I've been meaning to set up some kind of backup for my PC for a while, and the computer's recent brush with death has obviously focused my mind a bit.
Really I want something that will let me restore the whole system to a new PC (so that I have the choice to just dump the old one, rather than pay for a repair, but not have to re-install everything).
I remember that some of the IT guys where I used to work used Norton Ghost, but I have heard that it "isn't as good as it used to be".
Also, when using Ghost, if they put it back onto a different PC they used to have to fix the drivers (but, I guess will always be the case, unless the hardware is identical).
What do you guys reckon I should use? Just NTbackup, or should I invest in something else?
Would be good if there was something that could do one big initial backup and then just backup incremental changes to the system (not just the data), not sure if that is possible.
EDIT: Oh, BTW, I'm running XP
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Wed 23 Feb 11 at 10:59
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I use a double pronged approach. Ghost to take an image of the C Drive, which contains as little data as possible. (My Docs are on D drive). I take an image every couple of weeks and this has been useful when the machine has started to act strangely - just whack the image back on. I'm on Windows 7 and am using a very old version of Ghost and haven't seen any major problems.
Then a sync program (I use, amongst others, Allwaysync which I think is unlimited free for personal use) to carry out incremental backups of my data - I do this approx weekly. Just because I can, I also have some data which I occasionally back up to a removable drive which is kept off site - e.g. photos and other irreplaceable stuff.
Yes, you will always have drivers etc problems when restoring an image to a PC which is different from the source.
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>> I use a double pronged approach. Ghost to take an image of the C Drive,
If you contemplate buying Norton Ghost, try to check that your computer's DVD writer is compatible with Ghost before you buy. I found that mine wasn't compatible ~ but there was no information on the outside of the Ghost packaging to let me know. The information was inside the box!
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>> If you contemplate buying Norton Ghost, try to check that your computer's DVD writer is
>> compatible with Ghost before you buy. I found that mine wasn't compatible ~ but there
>>
I imagine your's must have been some oddball DVD writer.
service1.symantec.com/support/ghost.nsf/docid/2002030414141625
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>> What do you guys reckon I should use? Just NTbackup, or should I invest in
>> something else?
>>
investigate the free software options
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_cloning
www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml
Some hard disk suppliers (Seagate, WD) provide a free rebranded version of Acronis TrueImage.
www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm
Last edited by: John H on Wed 23 Feb 11 at 12:05
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I use a program called HDClone simply because it is one fo the few cloning tools I can legaly use for free on my business. I do have a paid version of it though because it works quicker.
I always clone customers hard drives if I need to do a reinstall and then I take a second backup of my documents in case the cloned drive fails.
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For data backup (but not disk imaging) on XP then Microsoft's own 'Synctoy' is easy to use if you only need basic functionality:-
www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52
I generally use Synback, which provides more options than Synctoy, although there are loads of others.
www.2brightsparks.com/download-syncback.html
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Backup - smokie
