Best Harddrive Backup Program

hey with all the ptoblems with my computer that I always run into, i like to reinstall windows a lot :01:

so my plan is to reinstall windows tommorrow or on the weekend or something, then as soon as Ive got the basic programs installed, im going to make a backup of my C drive so that when I reinstall later on it will take less time.

so what is teh best program to use for this? im thinking norton ghost as ive heard a lot of people talking about it, but there may be better ones...

edit: oops, meant to click software world, can a mod please move this? thanks

Norton Ghost works a dream :)

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 18:02
Norton Ghost works a dream :)

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alright thanks, so fill me in how it works as i wait for it to download.

will i be able to backup to cd, or just hard drive :(, and how much space will it take up on my cd? and how long does it take to restore a partition?

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004+11 May 2004 - 23:05--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (ROSSCO_2004 @ 11 May 2004 - 23:05)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 18:02
Norton Ghost works a dream&nbsp; :)

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alright thanks, so fill me in how it works as i wait for it to download.

will i be able to backup to cd, or just hard drive :(, and how much space will it take up on my cd? and how long does it take to restore a partition? [/b][/quote]
you can back-up to CD&#39;s DVD or internal/external hard drive

I&#39;ve just done the same thing as you, onto DVD. The back-up file is 1.45GB

It should only take about 10 mins to restore a partition.

its easy to use as well :)

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker+11 May 2004 - 18:16--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AndrewBarker @ 11 May 2004 - 18:16)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@11 May 2004 - 23:05
<!--QuoteBegin-AndrewBarker

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@11 May 2004 - 18:02
Norton Ghost works a dream&nbsp; :)

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alright thanks, so fill me in how it works as i wait for it to download.

will i be able to backup to cd, or just hard drive :(, and how much space will it take up on my cd? and how long does it take to restore a partition?

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you can back-up to CD&#39;s DVD or internal/external hard drive

I&#39;ve just done the same thing as you, onto DVD. The back-up file is 1.45GB

It should only take about 10 mins to restore a partition.

its easy to use as well :) [/b][/quote]
alright thank you :) i might try to find a small 2gb hard drive then, so that i wont have to use 2 or 3 cds.

alright its done downloading and ive installed it. it seems pretty simple to make teh image, but how do i restore it? do i need to make dos disks or something, or do i have to run teh restore thing from in windows?

nvm i figured out how to make a bootable floppy disk...only problem is i dont have a lfoppy drive lol. if i burn teh floppy files directly to a cd, will it boot still or do i need something special?

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@11 May 2004 - 23:43
alright its done downloading and ive installed it. it seems pretty simple to make teh image, but how do i restore it? do i need to make dos disks or something, or do i have to run teh restore thing from in windows?

nvm i figured out how to make a bootable floppy disk...only problem is i dont have a lfoppy drive lol. if i burn teh floppy files directly to a cd, will it boot still or do i need something special?

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You need to create a bootable cd or dvd, go to Ghost Utilities, then select Norton Ghost Boot Wizard

and yes it can be run from windows if windows is functual

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker+11 May 2004 - 19:38--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AndrewBarker @ 11 May 2004 - 19:38)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ROSSCO_2004@11 May 2004 - 23:43
alright its done downloading and ive installed it. it seems pretty simple to make teh image, but how do i restore it? do i need to make dos disks or something, or do i have to run teh restore thing from in windows?

nvm i figured out how to make a bootable floppy disk...only problem is i dont have a lfoppy drive lol. if i burn teh floppy files directly to a cd, will it boot still or do i need something special?

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You need to create a bootable cd or dvd, go to Ghost Utilities, then select Norton Ghost Boot Wizard

and yes it can be run from windows if windows is functual [/b][/quote]
ya i found teh wizard, but it doesnt let me make a bootable cd, only a bootable floppy that can read dvds...

here are my options:
Image Resized
[img]http://filesharingtalk.com/sigs/bootoptions.JPG' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'>

those are teh only options, all of which still want to copy to a floppy disk. each one just gives different options.

any ideas?

I seee what you mean, there must be a way though cos more and more computers don&#39;t have floppies

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 20:23
I seee what you mean, there must be a way though cos more and more computers don&#39;t have floppies

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damnit then i guess ill have to put teh floppy drive in whenever i reinstall that image file...unless someone replys before next time i install i gues..

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If you start and run Norton Ghost from Windows, then the only boot disk you need is a recovery boot disk. If you are running Norton Ghost from Windows, then the system files and drivers required to perform the backup, restore, or clone are provided for you.

Note: If you saved your image file directly to CD or DVD, then you do not need a recovery boot disk. Norton Ghost includes Ghost.exe if you save the image file to Cd or DVD.

To use Ghost.exe you must have a Ghost boot disk. The following tasks require a boot disk:

Restoring your computer with Ghost.exe after software or hardware failure
Cloning a computer that does not have Windows installed

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 20:34

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If you start and run Norton Ghost from Windows, then the only boot disk you need is a recovery boot disk. If you are running Norton Ghost from Windows, then the system files and drivers required to perform the backup, restore, or clone are provided for you.

Note: If you saved your image file directly to CD or DVD, then you do not need a recovery boot disk. Norton Ghost includes Ghost.exe if you save the image file to Cd or DVD.

To use Ghost.exe you must have a Ghost boot disk. The following tasks require a boot disk:

Restoring your computer with Ghost.exe after software or hardware failure
Cloning a computer that does not have Windows installed

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ya so basically its saying that if you dont have a working windows (which is what im going to have, or could have atleast) then you need a floppy boot disk...

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Making the CD disc bootable
When you use Norton Ghost 2003 to save an image file directly to a CD-R/RW disk, Ghost provides an option to make the disk bootable. If you check the option, Ghost automatically adds the necessary files to the CD disc.

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If you use cd&#39;s for your backup, then from how I understand it, they will be bootable

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 21:26

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Making the CD disc bootable
When you use Norton Ghost 2003 to save an image file directly to a CD-R/RW disk, Ghost provides an option to make the disk bootable. If you check the option, Ghost automatically adds the necessary files to the CD disc.

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If you use cd&#39;s for your backup, then from how I understand it, they will be bootable

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hmm, well we&#39;ll see. thanks for all of your help andrew.

I&#39;ve just rebooted to test the dvd image disc, and it is indeed bootable :)

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Originally posted by AndrewBarker@11 May 2004 - 21:54
I&#39;ve just rebooted to test the dvd image disc, and it is indeed bootable :)

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:) thanks for checking.

:pizza:

OK I know this is a Norton Ghost loving thread. But here&#39;s my 2 cents anyways.

Let me say first I used Norton Ghost for 2 years.
I do what it says in my sig. Acronis Migrate Easy & a spare HDD has been my easiest solution yet. My experience with Norton/Symantec Ghost was good until my spare HDD wouldn&#39;t boot. Norton Ghost was arbitraryly destroying my system files needed to boot. The Acronis Migrate Easy interface is easier & more step by step (more detailed) than Norton Ghost. With HDD&#39;s so cheap this is my current solution. I can easily choose to keep or destroy data from the source drive. Also I can easily accept current partitions on destination HDD or change them. Ability to review different & many choices (very easily explained too, in a window below the selection process) in AME make it hands down my choice over NG.

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Originally posted by zapjb@11 May 2004 - 22:17
OK I know this is a Norton Ghost loving thread. But here&#39;s my 2 cents anyways.

Let me say first I used Norton Ghost for 2 years.
I do what it says in my sig. Acronis Migrate Easy & a spare HDD has been my easiest solution yet. My experience with Norton/Symantec Ghost was good until my spare HDD wouldn&#39;t boot. Norton Ghost was arbitraryly destroying my system files needed to boot. The Acronis Migrate Easy interface is easier & more step by step (more detailed) than Norton Ghost. With HDD&#39;s so cheap this is my current solution. I can easily choose to keep or destroy data from the source drive. Also I can easily accept current partitions on destination HDD or change them. Ability to review different & many choices (very easily explained too, in a window below the selection process) in AME make it hands down my choice over NG.

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ic, well ill try ghost, see how it goes, if its not that great then i will try the other program. but i think ghost is fine.

oh and i dont have enough money to buy a second harddrive for backup, as i dont really need a backup, i have nothing important to keep.

http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost...dSection=1&Src=

I don&#39;t get why you would need these progs if you have a
backup hdd internal/external?

Unless NG or Migrate allows you to backup installed software
so when you upload it after upgrading windows the software still
functions w/o you having to reinstall it.

Or maybe it&#39;s because the image file makes it organized and smaller?

It only makes sense if you have one hdd.
And a DVD writer. :P

Please correct me if I&#39;m wrong, this is just my opinion. ;)

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Originally posted by trillscout@12 May 2004 - 14:53
I don&#39;t get why you would need these progs if you have a
backup hdd internal/external?

Unless NG or Migrate allows you to backup installed software
so when you upload it after upgrading windows the software still
functions w/o you having to reinstall it.

Or maybe it&#39;s because the image file makes it organized and smaller?

It only makes sense if you have one hdd.
And a DVD writer. :P

Please correct me if I&#39;m wrong, this is just my opinion. ;)

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you should quote the person your talking to if more than one person has posted in a thread :unsure:

I find the question asked incomprehensible. :blink:

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Originally posted by zapjb@12 May 2004 - 16:28
I find the question asked incomprehensible. :blink:

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i tihnk he means, why do you use software for backing up if you just copy the files to another hard drive anyway...

im not sure if this is right, but isnt using the software better becuase then for a restore you already have working boot files and stuff, it rights them itself, instead of having to install windows then the image file... :unsure:

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I find the question asked incomprehensible.&nbsp;

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:frusty:

What I&#39;m trying to say is do these progs allow you to restore software(say winamp)
to windows in a way where you won&#39;t have to reinstall it to work again?

I once backed my files on another hdd so I could change from xp to 2k.
when I put all my files back, I had to reinstall all my software in order for it
to register and boot up.

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im not sure if this is right, but isnt using the software better becuase then for a restore you already have working boot files and stuff, it rights them itself, instead of having to install windows then the image file...

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are the working boot files what allows windows to recognize previously installed software?

Am I making myself clear?

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Originally posted by trillscout@12 May 2004 - 22:26

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I find the question asked incomprehensible.

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:frusty:

What I&#39;m trying to say is do these progs allow you to restore software(say winamp)
to windows in a way where you won&#39;t have to reinstall it to work again?

I once backed my files on another hdd so I could change from xp to 2k.
when I put all my files back, I had to reinstall all my software in order for it
to register and boot up.

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im not sure if this is right, but isnt using the software better becuase then for a restore you already have working boot files and stuff, it rights them itself, instead of having to install windows then the image file...

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are the working boot files what allows windows to recognize previously installed software?

Am I making myself clear?

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with Norton Ghost you just stick the disc in and 10 mins or so later your computer is back to how is was when you created the disc

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with Norton Ghost you just stick the disc in and 10 mins or so later your computer is back to how is was when you created the disc

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what if you wanted to upgrade windows? Would it still work or do you have to
install everything over again?

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Originally posted by trillscout@12 May 2004 - 22:51
what if you wanted to upgrade windows? Would it still work or do you have to
install everything over again?

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If you going to install a new operating sytem, then you would have to reinstall all your software

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Originally posted by trillscout@12 May 2004 - 17:26

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I find the question asked incomprehensible.&nbsp;

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:frusty:

What I&#39;m trying to say is do these progs allow you to restore software(say winamp)
to windows in a way where you won&#39;t have to reinstall it to work again?

I once backed my files on another hdd so I could change from xp to 2k.
when I put all my files back, I had to reinstall all my software in order for it
to register and boot up.

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im not sure if this is right, but isnt using the software better becuase then for a restore you already have working boot files and stuff, it rights them itself, instead of having to install windows then the image file...

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are the working boot files what allows windows to recognize previously installed software?

Am I making myself clear?

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thats because you didnt copy the registry over with you...when u use norton ghost, it copies EVERYTHING over that is on the hard drive. so when it restores it puts back everything that was installed.

I use AME for various reasons. Two reasons are catastrophic HDD failure & f&#39;d up programs that screw up ones OS. Saves weeks of time. :)

alright, so today i finally reinstalled windows. then all updates&#092;programs i need and twekaed it all perfectly. then i went for the imaging...it worked great&#33; i chose to burn directly to cd, it was a pretty slow process and took 2 cds for 2gb of data&#33; thats pretty good compresssion :)

i tried a restore, and it worked perfectly. so i just wnated to let you guys know how it went, and to thank everyone who helped me. B)

I have searched Yahoo and went through a few pages looking for a download link for Norton Ghost 2003. and no luck

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Originally posted by Hunted@16 May 2004 - 02:19
I have searched Yahoo and went through a few pages looking for a download link for Norton Ghost 2003. and no luck

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what filesharing network do you use. ie kazaa, emule

BitTorrent, eMule, IRC are all great ways to get software.
BTW, I didn&#39;t read everyone&#39;s suggestions, but I saw mentioning of Norton Ghost and I&#39;ve heard it was great, but if you want a freeware alternative, The Ultimate Boot CD has a couple of diskette utilities for HDD cloning... among many other things.

-- Xero Grid --

i downloaded mine from kazaa lite. ya thats right, i still use kazaa. dont turn this thread into a flaming againt kazaa lite, its not gonna make me stop using it.

so ya, i downlaoded it from there and it works great :)

:lol: :lol:
I never said anything against K-Lite. I just don&#39;t use ot for software. It&#39;s a fact that it just has more corrupt and bogus files. That&#39;s it, but I still use it, too.

-- Xero Grid --

I&#39;ll have to get my moms computer back online again... I use her computer for all my BT downloading. Only thing is, the fan is not working right, and it will restart itself.

I haven&#39;t read any of this thread, but I&#39;m gonna cast my vote for Norton Ghost

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Originally posted by Xero Grid@16 May 2004 - 00:45
:lol: :lol:
I never said anything against K-Lite. I just don&#39;t use ot for software. It&#39;s a fact that it just has more corrupt and bogus files. That&#39;s it, but I still use it, too.

-- Xero Grid --

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ya, i know u didnt say anything about klite, but whenever i talk about klite everyone starts yellin at me telling me to stop using it cause of all the bogus files...

Maximum PC June issue had a article on the best hard drive back up utilites. Norton Ghost And Powerquest 7 were neck and neck. Read somewhere Symantec bought out powerquest tho.



http://www.softlandmark.com/PowerQuestDriveImage.htm :)