[Need Info] Looking for backup software...

[Need Info] Looking for backup software...
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TVisitor @ 7th Nov 07:39PM:
[Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I'm looking for backup software that is image based so I can do a full system restore if my install went south, and I know people love Acronis... however, I'm also interested in knowing if it can:

1. Perform incremental backup, so at the end of the week I can make the image the same as my current setup, w/out having to reimage the entire drive.
2. Can I pull data out of the image if need be (i.e. go and find that word document that I lost...)

Of course, if there is other backup software that fits the bill, I'd be interested in hearing about it, especially if there are any free solutions. That software should also have the capability of being able to start from a boot-disc, but I would assume all imaging software must do that.

After my most recent disaster, I'm tired of starting over and reinstalling everything. Granted, my data was safe, but still, it's really annoying and a gross waste of time!
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Keizer @ 7th Nov 07:57PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

True image can do what you are asking. Matter of fact, just a few minutes ago I mounted one of my image files so I could harvest a few folders that I needed. Good stuff!!
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howie @ 7th Nov 08:11PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I'd recommend StorageCraft's Shadow Protect Desktop. Increments are a snap and image "exploring" (mounting) is just as easy... :-)

The only downside is that it's not cheap at $80...

Link:
»www.storagecraft.com/shadow_prot···ktop.php

Exploring a Mounted Image in SP
Image Type Selection
Full vs. Incremental Image Size

ironwalker @ 7th Nov 08:37PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

DriveSnapshot

»www.drivesnapshot.de/en/

Fast light wieght and just a simple exe file to click.
Run from usb thumb drive if ya want.
Make full image
Then make boot disk from there website
When restoreing, boot from disk and enter command pointing to image file on your other drive.

This will not restore to an in use drive partition.

Works flawlessly.

For the record, I do not like acronis anymore, not for several versions ago.
--
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www.sidux.com
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TVisitor @ 7th Nov 08:45PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by ironwalker :

For the record, I do not like acronis anymore, not for several versions ago.

How come?
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Boricua65 @ 7th Nov 08:48PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I use Paragon's Hard Disk Manager 9 and haven't had any problems. Like ironwalker, I too got rid of Acronis. In my case, I would get a image corruption error even when I created the image and did a check the image (after creation). I got tired of that so I went with Paragon upon a poster's recommendation in this forum (I think).
--
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. Robert Orben

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TVisitor @ 7th Nov 08:57PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Howie - are the increments off of the original always, or are they sequenced off of each other?
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howie @ 7th Nov 09:19PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by TVisitor :

Howie - are the increments off of the original always, or are they sequenced off of each other?

Like TI, I believe each increment is dependant on the base (full) image and every increment before the last one.
I normally do a full image every week or so and a few increments in-between.

[EDIT] Image above is from the Help file.

BTW, SP uses a Vista environment (not unlike Vista Setup) when restoring/imaging from the Boot Media.


Boot Media Restore Screen

TVisitor @ 7th Nov 10:10PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Thanks for the screenshots, too, Howie!
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howie @ 7th Nov 10:28PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by TVisitor :

Thanks for the screenshots, too, Howie!

No problem. I used TI for years (version 6), but it really has gone the way of Nero in that they try to include everything but the kitchen sink. I just want a reliable imaging solution... No "SecureZone", "Drive Cleanser" or "One-Click Backup", with a confusing, PITA to navigate GUI (at least in my opinion).

ShadowProtect fits the bill quite nicely, at least for me. :-)
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Keizer @ 7th Nov 10:34PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

said by TVisitor :

Thanks for the screenshots, too, Howie!

They have actually toned down True Image with the 2010 version. There is no longer a long line of options that you have to click through to create an image. They are still there, but only as an option. The only one I use is the "comments" section to describe my image file. I can actually get an image set up and created pretty fast with 2010. It was a little more confusing with 2009.

I tried the trial of Shadow protect today. It does have a nice XP style GUI, but takes a tad longer to create images. I didn't try a restore because I couldn't find the option to create the boot disk. It was either hidden well, or was not available with the trial. I was wanting to compare restore speeds with True image. True image restores are extremely fast for me.
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caffeinator @ 7th Nov 10:35PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Hey Howie, a query for ya...

Does SP use a bunch of services or startup entries like Acronis seems to do?

I'd been happy with TI9 in the past, but I'd like using something with a smaller footprint on the system.

I want to do stuff manually, not with all manner of crap added in. :)

thx,

CaFF
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TVisitor @ 7th Nov 10:36PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Oh no, all you needed to say was that bad 4 letter word... NERO! I used to love it, and then horrendous. So bloated - so many things I didn't need. I ended up switching to CD Burner XP, free, and it does what I need for the little I burn these days.
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Keizer @ 7th Nov 10:37PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by TVisitor :

Oh no, all you needed to say was that bad 4 letter word... NERO! I used to love it, and then horrendous. So bloated - so many things I didn't need. I ended up switching to CD Burner XP, free, and it does what I need for the little I burn these days.

Exactly the reason I quit using SnagIt. Great piece of software, but I didn't use 90% of the features it offered.
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Keizer @ 7th Nov 10:42PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by caffeinator :

I want to do stuff manually, not with all manner of crap added in. :)

How's this for "crap"? :huh: LOL......it does what I need it to do though. I think with the "system clean up" tool, and the "file shredder" etc, it's TI's way of allowing you to clean up your disk some so un-needed crap isn't included in the image file. I use other tools for this pre-image procedure.

howie @ 7th Nov 10:57PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I see two running processes (ShadowProtectSvc.exe and vsnapvss.exe) and they use a total of about 5MB of your RAM, from what I can see.

Yeah, Keizer... the SP boot ISO must be downloaded separately. You can request a trial version for free, I believe, and can download it if you buy it.
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ekiM @ 7th Nov 11:21PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I gave up on TI like some of the other posters.

I've been using this as it's affordable AND it does servers:

»www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-···dows.htm

Lots of features, support has been responsive to my questions etc.
--
"I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin."
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Loco @ 7th Nov 11:47PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I use Symantec Ghost.
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howie @ 7th Nov 11:50PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by Loco :

I use Symantec Ghost.

The last Ghost that was any good, IMO, was 2003? I used the boot floppy countless times to restore my PC. It was a real life saver! :-)
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Loco @ 7th Nov 11:52PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

said by Loco :

I use Symantec Ghost.

The last Ghost that was any good, IMO, was 2003? I used the boot floppy countless times to restore my PC. It was a real life saver! :-)

Yep.....thats what i use, Ghost 8.2 (2003).

I have it on a boot-up cd-rom.

At the cmd prompt A> i type in "ghost" and away we go..:+)
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SafireDonkey @ 7th Nov 11:59PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Another good one is Macrium Reflect
»www.macrium.com/default.asp
Free version can do almost everything as long as it's a full backup, for incrimentals/differentials you need to register.

Also, after installing you need to create a recovery disk, and the Linux Recovery disk failed to load on my hardware.

The registered version has an option to create Vista like recovery disk (much more hardware recognized).

Biggest plus is the speed of this thing, extremely fast !
12 GB was backed up in about 2 minutes ;)
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howie @ 8th Nov 12:06AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

The OP didn't mention if he had Windows 7... If so, it has a pretty darn good backup utility included...

BTW, Here are the contents of the SP Boot CD. Looks almost like a Windows setup disc... It weighs in at nearly 500MB.

[EDIT] I just made a new SP Rescue CD... Isn't it purdy? ;-)

dunworkin @ 8th Nov 12:17AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Give Second Copy a look. Moderate price with free trial.
»www.secondcopy.com/index.html?
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howie @ 8th Nov 01:26AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

For fun, I just restored an image from last night with SP and it took a little under 5 minutes to restore 33GB (~6GB/min.).

Shown above are the options on the SP Recovery Environment screen.

[EDIT] A full image (33GB of actual data) performed in Windows 7 took about 6 minutes (see above).

gugarci @ 8th Nov 09:40AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I used True Image but I'm still using version 10. howie I bookmarked the Shadow Protect website in case someday I might want to try that software. Never heard of it till I came across this thread.
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caffeinator @ 8th Nov 10:27AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Thats a purdy disc Howie. ;)

IDK, me, i'd prefer a nice linux toolset to a winx86 one.

If I had a newer computer wit SATA an all, it'd be all good, but I don't. I'm still on IDE.

Backing up 45gigs is PITA no matter whut u use. I'm planning on building a file server for local rsync...let CRON deal with it as I sleep, eh?

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TVisitor @ 8th Nov 10:50AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

With all the mention of cruft in software these days, manual is very nice. I hate that software - in the quest for "features" - loads down systems with so much extra stuff and is so HUGE, taking up 10x the drive space and RAM space of what it really needs to.
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dakota1991 @ 8th Nov 12:06PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I was a long time user of Acronis, but the latest versions failed repeatedly to backup my new notebook. I recently used Clonezilla (free) and it imaged my computer without any problem. Clozezilla isn't as easy to use as TI, but once you figure out how to use it then it can perform an image and restore to an external drive. I don't know if it can do incremental backups since I've only used it to do full backups.
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crashoverride @ 8th Nov 12:43PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Want a free copy of Acronis, they give them away every now and then :)
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kieranmullen @ 8th Nov 01:20PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Cobian backup (free)
»www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

Then backup to your other large disk, ftp site or mounted network cloud drive (jungledisk.com using amazon storage system)
--
KieranMullen »360oregon.com

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ironwalker @ 8th Nov 05:06PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

Sorry TVisitor, phone rang when I posted that.

I dislike acronis for several reasons, one being the images I made verified just fine but when going to do a restore it fails.
I wasn't able to restore using a version of true image boot disk not made with existing version.
Various other errors in imaging and restoring over the years.
It seemed I couldn't restore and image made with a previous version of TI. Repeated reports to support and in various forums didn't help. There support isn't all that great neither.
They are trying to do too much with what the software is supposed to do. They have more than 3 products that do the same thing, neither gets it right everytime, I say everytime meaning every little update introduces a new problem.

I was not taking chances that somewhere down the road a restore would fail.

Products I have used and like;
DriveImageXML....I use it for the laptop and worked fine.
Does not restore to raid. One version didn't see usb drive and the image there. Can be done through windows

Macrium Reflect....Great, fast, lots of things can be done with this product but also didn't restore to raid in free version. Handles usb just fine.
Can be done through windows.Allows for destination resizing during restore. Allows adding drivers to boot disk for say....sata raid card. (May be why I couldn't restore to raid with free version).full,incremental and differential. Full backup product allows file/folder backup/restore only if needed. Adding files to backup image or taking a file from an image is possible.
I may go back and try this again when I need incremental backups.

DriveSnapShot.....Just a basic backup exe file like driveImageXML. Allows for adding drivers to boot disk creation. Incremental backups available. I only use full.

I have not used shadow protect but looks very much like acronis and that scares me.
--
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www.sidux.com
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Ryan @ 8th Nov 07:20PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I have a copy of paragon drive backup 9, acronis 2010, and image for windows. I personally am a BIG fan of Terabyte Image for windows. Lightweight very reliable and cheap. Unlike Acronis they actually update there software about once sometimes twice a month and are very generous with upgrades. They dont make you buy a new version every year just to get the latest bug fixes. I am EXTREMELY happy with it. After acronis screwed me over with an upgrade to 2011 I am done giving them money.
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howie @ 8th Nov 09:00PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by ironwalker :

I have not used shadow protect but looks very much like acronis and that scares me.

It's GUI is reminiscent of early TI versions, but believe me, it's not TI. Give the free trial a go (~27MB):
»www.storagecraft.com/trial_downloads.php
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Keizer @ 8th Nov 09:34PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

said by ironwalker :

I have not used shadow protect but looks very much like acronis and that scares me.

It's GUI is reminiscent of early TI versions, but believe me, it's not TI. Give the free trial a go (~27MB):
»www.storagecraft.com/trial_downloads.php

I gave the trial a go, and really liked the GUI. I couldn't get past the price tag though. I probably would have considered it over TI had the price been more reasonable.

Maybe after the next new OS comes out I will switch over.
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howie @ 8th Nov 10:24PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by Keizer :

said by howie :

said by ironwalker :

I have not used shadow protect but looks very much like acronis and that scares me.

It's GUI is reminiscent of early TI versions, but believe me, it's not TI. Give the free trial a go (~27MB):
»www.storagecraft.com/trial_downloads.php

Yes, I think a lot more people would use it if they dropped the price on the desktop edition. I think $50 would be a reasonable cost for home users.
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Boricua65 @ 9th Nov 12:01AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

Yes, I think a lot more people would use it if they dropped the price on the desktop edition. I think $50 would be a reasonable cost for home users.

Or by any other means :D.
--
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. Robert Orben

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myluvnttl @ 9th Nov 08:40AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

I'd recommend StorageCraft's Shadow Protect Desktop. Increments are a snap and image "exploring" (mounting) is just as easy... :-)

The only downside is that it's not cheap at $80...

Link:
»www.storagecraft.com/shadow_prot···ktop.php

Thanks for that advise. I got my hand on a copy of the recovery cd. Work great!! I like how easy it was to make a image of the HD, and burn directly to the DVD! I think it's worth drop a 80's bill for this program!!
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SafireDonkey @ 9th Nov 01:58PM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

I'm also holding back to buy Shadowproduct, mainly for the price tag, and only paying that ever year, no.
I have my question about their claims at doing HIR just fine, I expect the system to boot at least, but then, you most certainly will end up doing a complete reinstall of the OS anyway, since there is no known way how to do a guarenteed HIR will all current hardware configurations.

Also, after trying out Macrium Reflect, it was soooo much faster at doing a backup in comparison with Shadowprotect.

And perhaps the biggest reason why I hold off the boat is the current beta of Comodo's Time Machine, which seems to give us even more than all the others in a matter of some months, perhaps even for free.
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o boogie @ 10th Nov 07:18AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by Ryan :

I have a copy of paragon drive backup 9, acronis 2010, and image for windows. I personally am a BIG fan of Terabyte Image for windows. Lightweight very reliable and cheap. Unlike Acronis they actually update there software about once sometimes twice a month and are very generous with upgrades. They dont make you buy a new version every year just to get the latest bug fixes. I am EXTREMELY happy with it. After acronis screwed me over with an upgrade to 2011 I am done giving them money.

Agreed, I switched to Image For Windows, and haven't looked back.
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gugarci @ 10th Nov 08:17AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by howie :

Yes, I think a lot more people would use it if they dropped the price on the desktop edition. I think $50 would be a reasonable cost for home users.

I thought I read that you have to pay extra to be able to use or make a recovery disk. Is this correct???
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RA @ 10th Nov 09:00AM:
Re: [Need Info] Looking for backup software...

said by gugarci :

I thought I read that you have to pay extra to be able to use or make a recovery disk. Is this correct???

I'm also using ShadowProtect Desktop. No, the $80 includes the ShadowProtect Recovery Environment (SRE) iso too. After you purchase the program, a link is given to download the iso.

The only problem is licensing/cost/updates. And ShadowProtect can only be activated/used on one machine at a time. However, the SRE can be used to backup/restore by itself.

Edit: Having used Drive Image 2002, Ghost, Macrium Reflect, Acronis, and Paragon, I find ShadowProtect is one of the better Imaging utilities. It's good, but expensive.
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