Best way to backup Windows machines?? (need easy restore)

Vanity | 7-20-2009 | Frantzie

[calex59]

In using it so far the only problem I’ve had is with drivers when restoring to a different system. You won’t have that problem restoring to the same system.

Thanks. You answered a question I had about Vista and XP allowing an image. Same system ok. I haven't used ghost in years because I no longer use my computer for business and if I lose my stuff, so what:) I keep all my really personal files on flash drives and don't worry about losing the programs.

[time4good]

Depends what you mean by ‘backup’ for easy restore. I’m a Software Engineer with 5 or 6 boxes at home. At home and work, the easiest to ‘clone’ is something like Symantec’s Ghost - takes a complete image of the hard disk or partition. What you can do is put the new drive in alongside the old and clone the partition from the old disk to the new (larger) disk.

[kenth]

Mirroring the drive is cheap, easy and will give you minimum down time.

[Vision]

Create a folder on your desktop, and place everything in it. Don't use an OS storage file system. Once a month drag and drop the file onto an external hd.

[webschooner]

I am looking for something to backup the WinXP operating system on each of our 3 machines, once I have it reformatted, and all drivers, updates, and basic software we use loaded. I know this sounds weird to most, but unlike others, I’m not attached enough to any data on our computers to worry about backing it up. I’m just interested in making a clean copy of the OS with my basic software loaded so that when I reformat, it doesn’t take a whole day to get it going again in a usable form.

So I googled Backup Exec System Recovery you suggested. It appears that is a Symantec product. Yes? If so, I’m out. I don’t use Symantec products. Thanks much.

[TChris]

To minimize data storage requirements and backup time, I prefer a combination of a drive image and regular data backups to DVD-R.

First, install Windows with all current updates and drivers. I like to use Ghost to make an image of the partition at this point, before installing applications. (The point being that installing apps doesn't take much time, in comparison to the O/S, that and your application set will change more frequently than your O/S)

Install your applications and copy your data to the drive.

Most users don't have 4.5 GB of irrecoverable data, so an inexpensive DVD-R once a week to back up all data files works well. In my case, my MP3s reside on two PCs and my portable media player, so I don't worry about actively backing them up, just keeping them all in sync. :-)

For the data backup, Windows Professional and Media Center editions include Microsoft Backup, which works reasonably well. There are good FOSS/freeware backup apps out there too, if you prefer.

I do a full data backup weekly, but if you have larger amounts of data it may make more sense to do weekly differential backups and less frequent full backups.

Restoring your system consists of: 1) restoring the Ghost image of the basic O/S installation, 2) re-installing your apps, and 3) copying the most recent data backup from DVD-R to your hard drive.

...my $0.02 worth.

[Varmint Al]

I use Ghost 2003 and it works very well. It is very easy to backup and even easier to restore a complete partition. I got it with Norton Systemworks pro 2003. Here is a page on how it works:

http://www.varmintal.com/aghos.htm

Also once the backup is made and single file or folder can be copied and pasted from the image file using the Ghost Explorer.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[TChris]

I am looking for something to backup the WinXP operating system on each of our 3 machines, once I have it reformatted, and all drivers, updates, and basic software we use loaded.

Symantec/Norton Ghost $69.95

Drive Image XML Free for home use

[Sparko]

Backups are critical. In addition to the various good methods described above of backing up either files, or applications or your OS or some combination of data, apps, or OS, two suggestions.

First:
Periodically check to see if the backed up DVDs, or images, or mirrored drives really work. That is, can you retrieve the data from them?

Why?
If you have corrupted files on your source drive and backup those files, they will still be corrupt on the backup method you have selected.

Second. Word processing programs, spread sheets and databases write data in proprietary formats. This is fine, but you cannot always exchange data with someone else. More importantly, if you have corrupt files, data recovery is more difficult.

Solution: these same programs have options to export or save the data in somewhat more neutral formats such as CSV, tab delimited, that show up as file extensions with (.tab, .txt and .csv)

Periodically do so, and back up that data as well.
You may loose a lot of formatting, but the bulk of the files and information will be there.

Then, should all hell break loose and you lose program files and data, someone using a different word processor, or spread sheet or database program can still import your data and you can start again.

[antiRepublicrat]

You just reminded me that I also only did that in a business with an enterprise license that didn’t require activation. It could get hairy going cross-system with a version that requires activation.

[papasmurf]

I swear by, not at, Clonezilla.

It's a FREE collection of FREE and OpenSource applications that you download and burn to a CD, or a USB flash drive.

I've been using it for about 2 years, and have set it as a weekly task. It makes an "image" of your ENTIRE hard drive.

Why is an image better than a backup? Good question. Here's why...

While you can back up important files on your hard drive, there’s no way to back up an entire Windows hard drive in a form that would allow you to subsequently restore it and get back on line immediately. (at least, there’s no way to completely back up a Windows hard drive under Windows)

Windows locks down several important components of itself, making them inaccessible to other applications while Windows is running. This would include whatever software you were using to back up your system.

An image, OTOH, is an exact, and complete replication of your installed Windows, including ALL of your files, folders, installed programs, AND your Windows activation! That's correct, if all you are changing, when you restore it, is your HD, you will not have to re-activate it with MS.

If you crash your HD, you just insert the CD/DVD, boot up, select restore image, and go mow the lawn. When you return, your Windows will be there, just as it was when you imaged it, with everything working. No muss, no fuss.

If you decide to use this method and need help, just post back or PM, we'll get a tutorial up.

[papasmurf]

Really, you should try Clonezilla. It's FREE, and it "works as advertised". JMO.

[rerat0120]

I use Acronis True Image 10 (XP & Vista), the current version home version is True Image Home 2009 (vers.11). It retails for around $50.00.

If you buy a Seagate HDD, some ship with scaled back version of True Image, or it can be downloaded from the Seagate website for free. This is the free software they offer to clone your current HDD to the new Seagate one you just bought. The only difference I see from the full retail version and the Seagate one, is that you can't set up a hidden or recovery partition, and restore during the PC boot-up. You will need to create a rescue disk and recover from a saved file either on multiple CD/DVDs, or on another partition on the HDDs in your PC.

[Perdogg]

My new HP have a back up function where I can backup files to a DVD everyweek.

[rockrr]

“I do not trust any 3rd party backup solutions with my data.”

Absolutely.

Case in point: As I’m doing my data backup I encounter a file that has spanned a bad sector on the drive and the file copy terminates. I had one of the 3rd party software solutions that wouldn’t alert me to the aborted backup - it just stopped and everything looked as though it had completed successfully.

I guess it comes down to how much one values their stuff ;}

[Zetman]

I went through this a year or so back when the hard drive on my Windows XP system started making “funny noises”.

I have both USB and Firewire ports on my PC, so I went out to Best Buy and bought an external hard drive with both types of ports (that was 3 times larger than my existing “C” drive!!).

I used to use Norton Ghost, but when I asked around to several of my friends who are in IT, and work with Windows all the time, they told me that “True Image” by Acronis is better (I think that post # 20 above said that they also use True Image). So, I went out and bought True Image.

I then used the software to make an image copy of my dying “C” drive to the new external drive, and that worked well. After that, I had Best Buy put a new hard drive in my PC, and told them to leave it blank (I have an extended warranty, so they replaced it at no charge). The only difference was that the new “C” drive had a larger capacity than my old “C” drive.

True Image then has a restore function where you boot your PC off of the True Image install CD, which I did. It immediately recognized my new Firewire drive with the backed up image of my old “C” drive on it, it recognized the new blank hard drive in my PC, and it did a very smooth and trouble-free restore of my “C” drive.

It all worked very well, and when I was done, I had an exact copy of my “C” drive up and running on the new hard disk. So, I was happy.

[novemberslady]

bkmk

[Frantzie]

Can you mirror with XP and Vista?

Do you have to have like drives like 2 x 80 gig drives? Thanks to all.

[Still Thinking]

Sounds like this is a work environment, but a lot of people have digital families these days to the point of putting in a file server at home. I’ll probably be doing this shortly. A buddy of mine recommends setting up the NAS/Server with Windows Home Server, which can be configured to do backups of the machines attached to the network. Don’t know how it works (incremental + periodic backups, client loaded on the backed up machines, etc.), but he swears by it. Whatever you’re running on your work server (Unix, Linux, Windows Server, etc.) may offer similar functionality if you turn it on, or at least it should be able to be added.

[Frantzie]

My old HP with XP did not. :-( Hopefully my outside guy can put it on a new drive. The nice thing about HP’s is they last forever. The hard drives and fans on the power supplies can go but the machines are pretty solid.