Total back-up question

  • Thread starter Thread starter crissssss..........
  • Start date Start date
C

crissssss..........

Can anyone help with advice over the following.........
I would like to back up everything on my hard disc so that when I next have
a disaster, I can simply put everything back in one simple move (i.e.
Windows XP with all updates, My Documents, all my programmes, my settings,
my Internet connections, etc etc etc).
The used space on my hard drive is 7gb. I have an external hard drive of
160gb.
My question may be a simple one.......
How can I back-up EVERYTHING in the easiest way possible? and if I do it,
how easy is it to put back the 7gb after the hard drive has presumably been
formatted ( I don't understand how anything can be installed unless Windows
or DOS is there to accept it).
Please excuse my ignorance on this one.
Basically I 'm sick and tired of the enormous task of re-installing
everything and then spending days and days updating programmes, drivers and
settings etc.
Any help appreciated.
Chrisssss........
 
crissssss.......... said:
Can anyone help with advice over the following.........
I would like to back up everything on my hard disc so that when I next
have a disaster, I can simply put everything back in one simple move
(i.e. Windows XP with all updates, My Documents, all my programmes, my
settings, my Internet connections, etc etc etc).
The used space on my hard drive is 7gb. I have an external hard drive
of 160gb.
My question may be a simple one.......
How can I back-up EVERYTHING in the easiest way possible? and if I do
it, how easy is it to put back the 7gb after the hard drive has
presumably been formatted ( I don't understand how anything can be
installed unless Windows or DOS is there to accept it).
Please excuse my ignorance on this one.
Basically I 'm sick and tired of the enormous task of re-installing
everything and then spending days and days updating programmes,
drivers and settings etc.
Any help appreciated.
Chrisssss........
Click to expand...

You want to get drive imaging software for that. Popular favorites are
Norton Ghost, DriveImage, and the reasonably-priced but quite geeky to
use BootIT NG.

Malke
 
I've used several programs for making system backups including Ghost, Drive
Image, Image For Windows, BootIt NG, Backup MyPC, Nero Backup and likely a
few others. The easiest to use application for doing this is Acronis
TrueImage. It will even do incremental backups on the fly so there is no
need to shut down while creating he backup. Recently my Windows 2003 backup
server went down. In 6 minutes it was up and running again with the backup I
had made the day before.

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


| Can anyone help with advice over the following.........
| I would like to back up everything on my hard disc so that when I next
have
| a disaster, I can simply put everything back in one simple move (i.e.
| Windows XP with all updates, My Documents, all my programmes, my settings,
| my Internet connections, etc etc etc).
| The used space on my hard drive is 7gb. I have an external hard drive of
| 160gb.
| My question may be a simple one.......
| How can I back-up EVERYTHING in the easiest way possible? and if I do it,
| how easy is it to put back the 7gb after the hard drive has presumably
been
| formatted ( I don't understand how anything can be installed unless
Windows
| or DOS is there to accept it).
| Please excuse my ignorance on this one.
| Basically I 'm sick and tired of the enormous task of re-installing
| everything and then spending days and days updating programmes, drivers
and
| settings etc.
| Any help appreciated.
| Chrisssss........
|
|
 
Malke said:
You want to get drive imaging software for that. Popular favorites are
Norton Ghost, DriveImage, and the reasonably-priced but quite geeky to
use BootIT NG.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
Click to expand...
With drive imaging programs, you don't eliminiate the need to back up your
data on an incremental basis. Otherwise you will loose all of the data that
you have created since the last time that you may an image of the drive. I
suppose that you could image your hard drive nightly. and only lose one day's
work.
 
I've used several programs for making system backups including Ghost, Drive
Image, Image For Windows, BootIt NG, Backup MyPC, Nero Backup and likely a
few others. The easiest to use application for doing this is Acronis
TrueImage. It will even do incremental backups on the fly so there is no
need to shut down while creating he backup. Recently my Windows 2003 backup
server went down. In 6 minutes it was up and running again with the backup I
had made the day before.
Click to expand...

Got to agree with you about True Image. Easy to use and it works! It
can even "see" and read/write to my external USB 2.0 Maxtor. Loads
its own drivers.
 
You want to get drive imaging software for that. Popular favorites are
Norton Ghost, DriveImage, and the reasonably-priced but quite geeky to
use BootIT NG.

Malke
Click to expand...

as for a quick explanation on how those work, to re-store. part of the
backup process is to make a (or a set) of boot disk(s) that have no other
purpose other than to clean the hard-drive and restore the backup bit for
bit on the hard-drive.

with having a 7gigs used and a 160 gig drive for backup, ROUGHLY speaking
, you should get 20+ full backup's on it.

one other thing, be sure that the backup software support's your
removable drive.

regards,

DanS
 
Harry Ohrn said:
I've used several programs for making system backups including Ghost, Drive
Image, Image For Windows, BootIt NG, Backup MyPC, Nero Backup and likely a
few others. The easiest to use application for doing this is Acronis
TrueImage.
Click to expand...

I TOTALLY CONCUR!!

I've used Ghost for years, Image for Windows for several months, and
only recently picked up Acronis True Image.

True Image is the ONLY way to go. And it will easily create a
bootable CD for you to use if no other option will work for you.

Here's a source to pick it up for $39.95:

http://tinyurl.com/4598x
 
crissssss.......... said:
Can anyone help with advice over the following.........
I would like to back up everything on my hard disc so that when I next have
a disaster, I can simply put everything back in one simple move (i.e.
Windows XP with all updates, My Documents, all my programmes, my settings,
my Internet connections, etc etc etc).
The used space on my hard drive is 7gb. I have an external hard drive of
160gb.
My question may be a simple one.......
How can I back-up EVERYTHING in the easiest way possible? and if I do it,
how easy is it to put back the 7gb after the hard drive has presumably been
formatted ( I don't understand how anything can be installed unless Windows
or DOS is there to accept it).
Please excuse my ignorance on this one.
Click to expand...

What I would use for this is BootIT NG, from http://www.BootitNG.com
($35 shareware - 30 day full functional trial) (or its sister Image for
Windows, but restoring with the Image for DOS is rather more difficult)

Download, to its own folder, extract from the zip, run the bootitng to
make a boot floppy.

Boot the floppy, Cancel Install, entering maintenance, then click on
Partition work. Highlight your C:, click Image, taking 'create Image',
then on the left highlight the external drive, and either in that
highlight free space and Paste to make an 'image partition', or if it is
partitioned and formatted, highlight in the partition and Paste to make
a set of files.

Restore is the inverse; delete the damaged C partition, leaving Free
space, highlight the image partition and click Image - you will see
'Pending for Restore' and can go to that free space and Paste; or you
can do the same on a partition containing the files, in which case you
will be asked if you want to restore from file, and can select the
appropriate set.

This uses no Operating system at all; it works directly through the
machine's BIOS. It is also a complete Partition manager, as well as its
original purpose of Boot Management, which I am ignoring here by not
installing it
 
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