Need a backup

[Sarah]

I recently purchased an HP Dv 6000 with windows Vista Home Premium. I need
to perform a full system backup to a DVD. When I try to perform the windows
backup on the system the error messages says I do not have enough room on
the DVD. Is there a process where I can use the windows backup to more than
one DVD or compress it? Or do I need different software or an external Hard
Drive for a good backup?

 

[Tim]

You might want to look into an "imaging" program. Something like Acronis'
True Image or Norton Ghost. Using an external HD with either of these
programs would be a good combination.

Tim

 

[Sarah]

You might want to look into an "imaging" program. Something like Acronis'
True Image or Norton Ghost. Using an external HD with either of these
programs would be a good combination.

Tim

Thanks Tim. I do have Casper XP on my XP machine. However it is not very
user friendly. I can image my XP machine but I would not be able to restore
it if I have a system failure. That is ok though because I use it as an
Image on the external drive and can access all my files in case of a
failure.

Do any of the above mentioned programs have an easy-reliable restore
function?

 

[Tim]

I can't say from personal experience. Frankly, I don't use imaging for my
backup scheme. I just copy my data files onto an external HD every evening
and burn a DVD every couple of weeks as an archive. If/when I have a disk
crash, I just re-install the OS and all of the applications. It takes longer
but it's easier in the long run (at least it is for me)...and I know my
system is "fresh" when I'm finished.

Tim

 

[Rock]

I recently purchased an HP Dv 6000 with windows Vista Home Premium. I need
to perform a full system backup to a DVD. When I try to perform the
windows backup on the system the error messages says I do not have enough
room on the DVD. Is there a process where I can use the windows backup to
more than one DVD or compress it? Or do I need different software or an
external Hard Drive for a good backup?

Acronis True Image Home, version 10, is an excellent backup and recovery
solution. It does drive imaging and more. Use it to image the system to an
external drive. It can image on a drive or partition basis. After a full
image, subsequent images can be incremental or differential saving time and
space. Restores can be done on a file, folder, partition or drive basis,
and it allows for a restore to a bare drive in cases of drive failure /
replacement. It also does file backup and disk cloning.

Look for the best price at your favorite software retailers rather than from
Acronis. Their price is $49.99 but I have seen it as low as $21.99 on
Newegg.com.

I use it (and for redundancy Complete PC Backup, which is available on
Ultimate but not Home Premium, which is drive imaging) to do a full image
weekly, with nightly incremental images. I alternate between two external
drives on a weekly basis so one can be stored off site.

Whatever system you go with, make sure you test it both for file recovery
and full system recovery, to know how and that it works.

 

[peter]

Acronis True Image lets you create an emergency boot disk from wich you can
use all of the True Image functions without the need of an OS.
peter

 

[miss-information]

I can't say from personal experience. Frankly, I don't use imaging for my
backup scheme. I just copy my data files onto an external HD every evening
and burn a DVD every couple of weeks as an archive. If/when I have a disk
crash, I just re-install the OS and all of the applications. It takes
longer but it's easier in the long run (at least it is for me)...and I know
my system is "fresh" when I'm finished.

Tim

One benefit in using Acronis TI is you can format and install Vista. Install
the latest drivers for the OS and your hardware. Go to Windows Update,
download and install the updates. Install all of your programs with their
updates and patches. Make any user customization and setup Vista as you
prefer. Defrag the system. THEN, run True Image. If your system crashes or
becomes corrupted simply restore the image you made. In 15 minuets you are
back to the desktop. It is a good idea to continue to backup individual
files, Favorites menu, emails, passwords etc. to your backup drive. Do this
once and you have a fast way to restore.

"It takes longer but it's easier in the long run (at least it is for
me)...and I know my system is "fresh" when I'm finished."

This does not compute.

mi

 

[Tim]

Hmmm...thanks...maybe I should look into that.

Tim