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Backing Up OS & C drive

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by kostas, 2007/01/12.

  1. 2007/01/12
    kostas

    kostas Inactive Thread Starter

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    I will shortly be installing a new 250 GB Sata drive on my existing computer
    Because I am having various annoying problems with my current setup I intend having a clean install of windows XP Pro on a new C drive with extra partitions for personal data etc
    After I have created the clean install of win XP and loaded in other essential software Win Office, Photoshop, etc and then downloaded any updates.

    Would it then be possible to take a copy of this information and store it on say a seperate partition and if I ever want to reset the computer back to the origional basic settings all I have to do is reinstall this info? I am assuming this would be much easier than loading everything in seperately again

    This is essentially what I have on my HP Laptop with all the factory default software on a seperate partition and software available to reinstall it

    If this is practical how would I go about copying the data to a seperate partition, and how would I go about reinstalling it at a later date.

    Many thanks
     
    kostas,
    #1
  2. 2007/01/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost will make an exact image of the new drive to the old drive....You could just swap out drives if needed...
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2


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  4. 2007/01/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I use Norton Ghost 2003 which is old enough to be obsolete in Symantec's update circus. It does however work fine for me and I have not yet had reason to "upgrade" to a more recent version of Ghost.

    There are other software than Ghost which does the same, go google on "drive imaging " and have a good read.

    Personally, I create several images during the installation process at certain intervals, such as;

    1 > Windows XP + drivers + updates > create image

    2 > + software "for keeps" > create image

    3 > + peripheral hardware (keyboard, scanner, printer, etc) > create image

    4 > + FireWall and AntiVirus software + updates > create image

    5 > + software "which come in new versions on a regular basis" > crate image

    Everything needed in steps 1-3 should be downloaded in advance to delay internet connection until after FW and AV software are installed.

    This procedure will give you a number of points to roll back to if needed. If something goes wrong during the installation process, you will not have to start over from square one but from the previous image.

    Some FW/AV software can be difficult to uninstall. Image #3 is good to have in that scenario and reinstalling the software lost when restoring it is much quicker than dealing with a FW/AV software that refuse to uninstall properly.

    I have a separate hard disk with two partitions, dedicated to ghost images and other backups. It is installed in a mobile rack which means that it for most of the time sits powered off in the mobile rack or even removed, stored in a drawer.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #3
  5. 2007/01/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    A comment on Steve's post:

    If you clone the drive to another, you lose the advantages of several images. In addition to that, repeated cloning to keep the backup up-to-date will take some time when user data builds up. More recent versions of Ghost can create incremental backups but as far as I know, this does not work when cloning. An image of the system partition and regular backups (by other software) of user data is much quicker.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #4
  6. 2007/01/12
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    My 2¢, if you prefer cloning, consider using XXCLONE. It has a free version. I use it, like it, and recommend it. The paid-for version can even do incrementals.

    If you prefer disk imaging to cloning, I recommend FREE Acronis True Image version7 which can also make incremental images. It's my standard for backups since I make daily incrementals. It takes less than 5 minutes daily. An entire month of daily imaging takes up less than 10 gigs. It's ideally suited for your task kostas and the price is certainly right!
     
    surferdude2,
    #5
  7. 2007/01/12
    kostas

    kostas Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thank you very much gentlemen for your great advice

    Just a further query on the same subject

    I use second copy 2000 for regular backups of my data files, do it once a week, theory being if I pick up a virus, hopefully, I will realize before it gets to my external drive? It does incremental backups, ie only new data or files.

    Question would second copy be of any use for copying and then reinstalling the OS etc as mentioned previously?

    If not I can of course obtain a copy of Norton ghost or one of the others mentioned previously.

    I have just checked my download files and found that I have a copy of Norton Ghost 2003.
    So I should be all set to make images as you have suggested

    Thanks again
     
    Last edited: 2007/01/12
    kostas,
    #6
  8. 2007/01/13
    usasma

    usasma Inactive

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    Second Copy is a backup utility - it copies files from one place to another. It does not provide for saving the "location" of the files on the hard drive, it also takes a lot longer than a full image/clone does.

    So, although you may have saved all of the files - they won't be in the proper locations when restored to your hard drive, so the system won't work.
     
    usasma,
    #7

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