hey guys,

1) when backing up my winXP OS, software, & settings,
a) will acronis true image backup and recovery allow me to restore a backup to a different drive?
b) will r&r allow me to do that?

for example if my hard drive crashes, and i want to restore everything from the backup saved on an external.
or if i'm upgrading to a larger drive, and the disk cloning didn't work on the hidden partition.

2) if i use acronis secure zone, how big should it be?
a) big enough just to run acronis true image off?
b) or big enough to hold a backup of the OS, software, & settings?

3) acronis true image can make a bootable CD to run the program off a CD?
a) that wouldn't include the factory settings or XP installation, the way r&r recovery disks would right?

thanks.

hey, should i move this to general hardware/software questions? or another forum page?

or does nobody really use either of these backup systems?

my hidden partition is gone right now after a hard drive clone upgrade didnt work,
and i haven't had the chance to put something in place yet!

I can't answer all of your questions, but can answer these:

1a - yes, you can write the backup to whatever drive/partition you want. Externally, too.

Yes, you can restore from the other/external drive, whatever you've backed up.

3 - yes, create the bootable DVD and use that to restore...


Here's how I use Acronis; very basic:

* Full backup of C:\ partition. Occasionally, I'll back up my data partitions as well. Backups reside on an external drive. I use Acronis, running under Windows, so no need for boot DVD.


* For restores, I boot up the DVD via usb DVD drive, then restore from the external drive to wherever I need a partition to go. You can also do file/folder level restores if you want. For those, I usually run Acronis under Windows to grab particular file(s). I had some misc. problem a long time ago trying to do full partition restores under Windows, so that's why I boot up the DVD to restore those. Also, when restoring, I tick the box about 'recovering disk signature'.

That's all I do, but works for me

thanks,

for 1a, what i meant was, can i restore a backup of my OS and software TO a different drive than it came from?

it all seems so complicated,
i just want to be able to restore my system if windows won't boot, or if my main drive crashes, to restore the OS backup from external to new drive.

when you say a backup of C:\partition, you mean a backup right? not a clone or something else?

are you using a usb dvd drive because you have your backups in a ultrabay drive?

thanks,

Yes, you can backup any partition on one drive to another drive and later restore that image to a third drive.

Good way to clone(other than hard drive to SSD, but that's another discussion). Also good for what you specifically asked about; i.e., restore C: to external drive, then restore C: to another/third drive if your primary drive craps out.

I use usb DVD drive during restores because I ran into some sort of error situation early on, and I didn't want to waste a lot of time debugging the problem. Never had any problems since I started using the DVD boot copy to do the restores. As mentioned above, I use the Windows copy when making the backup.

As far as the ultrabay goes, you can, but don't have to, use the ultrabay during backups or restores. For restores, just boot up the DVD, then let it find various hard drives on your system. You then select which backup, from which drive, you want to restore and then point Acronis to where you wanna have the restored copy end up.

You're making this way harder than it actually is.

Buy Acronis, fire it up, give it a shot. THEN, if problems, throw a post out here on the board and you'll find lots of people who can answer...

Or better yet... try before you buy...

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/link/?ATIH2011_trial_en-US.exe

ok,
i do have the trial, and had it before posting,
it gets confusing,
1 or 2 click solutions would be best.
regular users dont want to be bothered with getting too tech.
differential vs incremental, mounting and unmounting images, who wants to know?

i hope we're all discussing the backup function, not cloning.
or is incremental cloning the better option?

i was trying to avoid using dvds,
booting acronis from a hidden partition seems like a good idea,
but i guess it might be easier than making acronis hidden partitions on the C drive and external drive.

i guess that woulndn't give me a winxp installation disc though? or is one not needed?

R&R's interface is pretty clean, but i've had it partially fail in the past, and worry about it being too slow.

meanwhile i find seagate manager's backup great for data, since it copies the files and folders,
which can be viewed in a regular file browser, instead of putting it into a database file.
but i don't think seagate manager can backup the OS and software.

i hope the windows 7 built in backup is easier if/when i ever replace my 4.5yr old T60p.

thanks,

i'm thinking the easiest solution is to clone the system drive periodically,
instead of making backups with restore points.
so if a drive crashes, or windows won't boot,
i'll save time from having to restore a backup,
figuring out how to run that software,
just put the cloned drive in, and keep working.

it seems like the least confusing solution,
anyone going with a periodic clone method?

I used (and recommend) Clonezilla when I replaced the hard drive in my G40. Because the new drive was larger I used Gparted to re-size the new drive.

Both programs were easy to use and appeared to be reliable.

I looked at acronis but decided that it was too expensive.