Which storage media appropriate for small PC backups ?

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Guest

5 October 2006
Hi there,
I am running windows XP home edition on a Dell dimension 4500 desktop PC
with 40 GB memory, (of which only 27% or 10 GB is used and 73% is free).It
might be relevant to know that Dell preinstalls the windows XP software,
(rather than provide each customer with the full installation software), and
we are just given a "recovery disk". I gather this has its limitations. Also
several other familiar programs are pre-installed.

I would like to create an image of my entire hard disk drive, including the
operating system, applications, user settings, and all data, so that I may
use that image to restore my PC to its current working state without
reinstallation in the event of some unfortunate "crash".

I have just purchased the Acronis true image 9.0 software but I could really
do with some advice about what storage hardware is most usually is used in
conjunction with it. I have to admit to being very ignorant about devices
like IDE, SCSI, FireWire or network storage devices and in particular I
should like some advice about whether using 15 CD-R discs, (as storage for my
10 GB used), will result in a straightforward restoration following any
unfortunate "crash".
If there are disadvantages, what is the most economical alternative
(external ?) device that will allow me to get my computer running and back to
its current state; and is one device quicker than another ?
Sorry to be so ignorant about this subject. I imagine that there may be
others who would like to read whatever comments/opinions you care to offer.
Most grateful for your guidance, many thanks, Ian
 
Easy answer: An external hard drive. Doesn't matter whether it uses a
USB or a Firewire connection.

External hard drives are faster than DVDs and besides that, who wants to
be tied to their computer for an hour/hours while waiting to swap
DVDs? Plus: Ask most anyone who's tried it and you'll quickly learn that
backing up directly to optical media is not terribly reliable.

Network storage (really just another type of external hard drive) is an
equally good solution, if you've got access to it, but I get the
impression that's not an option for you.

It doesn't make sense to store your backup on the same hard drive. If
the hard drive dies, there goes your backup. You could store your backup
on a second internal hard drive, but that won't help you if your
computer gets damaged or stolen.

An external hard drive with a capacity of 160GB - or more - is easy to
find for less than $100. If you're buying a USB drive make sure it's USB
2.0 aka 'high speed'. Firewire (aka 1394b) drives can be even faster
than USB 2.0, but there are fewer to choose from and they are more
expensive.

In my opinion, True Image and an external hard disk are an unbeatable
combination.

BTW: Your computer has 40GB of (disk) storage, not memory. And my 4500
came with a full Windows installation CD as well as installation CDs for
all the software that came with the computer. No recovery partition.
 
You can buy a dual layer 16x DVD-RW drive for less than $40
and replace the CD-RW drive or add it as a second drive.
The dual layer DVDs can hold nearly 8.5 GB.

Dell can sell you a regular Windows install CD [they are now
listing that as an option on their order forms], so there is
no need to copy everything.

Your 4500 is an older computer, you might even look at the
cost to buy a second computer from Dell, which could be less
expensive than buying bits and pieces. It would let you
setup a LAN and you could image computer number 1 on the new
computer's hard drive, which now start at more than 100 GB.
You can even add network drive for storage for both
computers.



message
|5 October 2006
| Hi there,
| I am running windows XP home edition on a Dell dimension
4500 desktop PC
| with 40 GB memory, (of which only 27% or 10 GB is used and
73% is free).It
| might be relevant to know that Dell preinstalls the
windows XP software,
| (rather than provide each customer with the full
installation software), and
| we are just given a "recovery disk". I gather this has its
limitations. Also
| several other familiar programs are pre-installed.
|
| I would like to create an image of my entire hard disk
drive, including the
| operating system, applications, user settings, and all
data, so that I may
| use that image to restore my PC to its current working
state without
| reinstallation in the event of some unfortunate "crash".
|
| I have just purchased the Acronis true image 9.0 software
but I could really
| do with some advice about what storage hardware is most
usually is used in
| conjunction with it. I have to admit to being very
ignorant about devices
| like IDE, SCSI, FireWire or network storage devices and in
particular I
| should like some advice about whether using 15 CD-R discs,
(as storage for my
| 10 GB used), will result in a straightforward restoration
following any
| unfortunate "crash".
| If there are disadvantages, what is the most economical
alternative
| (external ?) device that will allow me to get my computer
running and back to
| its current state; and is one device quicker than another
?
| Sorry to be so ignorant about this subject. I imagine that
there may be
| others who would like to read whatever comments/opinions
you care to offer.
| Most grateful for your guidance, many thanks, Ian
|
|
 
My vote is for Ted's suggestion, it a sound and valid approach.

I personally do things a little differently using Symantec's Ghost to create
image backups to a second internal drive. Periodically I burn a copy of the
image backup that was created on the second drive to a DVD as a just in case
all else fails.

JS
 
JS also has a good approach. I didn't want to overwhelm the OP with
details, but here goes...

The advantage of storing an image on a second internal hard disk is, in
a word, speed. It's faster to image to (and restore from) an internal
hard disk than an external hard disk.

So one possible backup regimen is to image daily to an internal hard
disk and weekly to an external hard disk.

Imaging to a DVD -- what I used to do -- has the advantage that you
don't have to spend the money on an external drive. You do, of course
have to buy DVDs, and over time you may find you're spending as much or
more on media as you would had you sprung for an external drive.

Once your backup gets too big to fit on a single DVD you've got to span,
so you have to wait around to insert subsequent DVDs not once but twice,
since you want to verify the backup after its done. Way to kill an hour
or two, which is not going to motivate you to backup daily, which you
should.

And if one of the blank disks doesn't burn correctly you've got to start
all over again. As sophisticated as burning software is, burning direct
to DVD is not a sure thing. A more reliable method is to store disk
images on your hard disk and then burn the images to DVDs...but that
takes even longer.

Ghost is also a fine imaging program, but many (including me) don't care
for "Norton" products, for reasons that have nothing to do with this thread.
 
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