Drive Imaging

[lesley anne]

Is there a drive imaging program that will let me image ONLY the
C:\Windows & the C:\Program Files folders to allow for a quick restore
of just the operating system (win98se) and my current programs?

My C: drive is 20GB but 16+GB are mp3 & other data files that are
already backed up to my second hard drive (& to cd-r's) so there is no
need to take all the time and space to image them. Windows is taking
up just under 700MB & Program Files is using 1GB so an image that just
had those two critical folders to get me back up & running in case of
a disaster would be quick & easy.

So can I selectively chose which folders to image using Ghost, Drive
Image, BootitNg or another program?

If not, I see a several alternatives:

1) delete the data files temporarily and image the smaller C: then
copy the data back.

2) partition C: and move non-OS/program files to a new partition. I'd
rather not do this if avoidable.

I don't need to do frequent images, just one that is dependable now
and an occasional new one in the future.

 

[Rod Speed]

Is there a drive imaging program that will let me image ONLY the
C:\Windows & the C:\Program Files folders to allow for a quick restore
of just the operating system (win98se) and my current programs?

Nope, the word image means the entire partition or drive.

Any decent full backup program will do what you want tho.

Or you could repartition the drive so you have
one small boot partition when that stuff in it and
the rest of the stuff in a separate data partition.

My C: drive is 20GB but 16+GB are mp3 & other data files that
are already backed up to my second hard drive (& to cd-r's) so
there is no need to take all the time and space to image them.
Correct.

Windows is taking up just under 700MB & Program Files is using
1GB so an image that just had those two critical folders to get me
back up & running in case of a disaster would be quick & easy.
Correct.

So can I selectively chose which folders to
image using Ghost, Drive Image, BootitNg
Nope.

or another program?

Yes, any of the full backup programs will do what you want,
allow you to specify what gets backed up and what doesnt.

If not, I see a several alternatives:

1) delete the data files temporarily and image
the smaller C: then copy the data back.

Thats not likely to be any faster than imaging the whole thing.

2) partition C: and move non-OS/program files to a new partition.

Yep, that will certainly work fine.

I'd rather not do this if avoidable.

You'd really need to image the entire drive first
for safety, but its a very viable approach if you
want to keep using Ghost or Drive Image.

I don't need to do frequent images, just one that is
dependable now and an occasional new one in the future.

Maybe. What does keep changing quite a bit is stuff like favourites
and even just the email if you keep that in the default location.

It would probably best to just use a real backup
program and no an imaging app. Thats built in with XP.

 

[Lil' Dave]

I won't butcher your post with my reply.

My experience has shown that its best to separate your data, be it music or
video or whatever, should be on a different partition for both safety and
ease of backup.

Dave

 

[DaveL]

How about a backup program. The one that comes with XP will do what you
want. Or you could xcopy those two directory trees. Not perfect, but it
works.

Dave

 

[Lesley Anne]

Thanks, Rod...

I doubted I'd be able to selectively image the OS & Program Files but
I wanted to be sure.

I do want to emphasize that what I want to do is 'image' not 'backup'
- I've already backed up (multiple times) my important data files
(including bookmarks & email, etc). What I want is to have a quick
way to restore my system in case of disaster without the arduous task
of reinstalling Windows and all my programs.

If I just copy the Windows & Program Files folders to my second hard
drive, reformat the C drive, then copy back the two folders
containing the OS & Programs, it's my understanding that this will not
work, right?

But an image containing the OS & Program Files (+everything else on C:
except the data files) will?

The reason I don't want to just image C: as it exists now with nearly
all 20GB full is that I'd like to put an image on cdr's. Even if the
process compresses the image down to 10GB or so, that's still a lot of
cd's. By temporarily deleting all the data off C: and just imaging
the OS & programs, then it's reduced to less than 2GB and a couple of
cd's.

Copying all the mp3's, etc back to C: (from the second hard drive)
after imaging will take a bit of time but nowhere near that needed to
swap in and out a dozen or more cdr's on my old 4X burner!

 

[Lesley Anne]

Thanks for your input, Dave.

I won't butcher your post with my reply.

My experience has shown that its best to separate your data, be it music or
video or whatever, should be on a different partition for both safety and
ease of backup.

Dave

 

[Lesley Anne]

Thanks for responding to my post, Dave.

If I backup (not image) the Windows & Program Files folders (or the
whole C: drive for that matter) to my D: drive, then copy them back to
a reformatted C:, will the computer operate?

I've been told that it won't.

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks, Rod...

I doubted I'd be able to selectively image the
OS & Program Files but I wanted to be sure.

Yeah, you do sometimes see a situation where it doesnt
look like its possible, but it turns out that there is an easy way.

I do want to emphasize that what I want to do is 'image' not
'backup' - I've already backed up (multiple times) my important
data files (including bookmarks & email, etc). What I want is to
have a quick way to restore my system in case of disaster without
the arduous task of reinstalling Windows and all my programs.

Sure. But a decent backup program can do
that, without needing to produce an image.

If I just copy the Windows & Program Files folders to
my second hard drive, reformat the C drive, then copy
back the two folders containing the OS & Programs,
it's my understanding that this will not work, right?

The better backup progs will do that. They usually
call that disaster recovery or something close to that.

But an image containing the OS & Program Files
(+everything else on C: except the data files) will?
Yes.

The reason I don't want to just image C: as it exists
now with nearly all 20GB full is that I'd like to put an
image on cdr's. Even if the process compresses the
image down to 10GB or so, that's still a lot of cd's.
Yes.

By temporarily deleting all the data off C:
and just imaging the OS & programs, then it's
reduced to less than 2GB and a couple of cd's.

Yes, and if you have a separate partition for the OS and programs,
and just image that, you dont even need to do the copying.

Copying all the mp3's, etc back to C: (from the second hard drive)
after imaging will take a bit of time but nowhere near that needed
to swap in and out a dozen or more cdr's on my old 4X burner!

True. Thats why I now have a separate partition
for the OS and programs and just image that.
I mostly do that in case a service pack install
goes pear shaped, and I write the image to
another physical drive, so the number of CDs
isnt relevant, its just quicker to image just the
OS and programs which increases the likelyhood
that I'll bother before installing a critical update etc.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

If I backup (not image) the Windows & Program Files folders (or the
whole C: drive for that matter) to my D: drive, then copy them back to
a reformatted C:, will the computer operate?

I've been told that it won't.

By far, the easiest thing to do is to get a 2nd hard drive and
periodically image the entire primary drive to it. Make sure the
image is bootable, and even if the primary drive croaks entirely,
you can revert to using the 2nd hard drive in its place with just
a keyboard adjustment to the BIOS. You don't even have to
open the case. HD imaging is really easy since you don't have to
be in attendance once it starts - unlike with CDs. Just start it up
every evening or once a week, and it's painless. If you only
modified or created a couple files since the last backup, just drag
'n drop them to the 2nd HD. The downside is the modest expense
of the 2nd hard drive (approx. $1/GB, now) and the cost of the
imaging software. Seen as insurance and a labor-saver for when
your primary HD bites the rust, it's cheap.

*TimDaniels*

 

[DaveL]

With Win98se, you need three files in the root folder for it to boot.
Command.com, msdos.sys and io.sys (msdos.sys and io.sys are hidden files).
If you have those three files there and the partition is marked "active" in
fdisk, then it will boot.

Dave

 

[Lesley Anne]

Sure. But a decent backup program can do
that, without needing to produce an image.


The better backup progs will do that. They usually
call that disaster recovery or something close to that.

Rod, can you recommend one (or more) of the backup programs?

 

[Lesley Anne]

By far, the easiest thing to do is to get a 2nd hard drive and
periodically image the entire primary drive to it. Make sure the
image is bootable, and even if the primary drive croaks entirely,
you can revert to using the 2nd hard drive in its place with just
a keyboard adjustment to the BIOS.

Tim, I do have a second hard drive, which has more free space than the
C: drive, but it does have a lot of stuff on it also.

An image created by Ghost, etc creates one big compressed file, if I
understand the process, and that file can be put on the second drive
anywhere amongst the other files?

If the image is made bootable on the D: drive (the drive itself is
bootable) does that mean the image file will be uncompressed into all
the original folders (Windows & Program Files, etc) upon command?

I'd still need to run the imaging program to do this, right?

Thanks!

 

[Martin]

Tim, I do have a second hard drive, which has more free space than the
C: drive, but it does have a lot of stuff on it also.

An image created by Ghost, etc creates one big compressed file, if I
understand the process, and that file can be put on the second drive
anywhere amongst the other files?

If the image is made bootable on the D: drive (the drive itself is
bootable) does that mean the image file will be uncompressed into all
the original folders (Windows & Program Files, etc) upon command?

I'd still need to run the imaging program to do this, right?

Thanks!

I regularly run Drive Image putting the the whole C:drive image file on a
second removable HD with a bunch of other files. I use their emergency boot
and program disks to do the recovery. It's saved me much grief on two
occasions so far.

Marty

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Tim, I do have a second hard drive, which has more free space
than the C: drive, but it does have a lot of stuff on it also.

An image created by Ghost, etc creates one big compressed file,
if I understand the process, and that file can be put on the second
drive anywhere amongst the other files?

If Ghost is like Drive Image, it can make a compressed image
file to be stored like any other file, or it can make an uncompressed
image file to be stored like any other file, or it can make an
uncompressed image that is bootable. I believe that Drive Image
will take just as much room on the destination drive as it needs for
the data portion of the source partition, and to not consider the
remainder of the unused space in the source partition to be part of
the "image", but I'm not sure about that.

If the image is made bootable on the D: drive (the drive itself is
bootable) does that mean the image file will be uncompressed
into all the original folders (Windows & Program Files, etc)
upon command?

The image will be visible and accessible as uncompressed
folders in a file system rooted on the drive containing it (drive
D:, say). If it is booted up, its operating system will view itself
(and the root of its file system) as being on the C: drive. The
entire image will be exactly as large as it is on the source drive.

I'd still need to run the imaging program to do this, right?

Yes.


*TimDaniels*

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod, can you recommend one (or more) of the backup programs?

Whats included with the NT/2K/XP family are pretty decent.

Veritas has a variety of products for various prices and usages.

Stomp isnt bad at the low end.

 

[Rod Speed]

Tim, I do have a second hard drive, which has more free
space than the C: drive, but it does have a lot of stuff on it also.

An image created by Ghost, etc creates one big compressed
file, if I understand the process, and that file can be put on the
second drive anywhere amongst the other files?
Correct.

If the image is made bootable on the D: drive

Not possible to make an image file bootable.

(the drive itself is bootable) does that mean the
image file will be uncompressed into all the original
folders (Windows & Program Files, etc) upon command?

You can RESTORE the image file to the
replacement C drive if the C drive fails.

I'd still need to run the imaging program to do this, right?

Depends on what you mean there. The usual thing would
be to make the rescue floppys when you create the image
and use those if the C drive dies and you need to restore
the image to the replacement C drive. You can usually
boot the distribution CD of the ghost type program too.