Casper 5 - One for Anna

[Anna]

The question that I have is why are we talking about these programs at
all?
Free programs such as XXClone and HDClone (at least) will clone a system
drive. Data recovery is a separate issue. There are a number of free
programs which will allow you to back up and recover data. With a clone
drive and backed up data you are good to go under any circumstance. I
would rather put the $50 cost of these programs toward the purchase of a
HDD.

Bob...
Tell me Bob, have you ever worked - really worked - with those free programs
you mentioned? I'm referring to using a disk-to-disk cloning program that
one would use *routinely* and *frequently* to comprehensively back up their
system. So that the user would have at hand a reasonably up-to-date backup
of his or her system and could easily & quickly restore their system to a
bootable, functional state.

There's simply no comparison between those programs and one such as Casper 5
(or Acronis True Image) in terms of effectiveness, ease of use, and most
importantly, speed of operation. If all that matters to the user that he or
she has the use of a free disk-cloning program and has no intention of using
such a program on a routine, frequent basis to comprehensively backup their
system, then those programs will probably have an appeal for them.

Until they use them, of course...
Anna

 

[Anna]

*** So, if say I have a 500gb HD and partition it to C:200gb (system
drive), D: 200gb and E: 100gb
I can tell Casper to use E: for it's own use where it would create a
dynamic partition on E: for say a 40gb backup and turn
the rest of E: into unallocated. When it needed more space for the next
backup, say 45gb it would allocate some of the unallocate
space to accomodate the extra 5gb leaving C: and D: at there original
size. In short, Casper here has only the E:100gb to play with.
Mickey

Mickey:
Let me try to explain it more clearly using as an example that you have
another 500 GB HDD that you will be using as the recipient drive for clones
from your source HDD.

If you want to clone *only* the 40 GB of data contained in your source
drive's 100 GB partition you could do so quite easily and virtually
automatically with the Casper 5 disk-cloning program by choosing the option
to set up a partition on the destination drive *only* sufficient in size to
contain that 40 GB of data. (You need not select a specific size for the
partition). So I guess you can say the program has set up a partition
"dynamically".

So now you have a destination HDD with a 40 GB partition with the remaining
disk-space of that 500 GB HDD "unallocated" disk space.

Now, as in your example, when you make the next backup of that 100 GB
partition, the contents of such has increased from the original 40 GB to 45
GB. At this stage you have two options...
1. You can delete (through the Disk Management utility) the 40 GB partition
on the destination HDD and then, once again, select the option for the
Casper program to create a minimally-sized partition on that drive to hold
the 45 GB of data that you are cloning; or,

2. You can simply select the option (as you did originally) for the program
to create a partition on the destination drive only sufficient in size to
hold the cloned contents of 45 GB. However, in this case if you did not
delete the 40 GB partition that was originally created, you will now have
*two* partitions on the destination drive - one of 40 GB and one of 45 GB

It's just your choice. Obviously if all you were interested in is that the
destination HDD contain the latest contents of your source drive's 100 GB
partition, then you would presumably have deleted the previously-created
partition on the destination HDD. In any event, the option is yours to make.

**** Please let me clarify my stand on incremental backups.
Yes, I'm not in my situation concerned with incremental backups as I
myself have no need for them. (SNIP)
Having said that I do however acknowledge the need for incremental backups
and their importance for certain situations.
In my case however, my only concern is the integrety of my installed
applications and the registry.
The number of times my system has crashed for one reason or another you
wouldn't believe.
In my case each time I've only had to reinstall the OS, updates and
applications. I'm just looking for a quicker way to do it.
Mickey

Mickey:
I'm somewhat at a loss to understand your comment above. First you indicate
you "have no need for (incremental) backups"; then you go on to say "The
number of times my system has crashed for one reason or another you wouldn't
believe. In my case each time I've only had to reinstall the OS, updates and
applications. I'm just looking for a quicker way to do it."

But is it not clear to you that the whole point of a disk-cloning program
such as Casper (or for that matter, a disk-imaging program) is to do
precisely that, i.e., to restore your system to a bootable, functional,
up-to-date state so that you would *not* need to manually "reinstall the OS,
updates and applications". And using a program such as Casper 5 the process
to do just that would be simple, straightforward, and reasonably quick, with
a minimum expenditure of time & effort on one's part. Isn't that a most
desirable thing for most users?

In any event, as I previously stated, if you have no intention of using a
disk-cloning or disk imaging program for routine, systematic, frequent
backups of your system, and you're only interested in a backup of your
system that you might do, for example, once every few months or so, my
advice would be to save your money and secure one of the free disk-copying
programs available from a number of HDD manufacturers, e.g., Hitachi,
Seagate, Western Digital and use one of those programs for your needs. Also,
there are a number of free (or shareware) disk-cloning & disk-imaging
programs available through the net - some of which have been mentioned by
posters to this thread. And you can always do a Google search for these type
of programs (or other backup programs) that might better serve your needs.
Anna

 

[Anna]

I have been using XXClone for several years on one computer. When My HDD
crashed, I simply swapped and I was was up and running in minutes. My
wife used HDClone to replace an OEM Dell HDD which could not be restored
or
repaired because of a faulty OEM disk. Just because a program costs $50
does not mean that it is any better than a free program. Again, you are
talking apples and oranges. Backing up and restoring data is a separate
operation from cloning. You clone to avoid having to do a complete system
install and to avoid having to install all your programs. You do not use
a
clone disk to back up your data every day.. That is what a data recovery
program is for, and you use some external media for such storage. I clone
my system disk only when I install or uninstall a program. Data storage
is
on a flash drive and a CD. OK?

BobN:
If you've found one or both of those disk-cloning programs effective &
useful for both your needs and that of your wife's, then more power to you
and, of course, your wife!

All I can say is that we've worked with both of those programs in the past,
and along with a number of users with whom I'm familiar, all of us -
virtually without exception (as I recall) - found those programs (as well as
a number of other free & shareware-type disk cloning programs) wanting for a
variety of reasons, but chiefly because they were ill-suited in our
experience to serve as a comprehensive backup system that a user could
employ on a reasonably frequent & routine basis. AFAIK, all of us gave them
up. Admittedly it's been at least two or three years since I've worked with
those programs so my comments are based on my experience during that period
of time. In any event, what counts is that you have concluded that they work
for you & yours. And if you're both satisfied with those programs, so be it.

Now as to the issue of using a disk-cloning program such as the one I
consistently recommend - Casper 5 - for the purposes of establishing &
maintaining a comprehensive backup system for the user...

Is there not value for the user if he or she can easily & reasonably quickly
create a precise copy of their day-to-day working HDD? A backup not merely
of their personal data, but a backup that includes the operating system, all
programs & applications, their mail program, their registry settings, their
system configuration settings, and of course their personal data? In short,
*everything* that's on their boot drive. So when the day comes (as it most
surely will for a substantial number of users) when their system becomes
unbootable and/or dysfunctional for *any* reason, they will have at hand a
"good" copy of their HDD - one that is bootable & functional. What better
backup system can one have?

Bob, how many times a day do we see when perusing this newsgroup and similar
ones dealing with users' problems, these types of plaintive pleas for
help...

"Helllllp! My hard drive apparently died. How do I get my data back?", or,
"I just installed SP3 and now my computer doesn't even boot", or,
"I made that registry change XYZ suggested and now I'm getting weird
messages from Windows", or,
"I installed the latest update from Microsoft and now my anti-spyware
program has been trashed", or,
"I installed that new Super-Duper Anti-Malware program and now all I get a
black screen", or,
"All of a sudden I'm getting that dreaded BSOD. How can I save my precious
photos?", or...

The list goes on & on, does it not? Does an hour, a day, a week pass where
we don't see the above "cries of distress" and similar pleas for help?

In so many cases the problem would have been a non-problem had the user made
a precise copy of his or her then-functional system *prior* to installing a
major program on their machine or making some major configuration change in
their otherwise perfectly-working system. This can be relatively easily
achieved through the use of a disk-cloning program such as the Casper 5
program which we prefer. So that in the event of a catastrophe - minor or
major - the system can be easily restored to its previous functional state.

Simply stated, a *desirable* disk-cloning program will allow the user to
restore his or her system easily & quickly when their system fails because
of a defective HDD or the system has become unbootable & dysfunctional
because of data corruption from malware, unwise configurations, or other
causes.

The chief reason we prefer the Casper 5 disk-cloning program (aside from its
simplicity of operation and general effectiveness in carrying out the
disk-cloning operation) is because of its rather extroardinary ability to
*speedily* clone the contents of one drive (or partition) to another drive
(or partition) when the program is used on a frequent basis. Casper
incorporates what it calls its "SmartClone" feature. Simply stated, the
program has the happy capability of detecting *incremental* changes in the
source drive's data since the *previous* disk-cloning operation. By so doing
and then taking only those incremental data changes into account, the amount
of time the program needs to complete subsequent disk-cloning operations is
significantly shortened (as compared with other disk-cloning programs). Keep
in mind that the resultant clone is a complete clone of the contents of the
source HDD - not merely an incremental "file".

As a result of this feature there is an enormous incentive for users to
backup their systems on a more-or-less current basis knowing that the
expenditure of time in doing so will be relatively slight. Heretofore this
has been a major problem with disk-cloning programs (in terms of *routinely*
using the program as a comprehensive backup system) because each time the
disk-cloning operation was undertaken it was a "fresh" operation and took a
considerable amount of time. So many, if not most, users would balk at using
the disk-cloning program on a frequent basis because of that expenditure of
time to undertake the disk-cloning operation.

Anyway, I'd like to encourage you to try out the demo version of Casper 5
available at...http://www.fssdev.com/products/free/
The trial version is slightly crippled but it should give you a good idea of
how the program works. Give it a whirl and see how you like it.
Anna

 

[Bill in Co.]

Bill:
There need not be "unallocated" disk space on the destination HDD in order
for that drive to receive the cloned contents of the source HDD. With
Casper
5, the user has complete & absolute control as to whether he or she
desires
to use unallocated disk space if there is such on the destination HDD *or*
desires instead to set up one or more partitions on the destination HDD.

All that is really necessary is that the HDD that is the recipient of the
clone have sufficient disk space to receive the cloned contents from the
source HDD. As long as that condition is met the user can set up whatever
number & size of partitions he or she desires or use unallocated disk
space
on the drive to contain the cloned contents.

A brief example...
Let's say the user desires to clone the contents of his/her source HDD to
their destination HDD. The source HDD totals 320 GB in disk space, with
100
GB of total data. The destination drive is a 500 GB HDD. We'll even assume
the destination HDD is brand-new out-of-the-box, obviously unpartitioned &
unformatted.

1. If the user desires to create a disk-to-disk clone he or she can simply
do so with the Casper program. There's no need for the user to
partition/format the destination drive. That will be done automatically
through the disk-to-disk cloning process. Naturally under that process the
destination drive will be set up as a single partition holding the
contents
of the 320 GB HDD (100 GB of data in our example).

2. Alternatively, let's say (for whatever reason) the user desires to set
up
two equal partitions on the destination HDD - 250 GB & 250 GB. The user
would then have the option of cloning the 100 GB of data to either
partition. It's his or her choice.

3. Let's say, again, alternatively - that the user desires a partition to
be
created on the destination HDD *only* sufficient in size to hold the 100
GB
of cloned contents. Again, this can be done easily & automatically through
the Casper disk-cloning process. There would be no need for the user to
"touch" the destination HDD through Disk Management or any other utility.
The 100 GB partition would be automatically set up during the cloning
process should the user choose that option. The remaining disk space of
that
500 GB HDD would be unallocated. Again, the user could later manipulate
that
unallocated disk space to whatever he or she wants.
Anna




Bill:
I'm not really familiar with the BING program so I can't speak to that
program.
Anna

The nice thing about BING (Boot It NG) is that it boots up on a boot floppy
(or flash drive), and can do the partition cloning without windows. Well,
I guess I should qualify that statement. That feature CAN be nice (if one
can't boot up into windows for some reason). (I guess you might be able to
do the same thing with that startup disk, if you make one in Casper).

But with BING, unlike Casper (apparently), you CANNOT copy a source drive
partition over to a destination drive existing partition - BING creates that
destination drive partition in unallocated space when it makes the partition
copy. (But to do this, it expects unallocated space - before the
operation)

 

[Mickey Mouse]

I'm somewhat at a loss to understand your comment above. First you
indicate
you "have no need for (incremental) backups"; then you go on to say "The
number of times my system has crashed for one reason or another you
wouldn't believe. In my case each time I've only had to reinstall the OS,
updates and applications. I'm just looking for a quicker way to do it."

Thanks Anna, after all this discussion it appears that as you suggest, one
of the free
disk imaging applications would be more suited to my needs.

I'm not comfortable purchasing Casper out of principle. (The startup disk).
Like buying a car less the spare tyre.

Drive Image has been suggested, perhaps that's all I need.

If I get a reasonble answer from Gigabyte re Xpress Recovery2 I'll post it.

Mickey

 

[Anna]

The nice thing about BING (Boot It NG) is that it boots up on a boot
floppy (or flash drive), and can do the partition cloning without windows.
Well, I guess I should qualify that statement. That feature CAN be nice
(if one can't boot up into windows for some reason). (I guess you might
be able to do the same thing with that startup disk, if you make one in
Casper).

But with BING, unlike Casper (apparently), you CANNOT copy a source drive
partition over to a destination drive existing partition - BING creates
that destination drive partition in unallocated space when it makes the
partition copy. (But to do this, it expects unallocated space - before
the operation)

Bill:
Well as you know there's no problem accessing the Casper program using its
"Startup Disk" Cd . True, (and unfortunately) it's a $9.95 "extra" but it's
obviously vital for the user to have such media.

As I've indicated, Casper can utilize either unallocated disk space or a
created partition on the destination HDD to contain the cloned contents of
the source drive. It's simply the user's choice.
Anna

 

[Bill in Co.]

Bill:
Well as you know there's no problem accessing the Casper program using its
"Startup Disk" Cd . True, (and unfortunately) it's a $9.95 "extra" but
it's
obviously vital for the user to have such media.

As I've indicated, Casper can utilize either unallocated disk space or a
created partition on the destination HDD to contain the cloned contents of
the source drive. It's simply the user's choice.
Anna

Right. Got that.
And thanks for your time on writing that other post, when we discussed the
details of storing multiple partition type clones on the destination drive
(with each having a different drive letter associated with it, etc, etc).
That's kinda what I was thinking might happen, based on my experience with
BING.