What program for backup data?

[va!n]

Hello!
I have a client with an external USB harddrive who want to backup his complete harddrive (C: D:) to the external drive as 1:1 copy!

What freeware / comercial program is the best and even easiest for this? Thanks in advance. Should run un WinXP.. i.e. Vista too

[talisman]

Acronis products are all we use at work and I've heard very good things about them as well. Some clients of mine have reported success with Acronis too so you might want to check their products out. If you want a quick, dirty trial-and-error approach then just Linux command dd

[vanbeck]

By 1 to 1 copy, do you mean that there would be a folder for each drive, and it would be a clone of it, file by file - or do you mean an image of each drive?

I have quite a simple backup system written in PB, you specify what you want and where and it'll copy it over, replaced files get renamed so there's always the previous version as well as the current backup. I use it at work with about 40 users backing up to a NAS Terrastation. Saving you from loosing whole files is it's angle though, in case you delete something you shouldn't, or get corrupted... It's not really intended to let you backup to any point, more like a weekly backup job. What I like about it is it never gets rid of a file, it's quick to jump on and get a file back as the directory structure remains the same, and it can copy files to non-backup locations, like you can tell it to copy files to specific locations as well if need be - like if you had standard documents that you wanted to keep up to date from a local version, say copying from My Documents to a network location automatically. Anyhoo enough of my spiel, let me know if you want me to email it you. It is the sort of thing you could setup, and let him run every week without him needing to mess around with it at all.

[Fluid Byte]

I personally use Beyond Compare 3 from www.scootersoftware.com. It synchronizes folders/disks and only updates new and modified files so you don't need copy all content over and over again.

[thefool]

I'm much simpler

I just use xcopy with \D

Copies files changed on or after the specified date. If no date is given, copies only those files whose source time is newer than the destination time

from a batch file, then it call a purebasic program that zips the files and uploads to a remote ftp-server. We keep about 6 months of daily backups at a time. Its as simple as it can be but it works. I'm currently trying if RoboCopy (which was included since vista and can be downloaded from m$ for winxp) provides better posibilities, it looks good so far.

You talk about 1:1 though, I've had pleasant results with Norton Ghost. I think the amount of users on this product speaks for itself

[thefool]

After having some time with Robocopy i can easily recommend it if you're used to xcopy. with /mir it will syncronize (also delete files at the destination if they are not on source) and used with /s it will syncronize without deletion.

[blueb]

I've used xxClone for a few uears. I've used Acronis, Norton Ghost in the past and I like xxCone... by far.

http://xxclone.com/

--blueb

[thefool]

Is it 1:1 or just files?

[GWarner]

Macrium Reflect, they have both a free and paid for versions. The catch is the free version is for non commercial use. They do offer trial versions of their commercial versions.

www.macrium.com

I started of with Ghost but switched to True Image when I switched to using REV drives. I know Ghost would handle the backup phase but don't know if it would support the REV drives for a bare metal restore. Like most other tools, it would have to either support it natively, support it through Bart PE, or in the case of Ghost which has a DOS version, the backup device would need DOS level drivers.

I am currently using Acronis True Image but am also looking for a replacement because of future compatibility concerns. I'm stuck at True Image v11 because v10 doesn't support my backup device (Iomega 120 GB REV drive) natively for bare metal restores and v2009 (a.k.a. v12) doesn't support the drive at all.

I'd switch to Reflect if I could figure out how to get Iomega's drivers to work in Bart PE. Since Reflact supports the Bart PE environment for doing bare metal restores. Or switch to Ghost if Iomega had DOS level drivers but as far as I can tell they don't. And I don't know if Ghost supports Bart PE.

[codewalker]

I have tried them all and drivesnapshot is the one !

Small program works both in windows and in dos.
Works even while windows is running.
It leaves you to make your own bootable system restore dvd
It leaves you to write your own batch files to automize a restore.
Doesn't copy empty sectors so it's fast.
Works with ide and sata harddisks and external harddisks.
By passes chipset, northbridge and southbridge drivers so
it works on all mainbords.
Small footage and resource consumption (less than 200 Kb)
Extensive guidance and explanation on owners homepage

http://drivesnapshot.de/en/index.htm

This is really the one.

greetings
cw

[blueb]

Is it 1:1 or just files?

It is a true clone.

We use hard drives in removeable cages at work. Every night we xxClone to a caged drive, in case our main drive fails.

We have had occasion to replace our main drive with a clone and the replacement worked flawlessly.

--blueb

PS - I have a spare drive in my home computer and clone it 2-3 times a week. I sometimes boot up on the 'backup' (drive D:\) to see if it works.

[thefool]

Is it 1:1 or just files?

It is a true clone.

We use hard drives in removeable cages at work. Every night we xxClone to a caged drive, in case our main drive fails.

We have had occasion to replace our main drive with a clone and the replacement worked flawlessly.

--blueb

PS - I have a spare drive in my home computer and clone it 2-3 times a week. I sometimes boot up on the 'backup' (drive D:\) to see if it works.

Alright, i'll check it out. Just couldn't see easily from the website wether it was a true image or not. Thanks

[codewalker]

Keep in mind that restoring an operating system only works on the same mainboard with the same hardware ! If the mainboard goes down and needs to be replaced, how are you going to restore your clone ? It won't work because of a different hal and system drivers in the first place and you will end up with a blue screen
To restore your operating system to a different mainboard with different hardware use sysprep to strip off system drivers, unique id's and registry.
Then use Acronis universal restore as it is capable to replace the hal and adding missing drivers in your clone. Works perfectly
greetings
cw

[blueznl]

Imaging I use Acronis, backupping I use my own stuff, though lately I've been playing with Comodo backup.

[codewalker]

Ok so far for os backup. When it comes to data backup forget about manual or scheduled backup and thus forget about data loss between your last backup and your actual state of data. Go for realtime backup ! Everything you do with your data is mirrored realtime on another harddisk. It does it's job in the background with adjusted bandwidth so it won't interfere with your running programs. Wanna know how ?

http://www.techsoftpl.com/backup/index.php

Greetings
cw