Re: Complete Backup

(I thought I replied to this yesterday - must have pressed the wrong key...
sorry.)

Hi Anna,

Yes, I should think I would be in the market for a clone. I just want to
hit a button and have a
completely runable system and all my data files saved that I can then keep
away from my pc for safe
keeping between updates. I can get separate portable hard drives for
storing just the personal
files, but I would like to be easily able to recreate the whole caboodle
following some catastrophe
such as a fire (God forbid!).

It is the overwhelming amount of reading generated by Google searches that
has prevented me (rather
uncomfortably) from acting on this before now, so I thought perhaps these
expert columns might be a
better bet. It sounds like you have the right idea with your Norton Ghost
and Acronis True Image
(but why do you need two, and what do you mean by 'quite effective'?).

So the question now becomes: what is the best programme/hardware/regime for
cloning a pc - and at
what price?

Thanks again,

SteveH

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: Complete Backup



"Steve Hawkins" <steve.a.hawkins@ntl(nospam)world.com> wrote in message
news:eIL5gRb%23FHA.2916@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> It's a real nuisance not having a boot (trunk) light in my friend's Nissan
> Micra (buyer beware!). The 'overhead' light is crap and in the wrong
> place too.
>
> Now what about that complete back up?
>
> Christmas is coming: what is the best buy for backing up one's entire
> system and personal files?
>
> Lots of us (I'm sure) would like to know.
>
> Regards,
> SteveH


Steve:
This thread (like so many that have gone before and so many that have yet to
come)has taken a number of twists & turns since Marilyn's (I believe she was
the OP) original query re a backing up strategy. While her query generated a
considerable number of responses, I can't recall whether they ultimately
satisfied her objective. Apparently it didn't satisfy yours.

When you inquire about a "complete backup", could you flesh that out? Are
you primarily or exclusively concerned with backing up the entire contents
of your day-to-day working HD, including the operating system and all
programs & data? In other words, are you interested in creating a "clone" of
your working HD so that in the event you needed to restore that drive should
it become dysfunctional because of system files corruption or other
problems, you could use the "cloned" HD to accomplish this? Are you familiar
with disk imaging programs such as Symantec's Norton Ghost or Acronis True
Image which have this disk cloning capability?

Or are you simply interested in backing up the data files you have created?
In which case there are myriad backup programs out there that will
accomplish this.

As you can probably guess from my above comments, I am a strong advocate of
using a disk imaging program to clone the contents of one's HD to another HD
in order to create & maintain an effective backup strategy. Using primarily
the Norton Ghost 2003 program and occasionally the Acronis program, I find
those programs relatively easy to use in a routine manner and quite
effective in maintaining a comprehensive backup system. What we are talking
about here is basic disk-to-disk cloning.

There's a huge amount of information on the net re backup strategies. A
Google search will keep you occupied for many moons. And of course you can
get help from newsgroups such as this one. But please be specific & detailed
re your objectives so that you can get meaningful responses.
Anna



"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OVBv2jb%23FHA.3804@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Steve Hawkins" <steve.a.hawkins@ntl(nospam)world.com> wrote in message
> news:eIL5gRb%23FHA.2916@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> It's a real nuisance not having a boot (trunk) light in my friend's
>> Nissan Micra (buyer beware!). The 'overhead' light is crap and in the
>> wrong place too.
>>
>> Now what about that complete back up?
>>
>> Christmas is coming: what is the best buy for backing up one's entire
>> system and personal files?
>>
>> Lots of us (I'm sure) would like to know.
>>
>> Regards,
>> SteveH
>
>
> Steve:
> This thread (like so many that have gone before and so many that have yet
> to come)has taken a number of twists & turns since Marilyn's (I believe
> she was the OP) original query re a backing up strategy. While her query
> generated a considerable number of responses, I can't recall whether they
> ultimately satisfied her objective. Apparently it didn't satisfy yours.
>
> When you inquire about a "complete backup", could you flesh that out? Are
> you primarily or exclusively concerned with backing up the entire contents
> of your day-to-day working HD, including the operating system and all
> programs & data? In other words, are you interested in creating a "clone"
> of your working HD so that in the event you needed to restore that drive
> should it become dysfunctional because of system files corruption or other
> problems, you could use the "cloned" HD to accomplish this? Are you
> familiar with disk imaging programs such as Symantec's Norton Ghost or
> Acronis True Image which have this disk cloning capability?
>
> Or are you simply interested in backing up the data files you have
> created? In which case there are myriad backup programs out there that
> will accomplish this.
>
> As you can probably guess from my above comments, I am a strong advocate
> of using a disk imaging program to clone the contents of one's HD to
> another HD in order to create & maintain an effective backup strategy.
> Using primarily the Norton Ghost 2003 program and occasionally the Acronis
> program, I find those programs relatively easy to use in a routine manner
> and quite effective in maintaining a comprehensive backup system. What we
> are talking about here is basic disk-to-disk cloning.
>
> There's a huge amount of information on the net re backup strategies. A
> Google search will keep you occupied for many moons. And of course you can
> get help from newsgroups such as this one. But please be specific &
> detailed re your objectives so that you can get meaningful responses.
> Anna
>
>
>


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Complete Backup
    ... the OP) original query re a backing up strategy. ... When you inquire about a "complete backup", ... with disk imaging programs such as Symantec's Norton Ghost or Acronis True ... in order to create & maintain an effective backup strategy. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Backup Strategy
    ... [responding to my suggesting creating a clone of a Time Machine backup] ... Should I backup that monster? ... backing up daily for one week on one drive and then changing the backup ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: Ping: Bob Henson Re Acronis
    ... to clone. ... Backing up may involve a decision whether to make a full, ... differential or incremental backup; whether to backup the whole drive or ... We all have to work out a backup and restore routine which suits us, our data requirements, and our pockets. ...
    (uk.people.silversurfers)
  • Re: Partition help
    ... change that makes the current clone outdated. ... I also backup email and the email address book to the external hard drive on ... the idea of backing up to a partition on the same hard drive ... your HDD. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Cloning my hard drive?
    ... And obviously the two tasks, clone vs. image, are close enough to argue about. ... I say that because the only reason I am making the backup is for when something goes awry on the internal source drive, and I need to restore the internal source drive from the external backup drive. ... comprehensive backup system of one's day-to-day working HDD. ... I'm not swapping any drives here. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)