer.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...


My suggestion is that you do *not* do this. A backup to a second
non-removable drive is better than no backup at all, but just barely. It is
always possible that a user error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack,
even theft of the computer, can cause the loss of everything on your drive
and your backup simultaneously.

In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not kept in
the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for example, if the life of
your business depends on your data) you should have multiple generations of
backup, and at least one of those generations should be stored off-site.

A second hard drive is fine, but use a removable drive, not an internal one.

I once had a problem with a 2002 version of Symantec
Ghost - it simply went dead and would not backup anything or go back
into Windows, so I'm a little reluctant to rely on it.
Click to expand...


I haven't used Ghost recently, but it always worked satisfactorily, if a
little clumsily. These days my choice of such software is Acronis True
Image.
 
Buy Acronis true image. You can clone drives, more importantly make backups
which you can restore from or read individual files. Acronis will also
generate a boot up CD to restore from the backup media. I have used it to
restore several times. With the cost of external drives these days you
can't afford not to get one for backups.
 
Ken Blake said:
A second hard drive is fine, but use a removable drive,
not an internal one.
Click to expand...

For a SATA HD, you can put it in an external enclosure
(having its own power module and cooling fan) and it can
be bootable - just like an internal HD. Kingwin is one maker
of such external enclosures that uses an eSATA cable for
connection. (eSATA specs allow a cable that is twice as
long as SATA cables and which has a shielding layer to
protect from external interference. Here's the web page:
http://www.kingwin.com/jt35eubk.asp

If you need adapter brackets to interface an eSATA connector
to your motherboard, here's a place for those:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/external-sata-solutions.htm

I haven't used Ghost recently, but it always worked satisfactorily, if a
little clumsily. These days my choice of such software is Acronis True
Image.
Click to expand...

There's also Casper XP (written expressly for Win XP/2K):
www.FSSdev.com/products/casperxp . Casper XP can clone
individual partitions, whereas True Image will clone all the partitions.
You can download a free trial copy that only differs from the paid
version in that it will make the clone partition the same size as the
original partition.

*TimDaniels*
 
Jack S said:
I'd like to make the backup on a separate internal hard drive in the
computer.
Click to expand...

While obsessive-compulsive types in this group will tell you to backup
to removable media, backing up to a second internal drive will give
you most of the security you'll ever need.

What's the chance your home will burn to the ground?

What's the chance your home will be struck by lightening?

See what I mean?

THAT said... both internal and external (USB) hard drives are quite
cheap these days (I paid $500 for a 213mb drive many many years ago,
and $300 for a 1G drive a few years later).

If you can afford it, install a second internal drive and clone your
system drive to it weekly (Acronis True Image does a FINE job).

Install an external USB drive and use imaging software (Acronis True
Image) to backup things to that drive.
 
Timothy said:
For a SATA HD, you can put it in an external enclosure
(having its own power module and cooling fan) and it can
be bootable - just like an internal HD.
Click to expand...


Yes, but even for a PATA drive, which would not be directly bootable in an
external enclosure, it's a matter of only a few minutes work to remove the
drive from the enclosure and mount in in the case in place of the original,
thus making it bootable.
 
Uncle said:
While obsessive-compulsive types in this group will tell you to backup
to removable media, backing up to a second internal drive will give
you most of the security you'll ever need.

What's the chance your home will burn to the ground?

What's the chance your home will be struck by lightening?

See what I mean?
Click to expand...


I see what you mean, and I completely disagree.First, your home doesn't have
to be struck by lightning for the lightning to destroy the drive. A nearby
strike can send enough high voltage down the line to wipe out electronic
equipment.

Second, I personally know two people who have lost their computers to power
surges (lighning-induced) within the last couple of years. I also know two
other people who have lost their computers to burglars.

But the chances of such events happening don't make any difference, as far
as I'm concerned. You can assess the chances to be as high or as low as you
wanto. But the chances are clearly a long way from zero, and any time you
can reduce such non-zero chances to very close to zero by spending only
about $25 (for an external drive enclosure), it's well worth that expense.

I'll add one more comment: you are free to disagree with me or anyone else
any time you want, on this subject or any other. But your ad hominem attacks
("obsessive-compulsive types in this group") are unwarranted, and say much
more about you as a person than about than they say about the subject of
backup.
 
Other people may value their time differently from you
For instance, opening the case and switching hard drives
takes too long if you're doing day trading.

*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy said:
Other people may value their time differently from you
Click to expand...


That's certainly true. However, for the vast majority of Windows users, the
time this takes to do would not come close to being an issue.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not disagreeing with your post. I'm not against
using a removable SATA drive, only pointing out that it isn't necessary for
most people.

For instance, opening the case and switching hard drives
takes too long if you're doing day trading.
Click to expand...


Yep!
 
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