Which program will fill these backup needs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tony
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T

Tony

I am running XP Pro. I am looking for a product that will do the following:

1) Be able to create a complete and total (including hidden files, open
files, Registry, OE info, etc) backup of my OS partition from within XP Pro
on to an external USB 2.0 disk, seamlessly and without multiple drops /
reboots back to DOS. When I say backup I don't mean to imply that it cannot
be an image; if an imaging program can do what I want reliably then that's
fine too.

2) Be able to backup onto the drive into DVD sized chunks so that they can
be later burned onto disk(s).

3) Be able to verify backup / image content bit-for-bit against the original
source.

4) Be able to recognize and use those DVD(s) during a recovery operation..

5a) Be able to recover from a bootable CD, from either the USB external
drive or backup / image files located on DVD(s), back to a designated
partition on a designated disk, or

5b) Be able to recover from within Windows

Other features like incremental / differential backup would be considered a
bonus.

Thanks for your help.
 
Tony said:
I am running XP Pro. I am looking for a product that will do the following:
Click to expand...

I have done all of the following with Acronis TrueImage. Assuming that
by 5b) you mean that you can extract files from the image from within
Windows.

If you have SATA or other slightly uncommon hardware, you *may* have
trouble with the rescue CD, as it is Linux-based and depends on the
availability of Linux device drivers. I believe there is a trial
version which should let you test this out.


-WD
 
Retrospect, see www.dantz.com, allows one to create a disaster recovery CD
(not sure about DVD) so you can restore without reloading the OS.

For Win XP, Retrospect includes open file backup to take advantage of Win
XP's volume shadowing.
 
Will Dormann said:
following:

I have done all of the following with Acronis TrueImage. Assuming that
by 5b) you mean that you can extract files from the image from within
Windows.

If you have SATA or other slightly uncommon hardware, you *may* have
trouble with the rescue CD, as it is Linux-based and depends on the
availability of Linux device drivers. I believe there is a trial
version which should let you test this out.


-WD
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation, Will. I did look at both TI and Dantz. The TI
forum on the Acronis website got me a little worried, however. It sounds
like v.8 has some real issues. Have you tried v.8 yet?
 
Tony <[email protected]> said:
I did look at both TI and Dantz. The TI forum on the Acronis website
got me a little worried, however. It sounds like v.8 has some real
issues. Have you tried v.8 yet?
Click to expand...

You've got me worried now. I'd better go and have a look at those
forums.

I've been using True Image 8 for about a month. The only problem I've
had is that True Image 7 can't read True Image 8 files and thinks
they're corrupt. This had me worried for a while, until I realised what
was happening.

True Image has got me out of a hole more times than I can remember.
 
Tony said:
I am running XP Pro. I am looking for a product that will do the following:

1) Be able to create a complete and total (including hidden files, open
files, Registry, OE info, etc) backup of my OS partition from within XP Pro
on to an external USB 2.0 disk, seamlessly and without multiple drops /
reboots back to DOS.
Click to expand...

TrueImage www.acronis.com

When I say backup I don't mean to imply that it cannot
be an image; if an imaging program can do what I want reliably then that's
fine too.

2) Be able to backup onto the drive into DVD sized chunks so that they can
be later burned onto disk(s).

3) Be able to verify backup / image content bit-for-bit against the original
source.

4) Be able to recognize and use those DVD(s) during a recovery operation..

5a) Be able to recover from a bootable CD, from either the USB external
drive or backup / image files located on DVD(s), back to a designated
partition on a designated disk, or

5b) Be able to recover from within Windows
Click to expand...

Inside Windows recovering the Windows drive is a wacko concept. Inside
Windows recovering a different Windows drive works with TrueImage.
Other features like incremental / differential backup would be considered a
bonus.
Click to expand...

Get TrueImage

By the way do you work for Acronis. They need to improve their TS
responsiveness slightly
 
Tony said:
Thanks for the recommendation, Will. I did look at both TI and Dantz. The TI
forum on the Acronis website got me a little worried, however. It sounds
like v.8 has some real issues. Have you tried v.8 yet?
Click to expand...

I'm using V8 with few problems except the robustness of the variety of
platforms that the bootable restore CD is successful upon. That limitation
is not killing as the restore can be done on any PC so I just do the
restores wherever they work and that includes laptop drives on a desktop
using an adapter.
 
I don't know what you mean by "DVD sized chunks".
Retrospect allows you to back up your files:

1. Into a "backup set", just like other backup programs. The backup set can
span media and uses an intelligent incremental backup algorithm.

2. You can create a "duplicate" back up set, which is, as I recall, little
more than copying the files.
 
I guess what I meant to say was, can it create a backup in a series of files
that are each of a size that will fit on a DVD? I understand that some
programs can do that. Once the backup is complete the files can then each be
burned on to its own DVD for storage / archival purposes.
 
Martin Jay said:
You've got me worried now. I'd better go and have a look at those
forums.

I've been using True Image 8 for about a month. The only problem I've
had is that True Image 7 can't read True Image 8 files and thinks
they're corrupt. This had me worried for a while, until I realised what
was happening.

True Image has got me out of a hole more times than I can remember.
Click to expand...

Didn't mean to do that! I just took a quick look at their forum and saw some
concerns raised. It sounds like v.8 is working okay for you.
 
Ron Reaugh said:
TrueImage www.acronis.com
Click to expand...

Acronis seems to be coming up as a strong choice. Can it create DVD sized
files during its backup / imaging?
Inside Windows recovering the Windows drive is a wacko concept. Inside
Windows recovering a different Windows drive works with TrueImage.
Click to expand...

Yes, I didn't make that clear. Of course I wouldn't try to restore an OS
partition while running the OS (g). Not likely to work. I meant to restore
other files, partitions while in Windows.
considered

Get TrueImage

By the way do you work for Acronis. They need to improve their TS
responsiveness slightly
Click to expand...

Why on God's green earth would you think I worked for Acronis?!
 
Tony said:
Thanks for the recommendation, Will. I did look at both TI and Dantz. The TI
forum on the Acronis website got me a little worried, however. It sounds
like v.8 has some real issues. Have you tried v.8 yet?
Click to expand...

I'm a regular on the forums and have been reading probably the same
messages that you have been. One of the things that has been
frustrating people is Acronis's decision to make the software go to
version 8. The changes to the software are pretty trivial, and it
should have been a free "7.1" upgrade release, if anything. But that's
marketing for yah...

I do use TrueImage 8 myself, and I am happy with it.
The issues that I have run into with ATI 8 include:

- Backup compression setting seems to be "off by one" ("high" =
"normal", "normal" = "minimal", etc.) I'm not sure if this is in all
situations, but I have seen it myself.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=45531

- File splitting size in ATI8 now uses Gibibytes, rather than Gigabytes.
In other words, a "2GB" file will not fit on a DVD ISO9660 filesystem.
You'd need to specify "1.9GB" for it to fit. Not sure why they
changed this, and if it was on purpose.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=46541

- Scheduled backups seem to have some sort of quirk with authentication
with network mapped drive letters. As a work-around, I just use the
UNC name to connect to.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=44593

- At least in a VMWare virtual machine, the boot CD doesn't seem to
recognize media changes. As a result, I could not successfully restore
a multi-CD backup. I have a feeling that this is some VMWare-specific
quirk. I haven't gotten around to testing it out on my *real* machine.
My C: drive backups fit onto a single DVD, so I have not run into this
problem myself.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=47441


Those issues aside, ATI8 has worked fine for me. The workarounds for
the above issues are trivial, also.

The other reported issues with Acronis True Image are:
- The rescue CD is linux-based. So if your hardware isn't (well)
supported by Linux, then you *may* experience problems with it.
- Acronis Support is supposedly sub-par.

I think the software is great. I forget what functionality might be
limited in the trial version, but I suggest that you give it a shot.
I've been somewhat less likely to recommend TrueImage lately, however,
because of how they released version 8 of the software. If they want
to save face, they'll release a bug fix update soon for the above issues.


-WD
 
Tony said:
Didn't mean to do that! I just took a quick look at their forum and saw some
concerns raised. It sounds like v.8 is working okay for you.
Click to expand...

The thing to remember about these kind of forums is that as a general
rule, you will *only* be hearing from the people having problems. If
ATI8 is working fine for somebody, they're not going to go to a forum
and report it! :)

You can never really tell what *percentage* of people are having
problems by looking at that sort of forum.


-WD
 
Tony said:
Acronis seems to be coming up as a strong choice. Can it create DVD sized
files during its backup / imaging?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. While DVD-sized chunks aren't pre-populated (like 650MB CD
is), you can just type in "1.9GB". I do this so that my images can be
archived into a bootable ISO9660 DVD.

While the ability to make a bootable rescue DVD with the images on it
isn't a native function of ATI, you can pretty easily "roll you own" :
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=35875
(near the end of the thread)


-WD
 
Didn't mean to do that! I just took a quick look at their forum and saw some
concerns raised. It sounds like v.8 is working okay for you.
Click to expand...

Fortunately I do backup my important data files using a separate
process, so if my True Image main backup dies I should still have copies
of everything important. It would just mean I'd have to go through the
laborious process of installing Windows, hardware drivers, etc.
 
Will Dormann said:
I'm a regular on the forums and have been reading probably the same
messages that you have been. One of the things that has been
frustrating people is Acronis's decision to make the software go to
version 8. The changes to the software are pretty trivial, and it
should have been a free "7.1" upgrade release, if anything. But that's
marketing for yah...

I do use TrueImage 8 myself, and I am happy with it.
The issues that I have run into with ATI 8 include:

- Backup compression setting seems to be "off by one" ("high" =
"normal", "normal" = "minimal", etc.) I'm not sure if this is in all
situations, but I have seen it myself.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=45531

- File splitting size in ATI8 now uses Gibibytes, rather than Gigabytes.
In other words, a "2GB" file will not fit on a DVD ISO9660 filesystem.
You'd need to specify "1.9GB" for it to fit. Not sure why they
changed this, and if it was on purpose.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=46541

- Scheduled backups seem to have some sort of quirk with authentication
with network mapped drive letters. As a work-around, I just use the
UNC name to connect to.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=44593

- At least in a VMWare virtual machine, the boot CD doesn't seem to
recognize media changes. As a result, I could not successfully restore
a multi-CD backup. I have a feeling that this is some VMWare-specific
quirk. I haven't gotten around to testing it out on my *real* machine.
My C: drive backups fit onto a single DVD, so I have not run into this
problem myself.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=47441


Those issues aside, ATI8 has worked fine for me. The workarounds for
the above issues are trivial, also.

The other reported issues with Acronis True Image are:
- The rescue CD is linux-based. So if your hardware isn't (well)
supported by Linux, then you *may* experience problems with it.
- Acronis Support is supposedly sub-par.

I think the software is great. I forget what functionality might be
limited in the trial version, but I suggest that you give it a shot.
I've been somewhat less likely to recommend TrueImage lately, however,
because of how they released version 8 of the software. If they want
to save face, they'll release a bug fix update soon for the above issues.


-WD
Click to expand...

Thanks again, Will. The workarounds you've provided make TI v.8 less of a
worry than I originally thought. Time to take a test drive!
 
Tony said:
Acronis seems to be coming up as a strong choice. Can it create DVD sized
files during its backup / imaging?
Click to expand...

Do you work for Acronis? You only ask questions where the Acronis answer is
yes, 100%. Suspicious.
Yes, I didn't make that clear. Of course I wouldn't try to restore an OS
partition while running the OS (g). Not likely to work. I meant to restore
other files, partitions while in Windows.


Why on God's green earth would you think I worked for Acronis?!
Click to expand...

Your questions don't meet a sufficient randomness criteria. It's as if they
were formulated from a TrueImage spec sheet and we've all seen such shill
behavior in NGs before.
 
RE/
Other features like incremental / differential backup would be considered a
bonus.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert - and you probably just tacked the "incremental/differential" part
on as a nice-to-have for cases where new stuff is installed on the system...but
just in case: I make a distinction between data and system backups.
Different needs, probably different optimal solutions.

I'm using Retrospect for data, DriveImage 7 for system.

I have no love for Retrospect but, truth-be-told, it has gotten me through a
couple of drive failures with (apparently...how does one really know?) no lost
data.

With DriveImage 7, I'm just going on a hope, a prayer, and the word of others
who say they've successfully restored a system from it. Not as bad as it
dounds, I think, because my backup of last resort is still the discs used to
rebuild a system "manually"....and they're all backed up twice (at different
offsite locations) via CD copies.
 
Martin Jay said:
Fortunately I do backup my important data files using a separate
process, so if my True Image main backup dies I should still have copies
of everything important. It would just mean I'd have to go through the
laborious process of installing Windows, hardware drivers, etc.
Click to expand...

My interest is piqued. What process do you use for data, Martin?
 
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