Making an image of C: for restoration

[FollowTheMusic]

There's lots of options but I like Acronis True Image. Cheap, reliable and powerful, what more could you want?

Lots of people like Norton Ghost, but many others (including myself) have had reliability issues. Not crucial for install images, but really troubling when you're using it for backup.

[Scoobz]

thanks haven't heard of that one, going to look into now

[Scoobz]

It looks pretty good, cheap too!

So I would create an image to say an external drive, then make a bootable rescue media. Start the machine from that cd and select the image to restore.

Is that how it works?

[T9c]

Originally Posted by Scoobz

It looks pretty good, cheap too!

So I would create an image to say an external drive, then make a bootable rescue media. Start the machine from that cd and select the image to restore.

Is that how it works?

Yep, that's exactly how it's done. I use a program called Drive Clone. Works great!

Rick

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Scoobz

When I get this finished it would be nice to make an image of it so I don't have to go through the process again if I ever want to reinstall.

Yeah, no kidding. You already got a good lead with Acronis, and I've used Symantec Ghost for years with great results. One key point is you need to partition the drive so the OS and programs are all by themselves. All data - even your address book - needs to be on a separate partition. Otherwise, when you restore the OS you'll also "restore" all your data.

--Ethan

[andsonic]

TrueImage is great. You can edit images after the fact & do incremental backups (like Time Machine).
...also:
You can create an image without rebooting the computer (big plus)

With Acronis Disc Director, you can mount images as hard drives & access files, etc on them.

thumbsup for Acronis

[Blackwater]

Originally Posted by andsonic

TrueImage is great. You can edit images after the fact & do incremental backups (like Time Machine).
...also:
You can create an image without rebooting the computer (big plus)

With Acronis Disc Director, you can mount images as hard drives & access files, etc on them.

thumbsup for Acronis

Hi,

Is TrueImage a seperate product from Disc Director? If I buy Disk Director do I need to buy TrueImage as well and vice versa or is one sufficient for a decent backup?

Thanks,

Chris

[david1103]

You don't need to buy anything! I spent ages researching this, and have tested and used the following.

There is a freeware 'ghosting' program called DriveImage XML:

DriveImage XML Backup Software

If you want to restore from an unbootable computer from CD ROM you will need to use it booting from a WinPE (special type of boot disk) environment. Here is a CD that has everything on it you need inc DriveImage which autoboots from CD Rom. Only thing is you need to build it yourself... easy to do

UBCD for Windows

[Blackwater]

I just want to do what the original poster was asking about which I believe is to take my configuration right now and create an image of it on DVD or CD and if anything ever goes kooky be able to get back to where I was today and get through another session. TrueImage then??

[Franco]

I also use Acronis (used to work with Norton Ghost, but like TrueImage better).

"I just want to do what the original poster was asking about which I believe is to take my configuration right now and create an image of it on DVD or CD and..."

You'll most likely have to use a separate HD, since backups of your system drive can exceed the space on DVDs and CDs. Also, a hard drive would be more reliable than CD/DVD media. These programs allow you to create "boot" discs so that in case your system is completely dead, you can use that CD to run the program, search for the backup and run it. Just to give you an example, my DAW's system drive backup is a little over 12gb (I have my backup stored on another HD and nowadays religiously backup whenever I make changes to my system; new program updates, etc.)

[Tommy-boy]

I used to use PowerQuest's Drive Image until Symantec bought them out. Now I use True Image.

I think Symantec gutted Ghost and replaced it with Drive Image, but I'm not entirely sure. If that were the case I'd use Ghost.

I used Drive Image many times to get back to a clean slate. I haven't put True Image through the same process yet so I can't say it works as well.

-Tom

[Jidis]

There's another free one I've seen recommended here:

Partition Saving

That's a DOS type I believe.

[Blackwater]

Originally Posted by Franco

I also use Acronis (used to work with Norton Ghost, but like TrueImage better).

"I just want to do what the original poster was asking about which I believe is to take my configuration right now and create an image of it on DVD or CD and..."

You'll most likely have to use a separate HD, since backups of your system drive can exceed the space on DVDs and CDs. Also, a hard drive would be more reliable than CD/DVD media. These programs allow you to create "boot" discs so that in case your system is completely dead, you can use that CD to run the program, search for the backup and run it. Just to give you an example, my DAW's system drive backup is a little over 12gb (I have my backup stored on another HD and nowadays religiously backup whenever I make changes to my system; new program updates, etc.)

Sweet! I will purchase today.

Thanks,

Chris