CPU backup Qs

[Beaver]

Is there a program out there that takes a snapshot/copy, whatever you want to call it, of your entire computer and lets you put it on a disc? With this disc I could restore my computer to the snapshot date or use it as a boot disk.

I had to reinstall Xp last month because of some boot.ini problem. I have my original boot disk, but didn't have the administrative password to do anything besides reinstall.

With that in mind and all this virus talk, I want a way to restore my computer to its EXACT specifications as it sits today. Thats possible right?

What does Norton Ghost do? It came with one of my recent Norton purchases, but I haven't really looked at it.

 

[Chaz]

The first question is where to backup to. The problem is the disc capacity. If you are talking DVD 4.7 GB (8.9 GB DLDVD) is the most you can put on one disc. So you need multiple discs and then you have to replace them when you update the backup.

The best option is an external Hard Drive of at least the same capacity as your internal hard drive. I would recommend with prices the way they are that you get one with at least double the capacity as your existing hard drive.

Norton Ghost is the latest edition of an old program called Drive Image. It is a good program for imaging the entire hard drive. Another program I like is Acronis True Image. Generally you do a base/full backup and then you create snapshots of the changes in your files from the base image.

Keep in mind you will need the backup/image viewer program on a bootable disc to recover files or restore your hard drive from backup.

 

[Beaver]

OK, my original drive C is 40GB and I have a second drive D that is 200GB. D only holds my music, movies, my documents only. I could create an image of drive C on my drive D as an exact copy?

 

[Chaz]

OK, my original drive C is 40GB and I have a second drive D that is 200GB. D only holds my music, movies, my documents only. I could create an image of drive C on my drive D as an exact copy?

Yes, Ghost would create a .v2i image file on D. As long and your drive D: has as much free space as your C: drive has space used that will work fine.

 

[Beaver]

Thanks Chaz. So I could buy THIS and back up both drive C/D and if crap hits the fan I can restore it back to whatever is on the external drive?

 

[Chaz]

Yea but if you have 240GB total capacity to back up I would get at least that amount of space to back it up. I would spend an extra $15 and get something like THIS.

It isn't a small portable notebook drive like the other one but has a lot more capacity.

 

[BillsCarnage]

I use Acronis and it works like a charm and you can usually find it at Fry's w/ a nice rebate.

Drive prices are so low now, just get an enclosure and 500gb drive.

 

[conraddobler]

This is actually where virtual PC can be very helpfull.

You can configure a virtual copy of a server say and then periodically save the entire image to an external drive and store it offsite.

The point is you can be up and running in literally minutes with a live copy of the entire server that's been updated and is a complete copy of the other which fits into a manageable size.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx

It's free because of course it entices you to purchase more server licenses which you will need to run it legally but on the flipside it's a very good way to take advantage of the excessive hardware capabilities that are usually present in modern servers.

 

[Sandan]

Video drivers are rarely good for visualization.

I use VMware all the time for servers

 

[Ryanwb]

Vmware server is free. The desktop version is a little more robust but has an associated cost