Art,
Now I know a lot more than I did before - I have a copy of Norton System
Works 2004 - it must have Ghost on it - thanks again
Chat
Chat said:
I am running Windows XP SP1 Pro on a Dell P4 - 1.8 - 512 PC800 RDRAM
FYI - I also have a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe Z71 - not sure that matters
I am going to install a 2nd HD to use as a back up and need an Imaging
program
my research, including a previous post here, leads me to believe these are
the
two best choices:
Acronis True Image 7
http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/
Symantec Drive Image 7 Backup
http://www.powerquest.com/driveimage/
Acronis site says it is the best
Symantec site says it is the best
what a surprise!!
Chat:
No doubt you'll receive a variety of responses to your inquiry, each one
touting this or that imaging program. The likelihood is you won't go wrong
with any of the more-popular ones. For myself I prefer Symantec's Norton
Ghost program. I've been using the various versions for nearly four years
now and I find this program simple to use, straightforward in operation, and
most importantly - effective in what does, i.e., cloning one hard disk to
another hard disk.
I have often remarked that I wish every software program I use was as
simple, straightforward, and effective to use as the Norton Ghost program.
Let me state at the outset that I use Ghost for one and only one purpose -
to clone the contents of one hard drive to another. By making a bit-for-bit
copy (not technically precise perhaps, but correct for all practical
purposes) through the cloning process of one's working hard drive, you have,
what seems to me, the ultimate backup system. I have used various versions
of Ghost over the years, including the present 2003 version. During that
time I estimate I've cloned a multitude of hard drives more than a thousand
times. And done so with nary a hiccup. Ghost's ease of use together with its
reasonable speed make it a joy to use.
I am a strong believer in equipping one's desktop computer with two
removable hard drives, primarily to ensure a nearly fail-safe backup system,
but also for the flexibility this hardware arrangement provides. Not too
long ago I prepared an article for a computer club which I entitled *The Joy
of Removable Drives*. I'm attaching excerpts here which may of interest to
you and others re this subject. While I realize that for one reason or
another removable drives may not be an option for you, my remarks may be of
interest to you and others since it bears upon the cloning process in
general.
One of the most frequent topics on any newsgroup dealing with operating
systems or when computer users get together, is what's the best strategy for
backing up one's hard drive. Hardly a day goes by where you don't come
across literally dozens, if not scores, of postings on the various
newsgroups relating to this subject. The queries (and responses) invariably
focus on the problems the user has encountered in using this or that
software backup program - either some third-party program or whatever
built-in backup program is included with the user's operating system.
In my opinion, the best backup system for the average home user and even
small business owner in most cases is having his or her desktop computer
equipped with two removable hard drives. There are other advantages in
having two removable hard drives on one's computer but the most significant
one is providing a near fail-safe backup system. The speed, flexibility and
peace of mind you get with this arrangement far outweighs (for most users)
the relatively small additional cost of equipping one's desktop computer
with this hardware configuration. Note that the removable hard drive mobile
racks we are discussing are designed to be installed in desktop computers
and not laptop or notebook computers. The size, weight, and design
considerations of laptops/notebooks do not allow for this hardware
configuration.
Using this setup, backing up your hard drive is simple, straightforward,
fast, and most important of all -- effective. By easily and relatively
quickly making a clone of your hard drive, using a software program like
Symantec's Norton Ghost which is specifically designed for this purpose, you
get, what seems to me, the ultimate backup solution given the present state
of personal desktop computer technology. Unlike backup programs that merely
back up your data files - that is, the files you've created in the various
programs and applications you use - by cloning your hard drive, you're
backing up your operating system, your registry entries, all your programs
and applications, your configuration settings, your data files - in short,
everything on the hard drive from which you're making a bit for bit copy.
And you're doing this in one fell swoop. So for all practical purposes you
have an exact duplicate of your hard drive. And for added safety you can
remove this newly-cloned hard drive from the premises, not to mention making
another clone, if desired, for near-absolute security.
While it is true that backup software programs can backup the files you have
created in your various programs, they are unable to backup your operating
system and (for the most part) the programs installed on your computer.
Many, if not most, computer users have invested substantial time and effort
in customizing Windows and configuring their applications to work the way
they want to. Putting all of that back the way it was can be a difficult,
frustrating, and time-consuming effort.
So when the day comes - as it surely will - that your hard drive fails
because of some mechanical or electrical defect, it's a wonderful feeling to
know that you have a perfectly good copy of that failed hard drive that you
simply shove in the computer, boot up, and you're off and running. Or if you
ever get some miserable computer virus that plays havoc with your system, or
for some unknown reason this or that system file is missing or becomes
corrupt resulting in an inoperable computer, isn't it nice to know that you
have at hand a perfectly good virus-free clone of your hard drive? And then
simply clone that "good" previously cloned hard drive to the virus-infected
one so that once again you now have two perfectly good hard drives. And in
the case where the hard drive is kaput because of some mechanical/electronic
failure, you purchase a new hard drive, simply remove the defective drive
from the removable tray, plop in the new one, make two simple connections,
shove it in the computer and then clone your good hard drive to the new one.
There's no need to partition and format the new drive; no need to reinstall
your operating system on the new drive; no need to reinstall your programs
and data files. None of this is necessary. By simply cloning the
previously-cloned hard drive to the new drive you once again have two
functioning hard drives at your disposal. And the added beauty of this
arrangement is that you do all this from the comfort of your computer chair.
There's no need to take apart your computer case in order to get into the
guts of your computer and make complicated cable connections. Everything is
done outside of your computer because each hard drive resides in a tray
(caddy) that you simply slide into the computer's mobile rack.
As previously indicated, these mobile rack devices are two-part affairs -
the rack itself and the inner tray that slides into the rack. In my case I
use the Lian Li RH-42 all-aluminum mobile racks which are generally
available from a number of vendors on the net. I've purchased some from an
online vendor, Directron.com who, as of 6/04, sells them 2/$66 (plus
shipping). Another reasonable source for these and other mobile racks is
pcgate.com. I'm sure mobile racks from other manufacturers will serve the
purpose just as well as I'm aware of many users who have been using
inexpensive (about $12 to $15 each) plastic mobile racks without any
problems whatsoever. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard involving
the design and construction of the racks nor the inner trays that contain
the hard drive. Consequently, there is (usually) no interchangeability of
these trays among the various manufacturers of mobile racks. Indeed, there
is frequently no interchangeability of the inner trays among different
models from the same manufacturer. This lack of interchangeability may not
be an issue if the user will be purchasing a particular model of mobile rack
for a single computer, however, if the user will have access to other
computers, he or she may want to settle on a specific brand and model of
mobile rack that will provide for tray interchangeability amongst different
computers.
As I've previously indicated, the cloning process itself is easy and fast.
Using Symantec's Norton Ghost cloning program as an example, with the two
removable hard drives connected to the computer, you simply boot up your
desktop computer with the floppy disk that contains the Ghost program and
after a few key clicks the cloning process begins. One of my current
computers has an Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz processor, and I can clone one hard
drive to another at the rate of slightly under 1 GB per minute. (I normally
set up my hard drive IDE devices as Primary and Secondary Masters, finding
that this arrangement yields the fastest cloning speeds without any negative
speed impact on the other IDE/ATAPI devices, e.g., DVD-CD/ROM and CD-RW
drives, that are connected as Primary and Secondary Slave devices. An
additional advantage is that this arrangement allows you to boot to either
of the two hard drives). Depending upon the speed of your processor and hard
drives you should get cloning speeds of somewhere between 700 MB to 1.5+ GB
per minute. The cloning process is practically automatic and you need not be
in attendance during the actual cloning operation. Incidentally, the size or
make/model of your hard drives need not be identical; all that matters is
that your destination drive contains sufficient capacity to receive the
contents of your source drive.
I should point out that the hard drives in their mobile racks are not
"hot-swappable", i.e., you must not insert or remove the tray containing the
hard drive from the mobile rack while the computer is powered-up. It is
necessary to shut down the computer before inserting or removing trays. This
is a minor inconvenience, but necessary to prevent the possibility of data
corruption or even physical damage to the hard drive(s). Actually, there is
a keylock mechanism on the mobile rack so that you can safely (presumably)
remove the tray after turning the keylock to the "Off" position. But for
absolute safety's sake we prefer to disengage the tray from the rack (or
reinserting it into the rack) after powering off the computer. I am aware
that there are software products available that claim to make removable hard
drives "hot-swappable", however, while I have not worked with this type of
software, more than one user has informed me of problems with these
products.
I can virtually guarantee that once you begin working with two removable
hard drives, you'll have but one regret and only one regret. And that is you
didn't have this arrangement on your previous computer or computers. There's
perhaps one negative to this arrangement and that is the additional cost
involved in having the two mobile racks to house the hard drives, the
additional hard drive, and the software cloning program. I would estimate it
adds roughly about (U.S.)$150 (as of June, 2004) to the cost of the computer
depending upon the size of the second hard drive and the specific make and
model of the two mobile racks. Your desktop computer case will need to have
available two 5¼" bays to house the mobile racks. Mobile racks come in two
basic versions, depending upon whether the hard drive to be housed is an
IDE/ATA or SCSI device. In addition, mobile racks designed to accommodate
the recently introduced SATA hard drives are now coming onto the market.
The software program I use for the cloning process is Symantec's Norton
Ghost 2003 (still the latest version as of 6/04). BTW, the Norton Ghost 2003
program is included in Symantec's SystemWorks Professional Edition program.
I've seen the older 2003 version of this software advertised for as little
as $19 (including shipping) from:
http://www.softwarenevada.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=5205
(as of 6/04). Another cloning tool is the installation disk that comes
packaged with the retail boxed hard drives from several manufactures,
including Maxtor and Western Digital. There are other disk cloning programs
available, e.g., Symantec's Drive Image, Acronis True Image and BootItNG
among them, both of which seem to get favorable reviews, however, I've had
little or no experience with these programs so I cannot speak to them.
When you consider the enormous advantages of having two removable hard
drives on your computer, the additional cost in equipping your computer in
this fashion pales into insignificance.
Art
