Recommendations on a GOOD backup package ??

[Guest]

Any one with recommendations on a GOOD backup package.

I was thinking of upgrading to Norton 10 from Norton 9.0. But because of
annoying problems with 9.0, I just want to try out another RELIABLE and
proven software package.

I particular I want to be able to restore ONE file, ONE folder, or any
combination of them up to and including cloning an entire drive. This is an
important feature for me.

I read up on Acronis True Image. Any comments on this package and others??
Can you comment on why you prefer one to the others??

To be brief, the PC started from hibernation this morning and V2iConsole.exe
gobbled up all the resources. Later on, when I wanted to go on the internet,
PQV2iSVC.exe and GhostTray was busy hogging 100% of the CPU.

To be fair to Norton, this doesn’t happen every day, but maybe once a month.
Thanks.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Any one with recommendations on a GOOD backup package.

I was thinking of upgrading to Norton 10 from Norton 9.0. But because
of annoying problems with 9.0, I just want to try out another
RELIABLE and proven software package.

I particular I want to be able to restore ONE file, ONE folder, or any
combination of them up to and including cloning an entire drive. This
is an important feature for me.

I read up on Acronis True Image. Any comments on this package and
others?? Can you comment on why you prefer one to the others??

To be brief, the PC started from hibernation this morning and
V2iConsole.exe gobbled up all the resources. Later on, when I wanted
to go on the internet, PQV2iSVC.exe and GhostTray was busy hogging
100% of the CPU.

To be fair to Norton, this doesn't happen every day, but maybe once a
month. Thanks.

It sounds like you want two programs. A backup program does what you want. A
disk imaging program creates a copy (clone) of your existing disk or an
image (instructions to make a clone) of a disk or partition. TI 9.0 is an
imaging program that also does backups. Many people have reported problems
with this. I use TI 8.0 which doesn't have this feature but does work great
for creating clones and images. You can mount an image with TI 8.0 then copy
files from it but the procedure is somewhat cumbersome and doesn't work if
the image is stored on CD/DVDs. I recommend you look at ntbackup which is
built into Windows. You can continue to use Norton Ghost to create images
and use ntbackup to create backups from which individual files or folders
can be restored. There are many other backup programs that are easier to
learn but ntbackup has the advantage of being free with XP. The disadvantage
of ntbackup is it doesn't work with CD/DVDs.

 

[POP]

Any one with recommendations on a GOOD backup package.

I was thinking of upgrading to Norton 10 from Norton 9.0.
But because of annoying problems with 9.0, I just want to
try out another RELIABLE and proven software package.

I particular I want to be able to restore ONE file, ONE
folder, or any combination of them up to and including
cloning an entire drive. This is an important feature for
me.

I read up on Acronis True Image. Any comments on this
package and others?? Can you comment on why you prefer one
to the others??

To be brief, the PC started from hibernation this morning
and V2iConsole.exe gobbled up all the resources. Later on,
when I wanted to go on the internet, PQV2iSVC.exe and
GhostTray was busy hogging 100% of the CPU.

To be fair to Norton, this doesn’t happen every day, but
maybe once a month. Thanks.

NBackup, which you already have as part of the OS, will do just
what you want and more. Works well and will use Shadow Copy for
files that are in use.

For complete backup and easy reinstatement, a disk imaging
program as already mentioned is also pretty handy.

Pop

 

[Anna]

Any one with recommendations on a GOOD backup package.

I was thinking of upgrading to Norton 10 from Norton 9.0. But because of
annoying problems with 9.0, I just want to try out another RELIABLE and
proven software package.

I particular I want to be able to restore ONE file, ONE folder, or any
combination of them up to and including cloning an entire drive. This is
an
important feature for me.

I read up on Acronis True Image. Any comments on this package and others??
Can you comment on why you prefer one to the others??

To be brief, the PC started from hibernation this morning and
V2iConsole.exe
gobbled up all the resources. Later on, when I wanted to go on the
internet,
PQV2iSVC.exe and GhostTray was busy hogging 100% of the CPU.

To be fair to Norton, this doesn't happen every day, but maybe once a
month.
Thanks.

Frank:
In addition to the suggestions you've already received...

Why not consider the Ghost 2003 program that was packaged with your Symantec
Norton Ghost 9 program? (I'm assuming you purchased the retail boxed version
of that program which included the Ghost 2003 version).

Although you didn't say, I'm assuming that you're cloning, or planning to
clone, the contents of your day-to-day working HD to another HD, either
internal or external. For that purpose the Ghost 2003 program works just
fine with basic disk-to-disk cloning in an XP environment. And it would meet
your other requirement in that individual files/folders would be accessible
from the cloned (destination) HD.

The Ghost 2003 program is simple to use & straightforward in design. If this
is of interest to you, so indicate and I'll provide more details re using
that program.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Thanks Anna and the others for all for the great suggestions.

I bought the Norton 9.0 at Staples, just looked at the box, and it says the
"2003" version is included.

Norton Ghost 9.0 has all the features I needed except I have to check the PC
each morning after the PC wakes up to see if scheduled tasks are running or
ran successfully. Unfortunately, its this habit of Norton to have "errant
processes" running in the bloated software that causes other tasks "to not
start". In each case, a reboot solved the problem. It's just that I'm s
little tired of it, and would like to be able to have the system on
automatice pilot if I'm gone for a few days.

Good software shouldn't do that.

I seem to experience less problems on another machine that has
"hyperthreading", so I'm not sure if there's some hardware issues involved as
well. But in this newgroup, it seems that I hear constant complaints often
about Nortons

As to my requirements:

- I plan to upgrade this machine, which acts as the server on the home
network, to another one by year end, so I would like to be able to clone the
drive, and re-create on the new PC, if that's the way I choose to go.
- Plan to have the new PC installed differently than the current one with
Windows installed on the C Drive", and the data on the another, in which
case I might have to do a complete re-install, and cloning may not be that
essential. Then I might be looking at migrations software. Any suggestions??
- BUT, PCs seem to break at the most incovenient time, and I want to be able
to walk back from the store with a new one in the morning, and start working
by the afternoon.
-I also "xcopy" stuff in "My documents" as well as do "online backup" for
everything under "documents and settings".

Ask me how I got this paranoid??

If Norton 2003 runs OK and reliably, I might go "Back to the Future", and
run it, that is, if I could ger Ghost 9.0 uninstalled with no problems. I
just thinking that there might be some other issues lurking out there, and
better with the "Devil we know".

I don't know if I can run Norton 2003 PARALLEL to Ghost 9.0, probably not.
At least, with another software, I could probably run it even if I don't
successfuly unistall Nortons.

I also have a Norton's Password Manager that I can't seem to get rid of I
read about how HARD it is to uninstall Norton software.

Just thinking out loud. Do I want to check my automatic jobs every day, and
boot the PC every so often, or just go off Norton's 9.0??

So, are you:

- Happy with Norton's 2003??
- I can quickly clone a new drive if I have to??
- Run it under a scheduler??

 

[Kerry Brown]

It sounds like your current pc is experiencing some problems. If you use
Ghost (or another imaging program) to transfer the data to a new pc you will
be transferring the problems as well. You will also have to perform a repair
install of Windows at the very least. You will also end up with Windows on
whatever drive letter it is on now. Another problem you'll run into is both
the new and old computer will have the same Windows product key causing
licensing problems. Your best bet with a new pc if you want a substantially
different setup is to perform a clean install of Windows, install your
programs, use the Files and Settings Transfer wizard to copy My Documents
and some program settings, then copy any other files manually. In my
experience Norton products have many shortcomings. I would not use Ghost
from Windows but as Anna has suggested create a Ghost 2003 bootable disk and
image your hard drive from outside of Windows. This image is best used to
repair/restore this computer if something goes wrong with it, you upgrade
the hard drive etc. For a new computer you are usually better to just copy
data to it.

 

[Anna]

"Anna" wrote:>

Thanks Anna and the others for all for the great suggestions.

I bought the Norton 9.0 at Staples, just looked at the box, and it says
the
"2003" version is included.

Norton Ghost 9.0 has all the features I needed except I have to check the
PC
each morning after the PC wakes up to see if scheduled tasks are running
or
ran successfully. Unfortunately, its this habit of Norton to have "errant
processes" running in the bloated software that causes other tasks "to not
start". In each case, a reboot solved the problem. It's just that I'm s
little tired of it, and would like to be able to have the system on
automatice pilot if I'm gone for a few days.

Good software shouldn't do that.

I seem to experience less problems on another machine that has
"hyperthreading", so I'm not sure if there's some hardware issues involved
as
well. But in this newgroup, it seems that I hear constant complaints often
about Nortons

As to my requirements:

- I plan to upgrade this machine, which acts as the server on the home
network, to another one by year end, so I would like to be able to clone
the
drive, and re-create on the new PC, if that's the way I choose to go.
- Plan to have the new PC installed differently than the current one with
Windows installed on the C Drive", and the data on the another, in which
case I might have to do a complete re-install, and cloning may not be that
essential. Then I might be looking at migrations software. Any
suggestions??
- BUT, PCs seem to break at the most incovenient time, and I want to be
able
to walk back from the store with a new one in the morning, and start
working
by the afternoon.
-I also "xcopy" stuff in "My documents" as well as do "online backup" for
everything under "documents and settings".

Ask me how I got this paranoid??

If Norton 2003 runs OK and reliably, I might go "Back to the Future", and
run it, that is, if I could ger Ghost 9.0 uninstalled with no problems. I
just thinking that there might be some other issues lurking out there, and
better with the "Devil we know".

I don't know if I can run Norton 2003 PARALLEL to Ghost 9.0, probably not.
At least, with another software, I could probably run it even if I don't
successfuly unistall Nortons.

I also have a Norton's Password Manager that I can't seem to get rid of I
read about how HARD it is to uninstall Norton software.

Just thinking out loud. Do I want to check my automatic jobs every day,
and
boot the PC every so often, or just go off Norton's 9.0??

So, are you:

- Happy with Norton's 2003??
- I can quickly clone a new drive if I have to??
- Run it under a scheduler??

Frank:
First, as to your question re data migration programs. My experience with
them has been quite lackluster to say the least and I no longer use them. By
& large I found them awkward to use and sorely lacking in broad capability.
I haven't used them in quite some time so it's possible the newer versions
provide better capability. Perhaps some user can recommend one or more.

I hardly use xcopy (or its derivatives) any more, but if it meets your
purposes...

I've no experience with the Norton Password Manager you're having a problem
with.

I've not been thrilled with either Symantec's Norton Ghost 9 or their
current 10 version. In comparison with Ghost 2003. I've found both programs
awkward to use and unnecessarily complex for my purposes. So let me now make
it clear as to my fundamental objective in using a disk imaging program such
as the Norton Ghost program...

My exclusive interest is to establish a near-failsafe backup system and to
do so effectively in a reasonably direct, reasonably simple, and reasonably
quick way. I use this type of program for basic disk-to-disk cloning. I'm
not interested in incremental or "differential" or scheduled backups nor am
I interested in creating "disk images" on removable media such as CD/DVD. My
basic objective is to clone the contents of my day-to-day working HD to
another HD so that the "destination" drive will be (for all practical
purposes) an exact duplicate of the "source" drive and can be used for
restoration purposes should the need arise.

So if your objectives are the same as mine, read on...

Before I provide you (and others who may be interested) with the detailed
instructions involved, let me make the following points.
1. This is *not* complicated business. Using the Ghost 2003 program in an XP
environment in the manner in which I will set forth is a relatively simple &
straightforward process.
2. It (nearly) goes without saying, that in order for the cloning process to
be successful, both the source disk (the drive you're cloning from) and the
destination disk (the drive you're cloning to) must be non-defective and
properly connected/configured in your system.
3. The OS that you're cloning must be free from system files corruption. If
you clone garbage, garbage is what you'll get.
4. In using the Ghost 2003 program, our preference is to work with the Ghost
2003 bootable floppy disk (or on occasion the Ghost 2003 bootable CD). We
find that media simpler to use in comparison with the Windows GUI and we
enjoy the portability aspects of using that media. But there's no reason why
you can't work within the Windows GUI should you prefer to do so.

And that's it. The precise steps to directly clone the contents from one HD
to another HD using the Ghost 2003 program are simple & effective.

Here are step-by-step instructions for creating a Ghost 2003 bootable floppy
disk and then using that floppy disk to clone the contents of your working
HD to another internal or external HD...

(You needn't be unduly concerned with using this DOS-based media with the
Ghost 2003 program. There are no complicated or exotic DOS commands that you
need to invoke. As a matter of fact, there are *no* DOS or DOS-like commands
to enter. The entire process is simple, straightforward, and quite
effective)

It is *vital* that you work with the latest version of the Ghost 2003
program. That's the Ghost 2003.793 build. Should you have an earlier
version, you can use Symantec's LiveUpdate feature available in the Ghost
program to download & automatically install that latest update.

So, here are step-by-step instructions for using the Ghost 2003 program
(using a Ghost 2003 bootable floppy disk or bootable CD) to directly clone
the contents of one HD to another HD...

Creating the bootable Ghost floppy disk:
1. Install the Ghost 2003 program on your computer. As indicated above,
make sure you're using the latest "build" - Ghost 2003.793. If not, use
Ghost's LiveUpdate feature to automatically download the latest version.
It's important that you be using this latest "build".
2. Insert a blank floppy disk (it need not be formatted) and access your
Ghost program.
3. Click on Ghost Utilities.
4. Click on Norton Ghost Boot Wizard.
5. Select Standard Ghost Boot Disk. A dialog box will appear.
a. Select the USB 2.0 Support option (assuming you have that
capability).
b. Select the Assign DOS drive letters option and click Next.
6. Select the Use PC-DOS option.
7. Complete the process following the screen prompts.
8. Remove floppy and label accordingly.

That's it. Now you have a Ghost bootable floppy disk which you can use to
undertake your cloning operations now and in the future. Now when you want
to clone the contents of one HD to another HD you simply insert the Ghost
bootable floppy disk in your floppy drive and boot up with both drives
connected.

After creating the Ghost bootable floppy disk, you can create a Ghost
bootable CD from it using the Roxio or Nero CD burning programs, or most
other CD burning programs that allow you to create a bootable CD.
Unfortunately I know of no way to *directly* create this bootable CD from
the Ghost program (as you can do, for example, with the Acronis True Image
program).

Before undertaking the cloning operation ensure that the only storage
devices connected are the two HDs that will be involved in the cloning
process. Disconnect any flash drives, ZIP drives, etc.

Here's how to perform the cloning operation...
1. With both drives connected, boot up with the Ghost bootable floppy (or
Ghost bootable CD). You'll get an initial screen that displays "License
agreement warning". Right-arrow (or tab) over to the "Continue without
marking drives" button and press Enter.
2. The "About Norton Ghost" screen appears. Click OK.
3. Right-arrow twice over to the "To Disk" button and press Enter.
4. The next screen will list both your drives - the Drive 1 (source disk)
and Drive 2 (destination disk). MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN Drive 1 IS INDEED
YOUR SOURCE DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING *FROM*!
Drive 1 will be highlighted. Press Enter.
5. The next screen will have Drive 2 (destination disk) highlighted. AGAIN,
ENSURE THAT Drive 2 IS YOUR DESTINATION DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING
*TO*! Press Enter.
6. The next screen is the "Destination Drive Details" window, and reflects
your ultimate destination disk, i.e., your current Drive 2. Press your Tab
key to highlight the OK button and press Enter.
7. The "Proceed with disk clone?" dialog box will open. Left-arrow over to
the Yes button and press Enter.
8. The cloning process will begin. The data transfer speed will vary
depending upon the speed of your processor and the HDs involved. On a medium
to high-powered system you should get transfer speeds ranging from 800
MB/min to 1.5 GB/min should you be cloning internal drives. It will be
considerably slower if you're cloning to a USB external HD.
9. After you get the "Clone Completed Successfully" message, left-arrow over
to the Continue button and press Enter.
10. Down-arrow to Quit and press Enter.
11. Click Yes at the "Are you sure you want to quit?" message.
12. Remove the Ghost floppy and shut down the computer.
13. Disconnect your source disk and boot up with the cloned drive. In most
cases (but not always), a Windows "Found New Hardware" message will appear
in the Desktop's Notification Area followed by a "System Settings Change"
message window informing you that new hardware has been found and asks "Do
you want to restart your computer now?" Click Yes for the reboot.
14. BTW, the reboot of the newly-cloned drive usually takes a longer time
than usual, so one must be patient. On rare occasions the system will fail
to reboot - the system will hang before reaching the Windows XP Welcome
screen. It's a rare occurrence, but you may experience it from time-to-time.
If that does occur, simply use the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys to reboot.

Assuming you've cloned the contents of your working drive to your second
internal drive, that second drive will be bootable (after disconnecting your
primary one, of course) as indicated above. You also have the option of
cloning your working drive to a USB external hard drive. In that case the
USBEHD is *not* bootable (at least we haven't been able to boot the XP OS
from a USBEHD), but you could clone the contents back to your internal drive
for restoration purposes should the need arise.

Just one other point I wish to emphasize with respect to the cloning
operation involving internal drives. Immediately following the cloning
operation and the shutdown of your machine, disconnect your source drive and
boot ONLY to the newly-cloned drive (as indicated in step 13. above). DO NOT
BOOT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CLONING OPERATION WITH BOTH DRIVES CONNECTED.
Doing so is likely to cause future boot problems with the cloned drive.
Obviously there is no problem in this area should a USBEHD be involved in
the cloning process since that device is not bootable in an XP environment.

I trust the above will be of use to you and others who might be thinking
about using the Ghost 2003 program for a routine backup system.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Anna:

Thanks for the extremely detailed reponse. Also thanks to Kerry for his
helpftul comments as well, and I agree with you both. I'm somewhat paronoid
about backups because:

- I had disks crashed on me where I worked but fortunately they often have
backups, but sometimes, we had problems using the backups
- I was dumb enough not to do disk backups on my home PC before the last PC
crashed. You think I should know better.
- I was in IT, and the manager who hired me was fired because the server of
a subsidiary crashed and the backup tapes had no data on it.

I'm archiving your post for future reference. Mindful of Kerry's advice on a
complete re-install, I actually implemented yet another parallel strategy for
"disaster recovery" since I now have various PC's in the house "networked".
Prior to this, work processing, spreadsheets, Quicken, Quickbboks was only
done on one PC, games, photographs was archived and edited on another. Both
PC's currently have Norton Ghost running and each has its own USB backup
storage.

What I started to do was install the same software on both machines, i.e. MS
Office, Quickbooks, to the mutilmedia PC and Adobe photshop etc to the
accounting PC., so in the case of a "crash", only the data files would need
to be moved, till a replacement machine is obtained. Games were moved over to
the crashed PC that had a new drive installed. And it would be ideal if the
software is "identical on all". The problems I see with this is:

- I may be in violation of some licensing agreements in the case of MS
Office, installing it on more than one machine, though I haven't problems yet
installing the duplicate. Would WGA squeal on me??

- Quickbooks I got no problem, because I bought two licenses to network, but
if I install more copies, like on a laptop, but only 2 can be used
simultaneously. If the PC crashed, all I do is copy the data file to the new
PC, and point to it.

-Norton internet security I had a problem when registering a third PC as
they remind you that only one PC allowed per package. Technically, I was in
viloation when I installed a copy on the 2nd PC, the laptop. But because I'm
an AOL subscriber, I can install the AOL free firewall, spyware, virus
package, and I will consdier DROPPING Nortons' when the vrus protection
subsription comes due so software on all machines are identical, and I better
yet, I get it for free.

-Key Websites are bookmarked on both PC's as well, but currently not
identical.

I heard of software that "syncs" two PC's, but so far I haven't checked into
using that idea as part of the wider "disaster recovery" plan.

Mindful of Hurricane Katrina, I plan to maintain "on line" backup as well.

Thanks again.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Your welcome.

 

[Per1000IPDay8]

avoid typing the same text again and again (ID, password, phone,
homepage link, address, ...) in the messages, documents, web forms
stop wasting your time on mouse movements searching for an application
in a cascade of menus and folders
keep your desktop clean (photo of your dog looks better than 100 icons)

control computer sounds instantly from any app (somebody's calling?
mute music!)
open favorite web pages with a single hotkey press
build a sequence of actions and execute it with a shortcut
record keystrokes and play them back with a single hotkey press
keep the same hotkeys on different computers with import/export feature

shut down the computer at the specified time (Windows
95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP are supported)
http://www30.webSamba.com/SmartStudio

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks