Recommendations on backup software please

  • Thread starter Thread starter atDFN
  • Start date Start date
A

atDFN

I'm trying to get set up so I can do complete backups of computers of
my clients. I have a Kanguru 120 gig external drive with multiple
interface cables. I can plug in (right now) with either USB or
parallel cables. I can get cables for firewire if I need.

Can some of you tell me what backup software you prefer for making a
complete backup? I need to be able to plug my external drive directly
into the computer and do an image backup. I'd rather not have to pull
their drive to do this. I'm working with computers ranging from Win98
up to XP.

Thanks in advance for your comments.


ben
 
atDFN said:
I'm trying to get set up so I can do complete backups of computers of
my clients. I have a Kanguru 120 gig external drive with multiple
interface cables. I can plug in (right now) with either USB or
parallel cables. I can get cables for firewire if I need.

Can some of you tell me what backup software you prefer for making a
complete backup? I need to be able to plug my external drive directly
into the computer and do an image backup. I'd rather not have to pull
their drive to do this. I'm working with computers ranging from Win98
up to XP.

Thanks in advance for your comments.


ben
Click to expand...

I use Norton Ghost to do what you just described and works very well.

Hank
 
I use Norton Ghost to do what you just described and works very well.

Hank
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I've had some problems with Norton
products in the past, so was trying to avoid them. However, you're
the second person who's suggested Ghost. I've already been to their
site to check out the specs. It's good to hear from other users about
what works for them.


ben
 
atDFN said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I've had some problems with Norton
products in the past, so was trying to avoid them. However, you're
the second person who's suggested Ghost. I've already been to their
site to check out the specs. It's good to hear from other users about
what works for them.


ben
Click to expand...

I'm with you about Norton they pretty much suck! I've had nothing but
problems with them and have stopped using anything made by Symantec except
for Ghost. I haven't had any problems with it at all and am almost sorry to
say that I really like it. If there was anything out there I liked as much
or even better I would be using it.

Hank
 
I'm with you about Norton they pretty much suck! I've had nothing but
problems with them and have stopped using anything made by Symantec except
for Ghost. I haven't had any problems with it at all and am almost sorry to
say that I really like it. If there was anything out there I liked as much
or even better I would be using it.

Hank
Click to expand...
Thanks for your recommendation. I've used Norton Utilities for many,
many years. Then Anti-Virus. However, it seems that the Norton line
began to deteriorate when Symantec bought out Peter Norton. I've even
moved to the Fix-It utilities from V-Com. It seems Symantec is trying
to be all things to all people and failing at that.

Anyway, I'll give Ghost a try. I've been checking out several other
backup options, but haven't found anything else yet that really seems
to fit the bill.


ben
 
I made back up with ghost and after few month I couldn't boot. I used again
ghost to load drive back up. It took me than minutes or less to load
complete hard drive (10Gb)

Boba Vancouver BC.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I've had some problems with Norton
products in the past, so was trying to avoid them. However, you're
the second person who's suggested Ghost. I've already been to their
site to check out the specs. It's good to hear from other users about
what works for them.
Click to expand...
I also use Ghost, and it is good, but it is bloody slow, doing a full
system image with verify takes me several hours. I usually image to a
second HDD, but every month or so image directly to CD's bootable with
Ghost on board, so I can restore even if the system can't boot.

Acronis is supposed to be better, and does it in the background from
Windows - doesn't have to go to DOS. It has had some rave reviews,
but I remain suspicious that you can get an completely accurate image
while backing up files in use that are changing during the backup.
Check it out on http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/
 
I also use Ghost, and it is good, but it is bloody slow, doing a full
system image with verify takes me several hours. I usually image to a
second HDD, but every month or so image directly to CD's bootable with
Ghost on board, so I can restore even if the system can't boot.

Acronis is supposed to be better, and does it in the background from
Windows - doesn't have to go to DOS. It has had some rave reviews,
but I remain suspicious that you can get an completely accurate image
while backing up files in use that are changing during the backup.
Check it out on http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/
Click to expand...

The speed of backup or restore with DOS-based programs such as Ghost,
DriveImage, etc, varies vastly based on whether the motherboard BIOS
(properly) implements IDE busmastering, and if that setting is
user-selectable in the BIOS setup, as it is often defaulted to "off"
whether it's selectable or hidden. For example, using same HDD and
quite similar CPUs I've seen one board make backups at around 200
MB/s, while the other did so at 1.1GB/s
 
Peter said:
I also use Ghost, and it is good, but it is bloody slow, doing a
full system image with verify takes me several hours. I usually
image to a second HDD, but every month or so image directly to
CD's bootable with Ghost on board, so I can restore even if the
system can't boot.
Click to expand...

Especially for imaging to a second HD, check out XXCOPY from
xxcopy.com. It is free, works, and is very flexible. The /clone
switch maintains a complete replacement HD for me with normal
incremental backup taking only a few minutes.
 
Especially for imaging to a second HD, check out XXCOPY from
xxcopy.com. It is free, works, and is very flexible. The /clone
switch maintains a complete replacement HD for me with normal
incremental backup taking only a few minutes.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I've downloaded XXCopy, but am not sure it will work with my
external hard drive. Looks good for some jobs, though.
 
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