Looking For HDD Backup/Imaging Software Recommendation

[nikki605]

My wife's main PC is an old WinXP Pro SP3 (x86) desktop which she loves. Years ago, I installed a backup program from CMS Products. I faithfully used it weekly to backup the system to an external FireWire Seagate drive. Until last week, I never had a need to do a full restore using the CMS Rescue CD. When I did, it failed miserably. There were no error messages during the restore, but when I booted the restored PC, there were many, many more things wrong than there were before the restore.

 

Bottom line, I'm looking for a new system backup/imaging program to replace the CMS piece-o-junk.

 

I've read mixed reviews on Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost. Users seem to either love them or hate them. Some have never tried to do a restore. Others have tried to do a restore and had there own variety of problems.

 

I'm looking for recommendations from you guys since I trust your opinions... especially those who have actually done a full restore either successfully or unsuccessfully.

 

I would prefer to continue using the external FireWire Seagate drive for my backups/images so I would need a program that supports that interface for a restore. Under Windows, it is seen as a normal drive letter in My Computer. It does also have a USB2 interface, but I would have find (or buy) that cable with the right connector ends.

 

Thanks in advance for any comments!

 

p.s. - I've spent the last 2 days scratch loading it and I'm still not completely done.

[nodles]

Do you want to make backups as folders/files or as images?

I should/been searching for a good backup software, but haven't had the time to find one yet.

Have you checked these:

http://www.techsuppo...ing-program.htm

http://www.techsuppo...-backup-program

http://www.techsuppo...ion-utility.htm

 

I've been using FreeFileSync to backup/sync my USB-stick.

[Andavari]

The one and only disk imaging software I've used extensively is Macrium Reflect (Free Edition), which has never once failed me and has saved me a handful of times, plus it creates the backups very fast. There's of course other freeware imaging software too such as DriveImage XML, etc.

[Alan_B]

I first used Acronis, but when I did an update it was using me

By which I mean that it took control of where I could hold backups and prevented me from re-configuring as I wished.

 

I now use Macrium Reflect and it has never let me down.

 

I do recommend that whatever you use, you should NOT restore your system until you have first (at least as a once off) used your Boot Rescue CD etc to :-

verify/validate the image backup.( do not wait for the restoration to delete your system and then discover the CD lacks drivers for USB3 port or FireWire to the external files ) and also

restore the image a a non-essential "test" partition on your internal disk to prove you have a compatible driver.

 

A significant number of Acronis users have in the past suffered from blind faith - they made their backups and wrongly assumed that restoration could not go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong

[DennisD]

Another Macrium user here, and as with Andavari and Alan, it has never let me down. And of course it has a free version which I've always used.

 

If you search the forums, you'll get all sorts of links which are a complete waste of time. I sometimes wonder how the forum search actually works.

 

Searching Google for Macrium stuff on Piriform is far more productive ...

 

http://www.google.co...le Search&gbv=1

 

Hope that helps, and take note of the many mentions in those threads of "Verifying" any Image after creation and before restoration, and the importance of testing the Rescue CD.

[Tasgandy]

And yet another Macrium Reflect convert (free version) some 18 months ago; I took the advice of Andavari, the best thing I have ever done.

 

As Alan_B states make sure you check/verify your backup image/files and then test your Boot Rescue CD disk so you know for sure that when the ship hits the sand you can restore all back to normal.

 

Personally I have Macrium perform a weekly backup, my backup file size is 76.2gig and normally only takes 26 minutes. (I also have created TWO RESCUE DISKS - just in case)

 

You can also configure daily, weekly or monthly checks for Macrium Reflect software updates.

[nikki605]

Thanks guys. I've been doing some reading about Macrium to get familiar with it. I'm trying to decide if I want to go with the free version or the Standard version to get the incremental and differential capability.

 

Alan's comment got me thinking. Since I can't find any documentation that states FireWire support, I might try the free version, burn the rescue CD and try booting it to verify that it sees the FIreWire port & connected HDD. Unfortunately, the internal HDD is only one partition so I don't have a "test" partition. Maybe I should create one with GParted.

 

I'll let you know how I make out. I don't want to have to scratch load this system - again - anytime soon. It takes too long to get it set up the way it was.

[nikki605]

OK, installed the free version & did my 1st backup.

 

Went to create the Rescue CD and... the WAIK download is 1.7GB!?! I've got a 25MB internet connection and it's too slow for this hugh file. Guess I'll just let the PC run tonight after I go to bed.

[Guest Keatah]

I personally use Acronis. But I've heard enough good things about Macrium to also recommend it. Key point is to test your ability to restore.

[login123]

Acronis here for win xp. TrueImage version 11 and Disk Director version 10.

These versions work well on my old favorite win xp computer but do not work on this newer, dual boot one (win 7 + win xp). I think thats because of the UEFI type BIOS and the GPT formatted original HDD.

 

The one thing Acronis did that was worth the price (I got it for about ten dollars) was to clone a win xp hard drive.

 

Never gave Macrium a serious test.

[Alan_B]

OK, installed the free version & did my 1st backup.

 

Went to create the Rescue CD and... the WAIK download is 1.7GB!?! I've got a 25MB internet connection and it's too slow for this hugh file. Guess I'll just let the PC run tonight after I go to bed.

I assume your first backup was to your Firewire drive which proves compatibility.

That almost guarantees the WinPE Rescue will work - but you still need to test it.

You do not need the 1.7 GB download for the Linux Boot Rescue, and it is possible that this also will work on FireWire.

 

WinPE rescue has benefits over Linux.

I especially appreciate that when a Windows Security update trashed Windows,

I was able to use WinPE to create an image backup of my trashed Windows before I restored normality from the previous backup.

 

Once Windows was working it took perhaps 1 minute total to mount the image of "broken C:\" and compare with "working C:\"

and then copy from "broken C:\" the last versions of my documents and other work that had been in progress until destruction.

 

N.B. I use Portable BestSync from Risefly for partition / folder / file comparisons.

[pwillener]

Acronis True Image has worked well for me over many years.

[Guest Keatah]

Sorry, but this smells of a paid ad placement campaign, or direct advertising. Furthermore, the cost of the above software is 49.95. I suggest Piriform mods delete the above msg. as it reads like spam.

 

Finally, one of my personal rules when conducting backup operations is to go with proven, tested, and trusted stuff. Use something people have had experience with. Use something where bugs are known and characterized and workarounds have been developed. Use something members right here have had direct experience with.

 

Do not mistake this attitude as being stingy or closed-minded. I'm all for new software and everything. But if you must use new backup software, use it on a non-critical system where you can reformat and re-install without hassle or downtime.

 

I know little-to-nothing of the above software, and I'm willing to bet everyone here doesn't either.

 

(Mod edit: For clarification these comments refer to a deleted spam post, and not to other forum members or software mentioned in this thread.)

[hazelnut]

Sorry, but this smells of a paid ad placement campaign, or direct advertising. Furthermore, the cost of the above software is 49.95. I suggest Piriform mods delete the above msg. as it reads like spam.

 

Finally, one of my personal rules when conducting backup operations is to go with proven, tested, and trusted. Use something people have had experience with. Use something where bugs are known and characterized and workarounds have been developed. Use something members right here have had direct experience with.

 

Do not mistake this attitude as being stingy or closed-minded. I'm all for new software and everything. But if you must use new backup software, use it on a non-critical system where you can reformat and re-install without hassle or downtime.

 

I know little-to-nothing of the above software, and I'm willing to bet everyone here doesn't either.

 

I've deleted the post and banned the user.

 

He posted the same earlier this morning using a different identity.

[login123]

In re: posts 13 & 14, especially what Keatah said : "Use something people have had experience with".

Nikki, I've checked into Acronis capabilities and alternatives quite a bit.

The full set of Acronis products costs more that 100 dollars nowadays.

The Acronis Trueimage version I used with great success on win xp is not available now, afaik.

It will still back up the win xp OS on this dual boot system, but not to a "secure zone" on either HDD.

I back up to an external USB HDD. Have not tried a restore yet. Should, but I'm chicken. :-)

And there is a warning associated with the newest Disk Director that it doesn't work with EFI based machines.

EFI is not an issue for your immediate situation, but might become one down the road, as it has for me.

I must now repurchase Acronis or move on to something else. Probably will move on.

Pity. Acronis was tricky to learn but easy to use after that.

 

So there ya go, all I know about it in ten lines.

[nikki605]

Ah, spammers... gotta love 'em.

 

After a little trouble burning the Rescue disk (WinPE), I was able to boot it and verify the image I had made to the FireWire external HDD. Macrium's internal burning program didn't write anything to the CD. I ended up telling it to create an iso image and I used another burning program to burn that iso to CD - I made 2. I also saved the iso image as a file on another external HDD... just in case I need to burn another Rescue disk.

 

Is the only way to verify the image by booting the Rescue CD? I looked for the verify option while setting up the image creation, but didn't find it. Am I missing something? It seems like a lot of steps:

 

1. Create the image from WinXP (~40 minutes in my case)

2. Shut down WinXP & boot the Macrium Rescue CD to verify the image

3. Reboot WinXP

 

This morning I'm going to try creating a "test" partion with Gparted, put some data in it and actually try an image and then restore to see what happens.

[Guest Keatah]

For those of you flying with WesternDigital or Seagate, check and see if your drive mfg. is offering free Acronis. This would be the lite version, missing things like incremental & differential. But fully featured otherwise. You must also have WD or S drive someplace in the system, because it's branded to work with that hardware only.

 

You can also make a rescue disk with one or two clicks. It's Linux based and handles a number of drive interfaces. From there you can boot and conduct your backup. I'm still old school and prefer offline imaging as opposed to "live" or "VSS" style. But the latter two seem to work fine.

[Andavari]

Acronis was tricky to learn but easy to use after that.

 

That sentence alone could scare many people away who want to easily and simply backup their system drive without complications.

[Andavari]

Is the only way to verify the image by booting the Rescue CD? I looked for the verify option while setting up the image creation, but didn't find it.

 

Macrium doesn't have built in Rescue CD verification after burning the disc. What you did via the ISO image you could then have your burning software verify the disc after burning, I know ImgBurn can do this since it's what I use, you'd just need to tick the Verify box during the burn. There's many CD/DVD burning software that can't verify after burning ISO image files.

 

And yes you'd need to boot the Rescue CD even after say ImgBurn verified all files were written correctly to it, reason being you need to know now if the Rescue CD will actually boot your computer without any hiccups well before you'd need to ever use it.

[Guest Keatah]

Are you talking about verifying the backup image? Or verifying the iso-rescue-disc?

[nikki605]

Guess I needed to be clearer. I didn't mean verify the burning of the Rescue CD, I meant verify the disk image that is written on my external HDD from the internal C:\ drive.

 

When I start an image job, after selecting the Destination, the next window displays an Imaging Summary. One of the entries is:

 

Auto Verify - N

 

I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that there was a way to enable Auto Verify. Maybe that option only exists in the paid versions... maybe not.

 

What I did was after creating the drive image, I booted the Rescue CD. There, I found a "Verify" function and clicked on it. It ran for several minutes and ended with a sucessful verification of the disk image.

 

I was looking to save time by NOT having to boot the Rescue CD just to verify the disk image. I thought I could turn on Auto Verify during the disk image setup to avoid the extra step.

[Alan_B]

When you CREATE an image backup you can preselect an option to Auto Verify the backup immediately it has been created.

This applies whether creating under the full scale multi GByte Windows operating system or under the Boot Disc Operating System.

 

Please note that VERIFY does NOT compare the image with the current state of your Partitions / Disks,

but simply reads the file and re-computes and validates the innumerable hash checksums that are placed at ?MByte intervals (I forget the size).

 

Subsequent to creating a backup you can also verify a backup thus :-

You RESTORE and select the backup and then on the right are 4 options :-

Browse Image

Verify Image

Restore Image

Other Actions.

 

All four options are available under the full scale multi GByte Windows operating system and also under the Boot Disc Operating System.

 

I recommend that before assuming your Boot Rescue is good, as a "once off" you test it with the "Verify Image",

and then you will know if the Boot Rescue can read your external drive to accurately access the image.

 

When you restore a partition you can choose whether to verify the image before restoration.

If you have selected that option then the partition(s) will not be deleted until the backup is verified,

and should your backup file have become corrupted then your partitions/disks will be intact

(it may be inconvenient if Windows is wiped out because the chosen backup was corrupt and you had not verified).

[Guest Keatah]

Uh huh.. It is a feature of the full version. So it looks like you need to verify manually after image creation.

http://kb.macrium.co...ticle50048.aspx

http://www.macrium.c...ad=y#AutoVerify

 

The 2 most common system problems which cause imaging to fail verification are:

1- Memory errors

2- Storage media errors

 

They are the more insidious modes of FAIL. They can be present in a system for months and not show up in normal operation.

 

 

 

Alan_B is correct in that verify does not compare an existing already-made-by-you-backup-image against the HDD in the computer. But incorrect in that the verify feature will do what you are asking.

 

The verify option as it stands in the free version is like CheckDisk. It is something totally different than image verification. It verifies your to-be-backed-up HDD has a solid file structure and that there are no errors in NTFS $Metafiles and so on. It is a pre-test. It makes sure all the files are resting in a solid infrastructure and there are no cracks and breaks in the catalog and map. A pilot's checklist if you will.

 

Both options, "verify newly created image" & "verify file structure" are present in the full version and are rather nice features.

[nikki605]

Great info Alan & Keatah - thanks for that. I'm thinking I may just spend the bucks for the Standard version to get the incremental and differential capability as well as the Verify function after image creation without having to boot the Rescue CD.

 

Like anyone who uses a disk backup/imaging program, I just want something that backs up and restores correctly, something my last product didn't do very well.

 

Next will be setting up a backup schedule. I haven't even looked at that function yet.

[Alan_B]

Uh huh.. It is a feature of the full version. So it looks like you need to verify manually after image creation.

My son purchased a family pack of Macrium and gave me one license.

I thought the only feature lacking from the Free version was Incremental and Differential backups which I use extensively.

 

I knew that the Linux Boot CD was very restricted for both professional and Free versions,

but thought the WinPE Boot CD had no distinction between Professional and Free.

 

Sorry

 

Regards

Alan

 

P.S.

I do not schedule Macrium.

When the omens are good I cross my fingers and Run CCleaner to purge all junk,

and then I launch Macrium Reflect in an appropriate mode,

normally Incremental,

but sometimes Differential as a convenient "BreakPoint" before a significant change to installed programs or other spur of the moment considerations.

 

I like to be in control - or at least feel that I control the beast on the desk.