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What is a disk image?
Disk images are the answer if you need to regularly reformat a hard drive and reload the OS and applications. You can create an image (a copy or clone or ghost) of a fairly new installation and keep it to repair your disk when it crashes, gets over-full of dross or gets a bad virus infection, or if you want to create a new build with the same profile. No one who has heard of disk images now installs the OS, apps and data from scratch - unless they have a very good reason to do so. Reinstalling an image takes a tiny fraction of the time, compared to rebuilding it as per normal. It can be done within an hour, perhaps less - and you're right back at the point where you made the disk image. This means you can build a new PC's drive complete, or recover from a bare-metal crash (an incident that means the drive is essentially bare) in a few minutes.
For many users this has made PC manufacturer's backup and Windows backup arrangements redundant. This can save a lot of disk space and also speed up the PC.
An 'online' program is one that runs in Windows, using the convenient windows mouse and keyboard windows interface. An 'offline' program is one that runs at boot time before Windows is running. Those types of program have a variety of interfaces, varying from a simple DOS-type command prompt via the keyboard, through to a crude but usable GUI interface reminiscent of Windows 3.1.
Macrium Reflect Free is my pick for the best free disk imaging program for XP and Vista users, which probably represents more than 50% of PC and laptop owners. It's easy to use and fast. It doesn't work on Windows 2000 though.
I cleaned up and compacted an XP system to get the hard drive down to 6GB of tight data, then installed Macrium and imaged the disk. It doesn't matter what size the disk is, only the data gets copied. It's an online solution, meaning you use it with Windows running, via the normal Windows GUI-driven procedure, as against many similar programs that use the command prompt on boot-up. The 6GB XP disk took 7 minutes to image and another 7 minutes to verify - these times are fast. The image file was half the data total size, at 3GB, using the recommended medium-level compression.
You'll need a location for the disk image - a USB disk is probably most peoples' choice, though with a small image like this you could use a DVD.
You also need to create a boot disk, as per usual with many of these disk imaging apps. You can create a Linux-based boot disc from within the app, but this failed on my set-up. Or, download the BartPE boot disk setup from the link supplied within the app, then add the Macrium files given and burn it to CD. This seems a better solution but takes more effort to sort out. Another option could well be the UBCD4Win boot CD and we will report on this later.
The BartPE boot disc creation can be easy or very tricky, depending on luck. You must go to the Bart website, download another app, install it, build the CD, etc. This will take at least an hour or so when you add everything up. It took 3 dud CDs before I got a result, but this may be because I'd never built a BartPE boot CD before. Don't forget to include the Macrium files in it - and make sure to store the boot CD carefully.
A disk image restore is usually a binary process - you need two files, the image file on your USB drive, and a boot CD. The CD boots the system to a basic state, which then asks for the location of the image file. After this has installed, you are back at exactly the same position as when you created the image.
The restore took 30 minutes - 20 minutes to reformat the disk, a compulsory option run by the app, and 10 minutes for the image restore - a fast time. The PC was returned correctly to the exact state it had been at the moment the disk image was created, thus saving maybe a day's work reinstalling and configuring all the programs.
Acronis True Image has always been the top choice if you can lay your hands on it for free, perhaps during one of the many promotions, or with a Seagate or Maxtor disk - it's in their Disk Tools software, a 104MB file that you must download from the Seagate website.
It's rock solid and reliable, easy to use, and - importantly - the boot disc is a one-click job to create. Many imaging apps use a boot CD, but some are a pain to build. It is an online application that has a nice interface.
However - Acronis has had a lot of problems lately with Vista and/or SATA disks and/or RAID arrays. Vista users (and XP users with multiple disks) are better served by Macrium, until Acronis is proven to have caught up.
My 6GB XP drive imaged in 7 minutes, the same as for Macrium, but took a few minutes longer to verify. The image file came to just over 3GB, again similar to Macrium. The boot disc is a whole lot quicker and easier to build, though - just one click to create the CD. Acronis is the best program for Windows 2000, and XP - standard systems without SATA RAID multi disks, that is - if you can get it free. This is another good reason to buy a Seagate hard disk.
You can also make your own USB disk to store images on, by buying an ordinary Seagate 3.5 inch SATA hard disk and using a Venus enclosure, for example, which has a built-in fan - a vital component. This will allow you to use the Seagate Disk Tools, ie Acronis**.
The restore took a little longer than Macrium. In addition to the reformat (not needed by the Acronis restore process but something I do anyway for 'safety'), the actual image restore took 16 minutes. However, if you take into account the time spent on creating the Macrium / BartPE boot disc, since the Acronis boot CD is a one-click 'onboard' operation, Acronis comes out ahead on the time.
Some versions of Acronis need the default image parameters changing, otherwise a disk image will not work as system files are excluded.
** Note that a Seagate disk is needed somewhere in the system in order to use the Seagate Tools version of Acronis. It has been reported that this may need to be the disk the image is being restored to (unconfirmed). Also, the Tools install is of 230MB or so, which you might need to know if you have a small hard disk.
GParted - CloneZilla LiveCD has good reports from users. This is the Gnome Partition Editor, combined with CloneZilla, combined with a LiveCD. There are all sorts of options with Gnome, CloneZilla, and the way they are used together - but this combined solution looks to be the best bet for Windows users, out of the various options. It's an offline app, meaning that you boot up with the CD and use the command line.
It is unlike others in that it makes a full-size image of the disk - if the disk is 80GB then the image will also be 80GB, even if there is only 10GB of data. This rules out CDs or even DVDs for the backup media, but only a skinny OS install can realistically be burnt to CDs anyway. There is a cheat method to get a small image file, though: adjust the partition size right down to just above the data size first, then image it, then expand it up again.
It works with W2K, Win2K3 (server), XP, Vista and Linux - it's platform-agnostic as it works with the disk file system not the OS - so it can work with FAT32, NTFS, Ext2 etc. It's next on the list for a full test drive here.
G4U - Ghost for Unix has a comprehensive set of advanced features, and is many people's preferred solution at present. G4U is a very small program that can be downloaded in either boot diskette or CD format and offers a lot of features. Not only can it clone disk to disk (any size) and copy disk partitions, it can also create and restore image files both locally and from an FTP site, if the workstation is connected to a wired network with a DCHP service. This feature is great for backing up a workstation directly to an image file stored on another computer for either safekeeping, or for deployment to multiple workstations on the network. Being an offline app, the various features of G4U are implemented by executing commands via the console, but a reference of the simple commands is displayed immediately after booting using the G4U boot media.
G4U will suit users who are happy using the command line console; and it also has the feature set more adventurous users may need.
DriveImage XML will suit users running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 who prefer a normal Windows GUI online solution. It uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service to backup drive and partitions to image files, or will clone drive to drive while Windows is running. Because of this, a Windows task can also be created and scheduled to automatically create backup images. While this program can perform the tasks it promises, backups do take longer than using one of the offline programs previously mentioned. However, because it can create scheduled backup images while Windows is running, it's great for running online backup images as a redundancy option, in addition to the offline backups you will probably want to make as your main images. With its attractive GUI interface, it will be an easy first choice for many XP users. It's easy to use and reliable, and the use of XML means the image has more repurposing options than usual.
HDClone Free Edition is the one if you aren't a dyed-in-the-wool techie, if you only need to transfer one disk's contents to another - the free version can't create or restore disk images, so take note of that. It's straightforward - unlike many of the alternatives - and works online via a GUI, unlike some. Just in case you aren't clear what that means exactly, it refers to the fact that it runs just like any other modern Windows program, and not like a DOS text / keyboard-only program.
It's worth a look if the only functionality that's needed is to clone one disk to another larger disk. It is a relatively small download, can be run from either a diskette or CD, and has a graphical user interface that makes it super-easy to use. HDClone requires no command line interaction and is perfect for upgrading from one hard drive to another. Remember, the Free Edition of HDClone is not capable of creating or restoring image files - or cloning from a larger disk to a smaller disk, or working with individual disk partitions.
General Advice
- Use a USB external hard disk for your disk images - and don't forget to make the boot CD as well. All USB disks need a cooling fan - unless you want it to double up as a cooker hotplate. It's easy to build your own and the quality will probably be better than a pre-built one (use a Seagate disk and a Venus USB disk enclosure with a fan - google for a guide if you need one).
- Test your method before you need it for real - you may find minor issues that need resolving before you get a perfect restore.
- If you find your image fails with restore errors, then don't use compression when creating the image - some systems have problems with this.
- You may find that a whole-disk image will not restore to a partition - and vice-versa (I've found this with Macrium and Acronis). The restore will seem to go OK, but fail at boot time. So ensure that you make notes with your images, to say what type they are, eg full-disk, or partition only.
Paragon DBE is a good freeware program in case you accidently pressed the format C:/ button. Or when you are using a computer that offen crashes... It is an easy to use program that even can be used by total Newbies.
After installing you can make a simple archive with all contents of your Hard Drive to an second partition or USB DISC. After this is done you make a bootable USB (if youre Motherboard supports) or a bootable CD/DVD. After booting from this USB/DVD/CD you enter a graphical eviroment where keyboard and mouse are enabled. (if you have an onboard graphics card please read notes below).
In the graphical boot area it has a nice safety net. You can boot in 3 different modes in case your machine would't support the normal mode.
Progam claims to be Vista Compatible but i only tested in one XP PRO with SATA disc.
This program is really a simple to use tool and also has included archive verification.
During the test of this program i took me around 20 min to back up - quickly format C:/ - restore partition. So you also could call it a time saver. This is probably because Paragon only takes the actual data on the disc and not the empty parts.
Notes on this program
- It's faster to create the archive on you current disc and later copy the folder to and USB DISC or other partition.
- If you have an onboard grafics card. Please note that you probably will need to enter the BIOS and set you video settings to HIGH perfomance or maximal frame buffer rate.
- Off course it isnt possible to restore a disc with an image that is written on itself.
SelfImage is a lot different from Paragon. From where i can see it during my test is SelfImage desgined to clone drives. This is for when you get a new HDD and want to dump your old. SelfImage really makes a full image from the hard disc including the empty parts. So a disc of 40GB will generated an image from 40GB even if the disc is only 50% full.
Also SelfImage has no boot disc to restore or back up your pc outside of Windows. I can't really see the use of this software except cloning of drives.
A nice function is that you can send your image directly to a NBD server. Next to all this selfimage is small in download and only take +- 1 MB.
____________________________
To be reviewed:
XXClone
DigitalDolly
Easus Todo Backup
Products that will not be reviewed as they do not appear to be suitable:
PING
Apricorn EZ Gig II
Acronis Disk Director
_____________________________
Macrium Reflect Free
Website:
http://www.macrium.com
Download link:
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
Author: Macrium Software
Current version: 4.2.2033
File Size: 26MB
License: Limited functionality freeware
Operating Systems Supported: Windows XP and Vista
64 bit capable: Yes
Any special system requirements: An external USB disk is required - alternatively a DVD burner drive
Portable version available: This product is self booting
Additional software required : BartPE - a custom BartPE boot disk must be created, with additional Macrium files
Acronis True Image 8.0
Website:
http://www.acronis.com
Download: available only via promotions or within disk manufacturers' software bundle [see Note 1 below]
www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard
Author: Acronis
Current version: v11
Filesize: [21MB] integral with Disk Utilities bundle
License: Freeware (v8 only)
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98, 2K, XP (and Vista, only with Seagate manufacturers' utilities)
64 bit capable: No
Any special system requirements: An external USB disk is required - alternatively a DVD burner drive
Portable version available: No
Additional software required: No
GParted - CloneZilla
[Gnome Partition Editor + CloneZilla + Live CD]
GParted website:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/index.php
Full solution:
http://gpartedclonz.tuxfamily.org/index.php
Download:
http://gpartedclonz.tuxfamily.org/download.php
Author: Bart Hakvoort and others
Current version: 0.4.1
Filesize: 144MB
License: GPL freeware
Operating Systems Supported: most - works with disk filesystem, not OS
64 bit capable: Not known
Any special system requirements: An external USB disk is required - alternatively a DVD burner drive
Portable version available: No
Additional software required: No
HDclone Free Edition
Website:
http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html
Download link:
http://www.miray.de/download/sat.hdclone.html
Author: Miray Software
Current version: 3.2.10
File Size: 4.1MB
License: Limited functionality freeware
Operating Systems Supported: OS and file system independent but no USB functionality
64 bit capable: No
Any special system requirements: No
Portable version available: This product is self booting
Additional software required : None
G4U
Website:
http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/
Download link:
http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/#reqs
Author: Hubert Feyrer
Current version: 2.3
File Size: 3.1MB (CD ISO version)
License: Freeware
Operating Systems Supported: OS and file system independent but no USB functionality
64 bit capable: No
Any special system requirements: No
Portable version available: This product is self booting
Additional software required : None
DriveImage XML
Website:
www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm
Download link:
www.runtime.org/data-recovery-downloads.htm
Author: Runtime Software
Current version: 2.02
File Size:1.7MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems Supported: Windows XP, Vista
64 bit capable: No
Any special system requirements: No
Portable version available: No
Additional software required : None. Can also be incorporated into a Bart PE Boot Disk.
Note 1: if you are using a new Maxtor or Seagate drive to back up to, the free downloadable Maxtor or Seagate utilities has a limited version of Acronis that works with Vista (though multi-disk arrays currently have issues).
Contributors
Valuable contributions to this category have been made by: Ted, Ron T., graybrother, Adrian Cornforth, chrisvw. Thanks guys.
Wanted: any experiences of using the UBCD4Win boot CD instead of BartPE. Thanks!
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Beverley
-------------------------------
We now have a Drive Imaging board on the new forum:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36
Please ask all questions there from now on. Some comments have been moved to the forum.
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Hi I am a complete novice in this area and using Acronis True Image but have just come across Comodo Time Machine, which looks ok to me - Any constructive comments regarding comparisons in usage would be welcome - magoo
Whomever maintains this article requested information from anyone who has used "the UBCD4Win boot CD instead of BartPE." I haven't.
However, if the content of the UBCD4Win web site (http://www.ubcd4win.com/index.htm under "How did this project start?", according to Ben Burrows) remains the case, then the "Ultimate Boot CD for Windows" is a BartPE boot CD, created with PE Builder. It just has all of the other content added to the CD with various "plug-ins".
As far as I can determine, although the contents have changed during the course of various UBCD4Win versions, the most recent version (3.50) is still utilities which have been collected and included when the boot disk is built with the PE builder. One of those utilities is the free version of EASEUS, which is an ISO image creation and restoration utility that has not been reviewed here. But it is among the ones compared at:
http://dottech.org/headline/11628
which was mentioned in Post #19 above.
--- Stardance
nil carborundum illegitimi
Dude! You reviewed CloneZilla, which sucks and requires the full HDD size, regardless of actual data usage, but said you wouldn't even review PING. It really looks like you're not doing reviews, but rather repeating other peoples reviews. If you're going to "do a review", then actually review the apps you're talking about.
This review is indeed in the process of being updated by a new editor.
Professionally working in I.T., both for a company and for myself, I have always used the PING project, with only a few really old systems (<300 MHz) that it just wouldn't work on and I used CloneZilla.
CloneZilla sucked really bad, but I managed to get enough of a restore image to work. We're talking last resort that doesn't require drive removal for imaging.
The PING project has been really good for a while, but I've run into plenty of snags with it too. If you want something that works properly, use pretty much any of the version 2.x, as anything less than 2.0 and anything at or above 3.0 just plain fail. The down side of this is that I just encountered my FIRST modern system that 2.0 couldn't handle and also the first that nothing else free seems to work on, short of a raw Linux DD on the drive.
In my primary use, I build / refurbish / or repair a computer, use the 2.x PING boot CD and a USB drive (memory sticks work but are dog slow), and then run a simple batch file to automate making a bootable DVD ISO. For me, if I can't use whatever product to make a bootable restore disc that the end user can easily figure out, it's not really a solution after all. In my line, I cannot limit my restore disc needs to just Windows.
Acronis 9 Workstation or 2009 home ed was an excellent product. Acronis workstation 10 seemed to never come out of beta. 2010 home edition was quite bloated.
From what I have seen version 2011 is fixed again for most part. The only remaining issue have to do with newer hardware support and various RAID configurations. Inside windows Acronis seems to be darn near bulletproof but the stand-alone disk is completely dependent on the hardware support on the boot disk. Again YMMV.
Personally, from a business point of view I love Acronis's sales team, they will provide massive discounts if necessary to get you to use their product. The support system is not anywhere as nice and sometimes borders on half hearted attempts by the support staff. Still with Acronis it either works or does not. I have never had a verified image that failed to work, THAT is something that I can not say about the symantec products I have also used.
I have read numerous accounts of both imaging and backup software that saves corrupt data from a failing disk, so that when the disk finally fails, the backed up data is corrupt, too. Any thoughts on the best way to deal with this possibility?
You can keep multiple backups.
I recommend that those of you who are interested in differential backups try Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition. The other free imaging programs that I considered do not offer differential backups.
A nice feature comparison table and comparative review roundup of Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition, Macrium Reflect Free, EASEUS Todo Backup, and DriveImage XML is located at http://dottech.org/featured/11628.
Just ran my first, and very simple, backup task (check a bunch of folders on the C drive) with the Compact Edition I got a few days ago via GAOTD. I would assume it's very close, if not identical, to the free edition. I thought this would be a good test before a full drive image.
Here's what I can report. First, the interface did not offer any way that I could find of setting up differential backups as opposed to scheduling the standard ones. Second, at the time I had scheduled, CIS reported some new and unknown process (scripts) which I allowed once I recognized that it was part of PBR. I walked away and came back and hour later to find a nasty BSOD. I haven't had such an incident on this machine for eons...
I do hold Paragon in high regards but this does not inspire much confidence, does it?
Just to mention (I have not tried it yet), EASEUS offers a free Windows7-compatible tool for data backup and system restoring named Todo Backup (1.1.
www.todo-backup.com
Hi, It has been mentioned that Apricorn EZ Gig II will not be reviewed. Is there any specific reason for this or is this product that bad. I have just been gifted this and I dont know if i should even try to use this because of the review here.
I've used Apricron EZ Gig & EZ Gig II for some time now (2+ yrs) and have had quite good success with it for cloning drives. The newest versions have SATA support and it has worked well for me without issue. I've used the backup/restore function on occasions and it too seems work w/o any major issues.
The program has a couple of deficiencies to note;
It does not perform incremental or differential backups.
It does not (to my knowledge, haven't yet been able to do this) support a cmd line call w/ parameters, seems to be interactive GUI only. Unfortunate in that it makes this much more difficult to be part of a scheduled/scripted backup.
Since this is a freely provided program, I can't seriously fault the company for not including these features. You get what you get. It does the job it is supposed to do, and most users the program will do the job just fine. For those looking for great functionality, there are likely other programs that are better suited.
Try the recent Paragon Backup&Recovery 10 Free Edition is an excellent imaging solution.
Have been a user of Acronis since version 7 build 638 and have mostly a positive experience with the product. Currently using Acronis 11.
Tech support for that product has been poor at times, when the user has to lead the support members through the vagarities in the many versions to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. This was particularly true back in the days of WinME.
An opportunity to use a full version with a time delimited trial on your configuration(s) is by far the best test of the capabilities of their product. As always "Caveat Emptor" before you commit to the purchased product !!
Thanks for making available the reviews and this forum to augment your findings.
I consider myself decently knowledgeable on matters concerning software & hardware....except coding beyond HTML, I know nothing about that. I build computers for donations to churches & under-privileged kids & have done that for about 10 years, for a total of about 40-50 of them. Because I don't want to be going back every couple months to work on these, they are loaded, tweaked, & ready when I start them up in the new home. So I have ALOT of experience at making computers work well.
But I'll never consider myself an expert, because there are a few certain parameters which continue to baffle me & most likely always will. The main one is backing up & making drive images. I just can NOT learn how to properly & easily do this, and I have really tried hard. Because of that, I'm asking for help here. Your suggestions (anyone) will go a LONG way towards deciding which method I put into place. And right now is the perfect time, since this computer is a "fresh" one, being loaded up only about 2 weeks ago.
What I want is a SIMPLE (remember, I'm dumb about this task) program to completely & identically copy this very system I'm on now, over to an identical hard drive. I bought twin 250Gig Seagates a year or so back, with the purpose to set up a RAID array to do this. Well, RAID sorta falls under the catagory of backing up, copying, making a image, etc., so that means I never could figure out how to do it right.
I wind up reformatting about every 6 months. Right before this, there's usually a couple of LONG nights spent copying over the data I can't bear to lose over to the second Seagate, then moving it back to the first after it's reformatted....but I KNOW there's an easier & better way. But I don't know how.
Which program will do the best job for me? I want it to preferably be able to automatically copy over "Disk 1" to "Disk 2" about every week or so. Then when I screw Disk 1 up, I can just switch over to Disk 2 (probably from within BIOS), start it up, & keep computing....just as if I were still over on Disk 1. All I would be missing is whatever I had changed since the last time it copied over.
So....any recommendations? Remember...SIMPLE (I can't learn how to do this very well). Ideally, there should be no boot-disc or anything like that involved, just a 250Gig HD which is an exact mirror of the 250Gig HD which I'm currently using....tell it to boot from that other disk & then I've got a fully functional computer again.
That's when I would reformat Disk 1, start using IT as the back-up, & continue the process from step 1. Thanks.
In the same boat with you.
Have you found an answer?
Webpage official:
GPARTED-CLONEZILLA LiveCD
GParted-Clonezilla LiveCD is no more!
clonezilla
ultimate version of clonezilla: http://clonezilla.org/
cd version: http://clonezilla.org/download/sourceforge/
----
gparted
ultimate version of gparted http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
cd version: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php
Or Parted Magic:The Parted Magic OS employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful programs (e.g. Partimage, TestDisk, Truecrypt, Clonezilla, G4L, SuperGrubDisk, ddrescue, etc...) . An extensive collection of file system tools are also included, as Parted Magic supports the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs, linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs.
Parted Magic requires at least a i586 processor and 256MB of RAM to operate or 128MB in "Live" mode.
Hi!
Actually you can to boot Macrium Reflect from USB with Macrium Reeflect Free version (only for restore images, not for create new clones), With "Rescue.ISO" that you found on the Macrium Reflect Free version installed folder, an UnetBootIn (A GPL software for GNU/Linux or Windows capable to "hack" an ISO image into an USB Stick and boot from It if your Main_BD has the USB Option in the BOOT settings).
Same Hack is valid for Clonezilla (my Favourite), But Your info is wrong. Clonezilla clones ONLY the used space from a partition or Full disk. If you HDD is 20% full, it will BACKUP ONLY THIS 20%, NOT ALL THE DISC!!! If your HDD is 80GB and your info is 10GB, your image will be aprox 6,5GB, in less than 20 minutes (Backup + verification. I tested on my ASUS X50SL laptop). Ah, Clonezilla suports multicast, too (create/restore from FTP or over the Ethernet).
Many thanks for the other programs and the review!!! Best wishes from Andorra (and sorry for my English, but here in Andorra the people speak only Catalan, French or Spanish) ^_^"
Respect,
Benny Beat
I have Acronis True Image 11, which i own for some time and found it easy to use and well worth the money.
I run 6 computers at home for myself and other members of the family and recommend it to anyone.
Just came across this interesting review:
http://dottech.org/headline/11628
I also came across think link yesterday, and was thinking of posting it. You were faster though :D. Its a good article.
Anupam
I see. :D
Yes, it's got links to a few interesting software.
DriveImagexml latest v2.12 supports win7
Hi - can anyone suggest a freebie that will clone a larger hd to a smaller hd? thanks.
Have sorted it. Resized the larger hd partition, to a size smaller than the target hd. Imaged the resized partition, using macrium, then restored the image to the target hd. After a couple of reboots all seems ok, so far!
Seagate's Disc Wizard (a separately available portion of their Disk Tools software) has handled Vista and Win7 partitions (in one case on an SATA notebook drive) just fine for me, both in its earlier version (based on True Image V10) and its new one (based on TI V11, which may compress a bit better on its default setting than the earlier one did). True Image Personal V8 might too (haven't tried: it predates some of Vista's extensions to NTFS but might handle them OK anyway - though probably wouldn't honor the new-style Vista partition alignments on disk if it was asked to create new partitions rather than just fill an existing one with a backed-up image). I'm pretty sure that Disc Wizard only requires that a Seagate drive be visible somewhere (e.g., connected by USB, which I think has worked for me with no other Seagate drives present and using non-Seagate drives for both source and destination - though it didn't recognize an old, but still functioning, 6.5 GB Medalist that I tried connecting via USB). A Seagate drive *is* required during a Disc Wizard backup or restore, however - not just during installation (can't speak for the Maxtor variant of the software): if you install the product and then try to run it on a system lacking a Seagate drive it refuses to run.. I've used Disc Wizard (both installed and using its bootable CD version) to save and restore verifiable images to/from a USB drive, though not specifically to/from a Free Agent. Western Digital has a similar True-Image-based freebie that does claim to require that the destination drive be a WD drive (I think for a restore - which would be a really nasty time to discover this limitation).
I'm afraid that anonymous was confused about xxcopy: I just used the free version to copy to a USB drive without any difficulty (and have in the past, but just wanted to make sure that my memory wasn't playing tricks on me). xxcopy isn't an 'imaging' program, since it performs file-structured copy operations, but aside from not compressing the output (though on the plus side it does defragment it pretty effectively) it is a very useful tool. Among other things, it will perform incremental backups by detecting what's already present on the backup device and only copying over changes (use /clone if you want an identical copy, use /backup if you want to preserve any existing data on the backup that has since been deleted on the source). The free version of xxcopy is in many ways more flexible than the free version of xxclone (from the same manufacturer) - but xxcopy will not (without some external shenanigans on your part) create a *bootable* copy of a bootable partition, hence is better-suited to copying data portions of partitions.
I discovered g4u back when I found that Partition Magic V8 (which I don't use much any more - it sometimes gets confused dealing with XP NTFS variants, let alone later ones) wouldn't copy partitions whose contents it did not understand (I don't think CloneZilla could do this either back then, but it may now). g4u can copy (or image) individual partitions without overwriting the entire output disk. For something that fits on a couple of 1.44 MB floppies g4u is impressive - and it includes image compression in its repertoire.
(Incidentally, not all external USB disks need a cooling fan. Notebook drives whose case makes good contact with a metal enclosure are one example, unenclosed drives just hooked up to a cable are another - and 3.5" drives that make good contact with a metal enclosure that's exposed to good air circulation probably qualify as well. Recent studies of large groups of commodity drives found, somewhat surprisingly, that they lasted best at temperatures in the 30 - 40 degree C range and almost as well up to 50 degrees C: only higher temperatures contributed to significantly decreased lifetimes.)
- bill
Hi Bill.
Yeah, I guess those vertical out-in-the-open plug-in disk holders don't need a fan. Don't know about 2.5" drives but I'll take your word for it :)
I had a Maxtor USB disk with an ali (metal) case, it got so hot you couldn't touch it. No fan of course. It failed.
Normal hard drive temp in a PC case is 32 degrees so I suppose that's the mean temp for 'normal' use. In a USB box with no fan, they go to 70 degrees and up. Not really ideal for your vital data, I reckon.
I gave up with pre-built USB disks after 2 fails, they had no fans of course. I build my own with a Venus fan-cooled box and a Seagate 500GB drive now, kind of a Rolls-Royce solution for $10 or $20 more than the pre-built rubbish. It's a no-brainer.
My data is valuable, any data in a USB hard disk enclosure with no fan is essentially disposable. The box is handy for frying eggs on though.
chris.p
After a few weeks of frustration I have given up trying to get Acronis True Image or Macroum Reflect to create a disk image to my new external FreeAgent Pro. The image will just not verify. The software peeps tell me it is a hardware problem and the Seagate tests tell me there is nothing wrong with my FreeAgent Pro so guess it is a USB issue? :-(
Tom
Is Paragon Drive Backup Express actually creating an IMAGE of my boot drive or a BACKUP? If it's creating an image the people at Paragon need to change the name of their product. The name confuses me as to what it is actually doing. And if it is just doing a backup, it doesn't belong in this category.
Macrium Reflect Free has the serious deficiency of only creating a restore CD. Not a bootable CD that run both imaging and restoration operations. If one happens to have a PC on which volume shadow services won't run (and I've run into many) forget making an image on a non-lockable partition, i.e. the boot partition. If they'd fix the Rescue CD to include the imaging function this would be a worthy product for those who have problems running volume shadow services for whatever reason and want to image their boot partition. Without it, its worthless.
I have to disagree, it's not worthless. Backup software is meant to be used before you have a problem. If you have problems then want to try to copy stuff off, you need something other than backup software. If however, you use backup software as it should be used, Macrium is perfectly fine for it's intended use, back the machine up while it's working in case of failure. Upon failure insert the 'rescue disk/boot disk' restore the image and you're back working.
HD Clone Free Edition does not belong in a category about imaging software. Neither do backup programs.
Some people don't seem to understand the difference between drive cloning and imaging which are two entirely different things. Imaging works at a partition level or drive level whereas cloning only works at a drive level. Cloning products do not belong in this category.
I looked at XXCOPY. Don't bother. It doesn't support USB devices or DVD burners as output devices only internal hard drives in the free version. The Pro version supposedly supports those devices but its not free hence not eligible for Tech Support Alert.
Macrium free - downloaded just now from their site, insists on installing a 30 day trial version -
I have downloaded twice, and have the same error
can anyone help?
I think the easiest of these programs to use is Paragon DBE.
The backups are fast, and the restorations are fast. My system drive has usually about 20 gig of useful stuff not counting the swap file and trash files, and Paragon DBE backs it up to an 11 gig image on a secondary partition in a little less than 15 minutes. Verification of the backup is only about 6 minutes. Restoration of a backup is also under 15 minutes.
Sometimes I see software I want to try, especially on a site like Gizmo's that has a number of alternatives mentioned, so I download and try everything mentioned on the page to see which I like the best. Since not all software, no matter how good it is, mixes with all computers properly, this occasionally causes some system problems, even if the problem is a program that runs great for most people. Paragon DBE does a perfect restoration of my system drive every time and I haven't experienced a single failure with it.
Also even though I have experienced no failures with Paragon DBE, I do make certain that at least one backup image of the system has actually been used so that I know it will work if necessary.
I am using Vista and will soon switch to Windows 7. I then would like to create an image of my system. Now how can I use Macrium with Vista regarding the BartPE disc? In your article you say:
But I am not able to create the BartPE disc with Macrium.
Up to recently I was using Ghost 2003, but not being able to ghost to a usb drive without loading dos drivers, I discovered Acronis 10.
I got this via Gizmo hot finds.
I thought the interface was nice looking & easy to use.
However, when trying to restore an image to a HP laptop, it didn't see some of the drives. I then found there is a problem with Acronis 2009 not liking HP recovery partitions.
I have just seen that Trueimage 2010 has been released.
I then tried Paragon Drive recovery 2009, from giveaway of the day.
I imaged to one usb,(LaCie) but it failed the verification, on three occassions, I then tried another external drive (Seagate) which worked fine.
I am now trying Macrium Reflect freeware.
I created the Linux recovery cd. I then found out, I had to highlight the file rather than the folder.
The BartPE creation was quite simple I thought. You download BartPE, the Macruim wizard allows you to browse to the BartPE plugin folder & place it there. Then you run BartPE & an Iso file is created.
I have experience with ubcd4win, but so far haven't put the plug in onto a Ubcd4win cd.
Paragon DBE is also free only for non-commercial. An alternative, not reviewed here, is Partimage. I have not tried it, but it looks like it might work for my (very small) organization's purposes, seems fairly simple, and is GPL.
Partimage or PING
DriveImage XML is also only free for home/personal use, not for business/org.
Thank you for the article. It's very helpful, and time saving. You might want to note that Macrium Reflect Free is only free for personal use (which excludes it for my application).
Thank you very much for this article. I have been using Acronis True Image Personal 10. The interface electronics in my USB drive enclosure failed. I got a new enclosure (Acomdata Samba USB 2.0) but the Acronis boot CD doesn't recognize it. So I decided to make a BartPE CD using the Acronis plugin I've read about, but I discovered the plugin is not in my version of Acronis and it's not available on the Acronis web site for my version of True Image.
A little research brought me here. I had never heard of Macrium Reflect. It looks great. I love that it even provides the BartPE plugin with the free version.
Thanks too for providing the download link. It's hard to find on the Macrium site.
Jon
Follow-up Update
I installed Macrium Reflect Free in Windows XP SP3 and created an image of my system drive on my USB drive. I cloned my system partition to another internal partition using Norton Ghost, in case my Macrium Reflect restore test failed.
I included the Macrium Reflect BartPE plugin on a BartPE CD, but the CD didn't recognize my USB drive. I created a UBCD4Win CD including the Macrium Reflect BartPE plug-in. The CD could see the drive. I booted with the CD and restored my system partition from the USB drive. I booted from the restored partition. The restore worked fine with no problems.
Jon
After reviewing/trying the aforementioned apps, I went with the Paragon to backup my 64-bit Vista HP laptop (that I purchased in July, 2009).
At first, I tried the Macrium. I successfully saved a whole disk image to my USB hard drive. Because I have over 80 GB, this took some time. (I think it took about a couple hours.)
But I was not able to create a Macrium recovery DVD. At first, I clicked on the BartPE option, which causes Macrium to immediately tell me that BartPE is not compatible with Vista. So, then I tried the only other available option, which was the Linux option. After creating the Linux recovery DVD, I tried to boot up on it. But the result was a DOS screen that had just one line at the top stating the version and author of the software, but it hanged after that. Then, I tried the advanced Macrium option and selected Linux "compatibility mode", but booting on this Linux recovery DVD had the same result. I checked out the forum ( http://support.macrium.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=4 ), and learned that the Linux DVD is updated regularly. One user said it worked on his other 2 computers, but did not work on his new computer. A developer replied that he might want to try again in a few days, as they update it regularly. Also, if you spend $40 to get the commercial version of Macrium, then they provide another backup option "Windows PE", which sounds like it would always work. (I think Microsoft won't let them give this option away for free.)
So, I decided to try the Paragon and they also provide a Linux option. (Also, they provide the "Windows PE" option if you buy the commercial version.) At first, I was reluctant to try the Paragon, because I just had some bad luck with the Macrium Linux. But I tried it and it worked. I was able to boot from the Paragon Linux recovery DVD and then I was able to select my disk image (that I previously created using Paragon) on the USB hard drive (though I didn't actually run the recovery, because I just wanted to see if I could select it).
I looked at the G4U, but I read that copying your hard disk will completely overwrite your target hard disk, which means that you would have to have a dedicated USB hard drive for just one disk image. I looked at the other apps, and none of them seemed like they would work for me. So, if the free Paragon had not worked, I would have either bought the Macrium or the Paragon and used the "Windows PE" recovery disk.
One tip: be sure to check your boot order. I was surprised to discover that my new HP laptop had the boot order such that the internal hard drive would boot before the CD/DVD drive. So, I had to go into the BIOS and make the CD/DVD drive the first device to boot from.
Windows PE is included in such free products as BART PE, UBCD4WIN, and Ultimate Boot CD. I don't think Microsoft is charging any fees. Macrium is. It's the old, "we'll give you this free version but for the really useful version which just includes some free software from Microsoft we want $40. And really, you NEED the $40 version................"
Is Macrium Reflect Free compatible with Windows 7 64 bit?
Yes it's compatible with XP, Vista, Windows 7. 32 and native 64 Bit.
What about EASEUS Todo Backup?
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