Best Backup Program
in [Windows XP Basics]
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From: David on 11 May 2010 05:18 I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available. My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus. I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable external drive. I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive to a different external drive. I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk. Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus. Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a file if I choose. Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are fine.
From: Jim on 11 May 2010 09:44 On Tue, 11 May 2010 05:18:18 -0400, David wrote: > >I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available. > >My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually >upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus. > >I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable >external drive. > >I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive >to a different external drive. > >I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk. > >Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus. > >Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB >internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that >is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a >file if I choose. > >Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I >can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are >fine. Acronis True Image (�/$ ) Macrium Reflect (�/$) Paragon (�/$) Macrium and Paragon also have free software .
From: Daave on 11 May 2010 09:45 David wrote: > I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available. > > My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually > upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus. > > I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable > external drive. > > I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive > to a different external drive. > > I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk. > > Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus. > > Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB > internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that > is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a > file if I choose. > > Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I > can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are > fine. If it weren't for your second paragraph, I would recommend Acronis True Image in a heartbeat. This program creates self-contained images of the hard drive (including incremental images) and can create bootable clones and can also back up just data ("individual directories/files"). Actually, that program would still meet your needs. However, since you stated you are interested in a bootable clone (at least, that was the inference I drew), *and* if you want to be able to quickly create subesequent (i.e., incremental) clones, Casper would be better. Regarding individual directories/files, you would back them up to a different drive (i.e., not the bootable clone drive). XP Pro's native ntbackup program is fine for this if you back up to another hard drive. Actually, Acronis is fine, too. *And* it can create clones, which is a nice plus. What it can't do (and what Casper can) is create incremental clones (which translates to "fast"). I think clones are better for those who cannot afford to wait the amount of time it takes to restore an image. Since how I use a PC (mostly casual use) doesn't require bootable clones, I am happy with Acronis. However, if I were working on time-critical tasks (e.g., day-trading!), I could see the value of a bootable clone. More info: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/smartclone.aspx Bootom line: If you must have an up-to-date bootable clone and if you want to create these in the fastest way possible, go for Casper. For the individual files/directories, use ntbackup. If you want to image your hard drive regularly (and quickly) and also want to back up data (and still have the option to create a bootable clone -- just without the ability to create quicker incremental bootable clones), go with Acronis.
From: Ken Blake, MVP on 11 May 2010 11:04 On Tue, 11 May 2010 05:18:18 -0400, David wrote: > I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available. > > My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually > upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus. > > I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable > external drive. What do you mean by "mirror." That term is normally used just for RAID1, which is very different from backup. But if you just mean something like "copy," no problem. > I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive > to a different external drive. > > I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk. > > Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus. > > Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB > internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that > is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a > file if I choose. > > Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I > can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are > fine. Acronis True Image. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003 Please Reply to the Newsgroup
From: David on 11 May 2010 15:06 Ken: I do mean mirror, not copy. Unless I am mistaken, when you copy one drive to another, you get the contents of the first drive copied to the second. This means that the contents are the same, but the location on the second drive may not be the same. Mirroring a drive (at least to me) means just that. Not only are the contents copied, but the exact locations on the second drive are the same. Mirroring, I believe, also copies the boot tracks which is essential if the mirrored drive is to be used as a replacement boot drive in the event c: fails. I have an external USB hard drive. the bios on my workstation allows the external USB drive to be bootable (assuming I read the manual correctly). I want the c: drive to be mirrored to the external USB hard drive so I have a functional backup hard drive in case c: fails. David On Tue, 11 May 2010 08:04:26 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake(a)this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote: >On Tue, 11 May 2010 05:18:18 -0400, David wrote: > >> I am looking for recommendations on the best backup program available. >> >> My workstation is currently running XP PRO/SP3, but may eventually >> upgrade to Windows 7, so compatability with both is a plus. >> >> I would like the ability to mirror my main c: drive to a bootable >> external drive. > > >What do you mean by "mirror." That term is normally used just for >RAID1, which is very different from backup. > >But if you just mean something like "copy," no problem. > > >> I would like to be able to backup an entire internal or external drive >> to a different external drive. >> >> I do not plan on backing up to DvDs or optical disk. >> >> Being able to backup individual directories/files would be a plus. >> >> Compression is unimportant. My external drive is 1TB & I have 150 GB >> internal capacity. I'd prefer to have a plain vanilla backup - that >> is I'd be able to use Windows Explorer to view the backup & retrieve a >> file if I choose. >> >> Quality, reliability, and ease of use take precedence over cost. If I >> can not accomplish what I want with one program, multiple programs are >> fine. > > >Acronis True Image.
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