Can you backup a single disk? Yes. Single partition? Not sure?Mirror a single disk? No. Best free

[RayLopez99]

I have a single partition disk running on Windows XP. Can I back it
up? Yes, but do I need a single partition (logical of course, not
physical, as I have only one disk)? What's the best freeware for
this? Below is one person's opinion.

Of course I cannot mirror a single disk using just that disk, but does
a program for Windows XP exist that allows you, from within XP, to
mirror the disk image onto an external (USB) hard drive?

RL

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm

My second choice is never far from the top in my mind, being that it
is a program that I have used for a very long time and it has never
once let me down. Macrium Reflect Free Edition is a very solid
application that is great at what it does. The free version lacks some
of the convenience that Paragon offers with the differential backup
option but where it levels the playing field some is in its
simplicity. With Macrium you can create an XML definition file and
save it to your desktop so that all you have to do anytime you want to
create a backup is double click the file and the operation will start
without anymore user input. You can also start a backup through the
context menu when you right click on a partition in Windows Explorer.
The application is as fast as Paragon taking just under ten minutes to
create an image of the same partition and offering a little more
compression by default.

 

[RayLopez99]

I have a single partition disk running on Windows XP.  Can I back it
up?  Yes, but do I need a single partition (logical of course, not
physical, as I have only one disk)?  

Just to clarify, I'm trying to ask whether you can do a backup on a
single partition (C: only) HD, or whether you must have a partition
such as (D. Most of my other systems have a D: drive (logical) but
this one will only have one C: logical drive (but I can add a D: drive
if necessary).

RL

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

Just to clarify, I'm trying to ask whether you can do a backup on a
single partition (C: only) HD, or whether you must have a partition
such as (D. Most of my other systems have a D: drive (logical) but
this one will only have one C: logical drive (but I can add a D: drive
if necessary).

RL

I think you need to distinguish from "back up" and "clone". If by
"back up" you are referring to "make a new bootable disk" then that's
what is normally considered cloning, and you do need a separate
complete disk (not partition) to do that. If you mean "make a file
that is restorable to this or a new disk to completely restore my
system", then yes, many backup programs will do that, but I don't
think one is contained within Win XP, but it does exist in Win vista.
This allows you to have but one actual and logical drive (C) and put
the backup file on the same partition. However, a real failure of the
C drive loses your backup, so that's not such a good policy. And of
course there are many 3rd party programs that do that. Finally, many
programs will allow you to clone your C drive to an external USB or
otherwise connected drive.

 

[Mike Easter]

RayLopez99 wrote:
Subject: Can you backup a single disk? Yes. Single partition? Not
sure? Mirror a single disk? No. Best freeware for hd backup for XP?

Bad subject.

-1- Create an unambiguous message body with complete sentences
-2- Give that body a very brief/terse title in the subject

Trying to ask questions in the subject doesn't work right.

 

[Paul]

I have a single partition disk running on Windows XP. Can I back it
up? Yes, but do I need a single partition (logical of course, not
physical, as I have only one disk)? What's the best freeware for
this? Below is one person's opinion.

Of course I cannot mirror a single disk using just that disk, but does
a program for Windows XP exist that allows you, from within XP, to
mirror the disk image onto an external (USB) hard drive?

RL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_cloning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_image

*******

If all you own is a single disk, then you'll want a second storage device,
such as an external USB hard drive. The purpose of such, is to easily make
a copy of C: for emergencies.

The software for making the backup, should support "bare metal recovery".
That is where, you use a boot CD that comes with the backup software,
to boot the computer after a hard drive failure, allowing you
to restore from the backup external disk.

By unplugging the USB external hard drive, when it is not being used, and
storing it in a safe place, you're protecting the backed up data from
natural calamities. Say, for example, lightning strikes the power lines
to your house, blowing up your computer. If the backup copy of the C: drive
is on a separate hard drive, removed from the computer electrically, then
it may survive such an event. A similar kind of event, would be
the power company having an overvoltage event, which destroys the
computer (such can happen locally, when a higher voltage line, falls
on a lower voltage distribution system).

At my former employer, we had a couple approaches similar to that.
Many years ago, backups were done to tape, the tapes were placed in
a truck at regular intervals and stored off-site. Later, tapes
continued to be used, but the tapes were *in another country*
(backups over the Internet). Such an approach is intended to cover
as many calamities as possible, so that the company could continue
to operate, even under the worst of conditions (site destroyed by
earthquake).

For disaster planning reasons, you would *never* store the copy of C:,
on C: itself. While such an idea would help with a virus or trojan
situation, it would not cover the simplest and most likely failure,
which is a failure of the hard drive itself.

Any time you waste the time making backups, they should be made
to a second hard drive. And preferably a hard drive that can be
disconnected from the computer when not in use. And if you can
afford it, use two of those drives, and rotate them regularly,
so that if one of the external drives happens to croak,
you've still got a second one. If the drives are different brands,
from a different batch, use a different brand of USB enclosure etc.,
that reduces the odds of correlated failure.

There are many kinds of backup media, such as various forms of
tape, optical discs, hard drives. Currently, hard drives are the
most convenient form of backup, as you can leave them running
unattended and not need to do any media changes to finish the
backup. Tapes can achieve that, with an "autoloader". Optical
discs can achieve that with a "jukebox", but such solutions
are not affordable for a single user. However, hard drives
are large and cheap, and are a means of battling laziness when
it comes to making backups.

Paul

 

[RayLopez99]

    As for *free* utilities that can do a decent clone of a post-Windows98
OS, I haven't found a reliable one.  Utilities for Linux are another matter.

I have: Norton Ghost works like a charm in Windows XP. And it's free
(at least the one I have). I runs off a floppy or CD, and uses Win98
as the boot OS.

RL

 

[RayLopez99]

programs will allow you to clone your C drive to an external USB or
otherwise connected drive.
--

I found this answer the most helpful. Can you suggest any program
(other than Acronis, the paid version) that for XP will do the above?
Clone your C: drive to an external USB?

I'm almost sure after reading these threads that the the freeware
"Macrium Reflect Free Edition" I mentioned in the original post is
probably doing a generic, routine, system backup rather than a clone.

RL

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

I found this answer the most helpful. Can you suggest any program
(other than Acronis, the paid version) that for XP will do the above?
Clone your C: drive to an external USB?

I'm almost sure after reading these threads that the the freeware
"Macrium Reflect Free Edition" I mentioned in the original post is
probably doing a generic, routine, system backup rather than a clone.

RL

Well, free is a pretty severe restriction. I personally use manily
Acronis, which is not free. (But you can find it cheap if you look
around) I also occasionally use Paragon, which I think I did get for
free, or very cheaply, when it was offered just after a newer version
came out. I think you have to do a search, and keep on the lookout,
and sometimes pick up an older version (which should be fine with XP).
I'm sure there are other programs that do essentially the same thing.
I think maybe XXCOPY will clone a drive under Win XP, but I'm not sure
of that because I haven't used XXCOPY in a long time (since ROBOCOPY
was included with Vista).

 

[RayLopez99]

Well, free is a pretty severe restriction. I personally use manily
Acronis, which is not free. (But you can find it cheap if you look
around) I also occasionally use Paragon, which I think I did get for
free, or very cheaply, when it was offered just after a newer version
came out. I think you have to do a search, and keep on the lookout,
and sometimes pick up an older version (which should be fine with XP).
I'm sure there are other programs that do essentially the same thing.
I think maybe XXCOPY will clone a drive under Win XP, but I'm not sure
of that because I haven't used XXCOPY in a long time (since ROBOCOPY
was included with Vista).

Right you are. I also use the paid version of Acronis, but this
system is for somebody else. However, I might recommend they buy
Acronis--which I got for around $100 from Amazon but probably you can
get for even less at ebay

RL

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

Right you are. I also use the paid version of Acronis, but this
system is for somebody else. However, I might recommend they buy
Acronis--which I got for around $100 from Amazon but probably you can
get for even less at ebay

RL

Well, they don't need anything other than the basic (ie cheapest)
Acronis most likely, so point them here instead of Amazon:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200022&cm_re=acronis-_-32-200-022-_-Product

($40 including shipping)

I've also seen "downloadable" versions for sale.

or as you mentioned, pick up a version from eBay.

 

[GMAN]

Well, free is a pretty severe restriction. I personally use manily
Acronis, which is not free. (But you can find it cheap if you look
around) I also occasionally use Paragon, which I think I did get for
free, or very cheaply, when it was offered just after a newer version
came out. I think you have to do a search, and keep on the lookout,
and sometimes pick up an older version (which should be fine with XP).
I'm sure there are other programs that do essentially the same thing.
I think maybe XXCOPY will clone a drive under Win XP, but I'm not sure
of that because I haven't used XXCOPY in a long time (since ROBOCOPY
was included with Vista).

There are free versions of Acronis from the differing HD manufacturers
disguised under their names. WD and Seagate both use Acronis rebadged. Both
are Acronis.

Seagate Disk Wizard
http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/DiscWizardSetup.en.exe

And

Acronis True Image WD Version
http://download.wdc.com/atiwd/tih_s_e_14010.exe

 

[RayLopez99]

There are free versions of  Acronis from the differing HD manufacturers
disguised under their names. WD and Seagate both use Acronis rebadged. Both
are Acronis.

Seagate Disk Wizardhttp://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/DiscWizardSetup.en.exe

And

Acronis True Image WD Versionhttp://download.wdc.com/atiwd/tih_s_e_14010.exe

Thank you. Do you know if these free versions support external (i.e.,
USB) hard drives? I guess I could download them, install them, and
find out myself, but if you have any experience let me know.

I'm also looking into, for plain old data backup (not mirroring but
data backup) some free online data backup sites such as mentioned
here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-online-backup-sites..htm
(I did not realize Windows Live Skydrive supports unencrypted data
backup, which is pretty good, nor that mozy.com supports encrypted
data backup, which is even better).

RL

 

[RayLopez99]

:

I'm also looking into, for plain old data backup (not mirroring but
data backup) some free online data backup sites....   [....]

--------------------------

I wouldn't put any data on any online backup site that I wouldn't
put on an unencrypted website in full view of the entire Internet.
Online backup is convenient if you travel a lot, but security and
privacy cannot be assumed.

*TimDaniels*

True, but the Mozy.com site uses https, so that would be hard to
crack. But in general I agree.

RL