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Question

Back up 2 PCs on one external HD

Feb 26, 2015 6:24AM PST

My old PC is no longer in use but I backed it up on my Maxtor Blackarmor 320GB.
I want to use the same Blackarmor for my second PC, and in fact without thinking about it I did a backup before remembering that I had already backed up the first PC.

First I have to figure out what to do with the current state of the backups, ideally separate them.
Then figure out how to put the first PC backup in it's own place. Then put future backups of the new PC in a separate place. Partitions?

XP Pro SP3

Discussion is locked

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Answer
So what's the problem?
Feb 26, 2015 6:30AM PST

I have a 2 TB external that has backups from 5 or 6 PCs. I used to use Norton Ghost, but since Symantec took it off the market, I use Easeus Todo Backup Free which is free for home use. Just don't use the Windows supplied backup; it's different in every release of Windows and it's buggy in some versions as well.

Good luck.

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There's the problem of the two merged backups
Feb 26, 2015 1:51PM PST

As I said above, I have two backups from the 2 pc's, a previous mistake on the Blackarmor drive.
How to separate them?

Also, this Blackarmor drive is not on Maxtor/Seagate's list of drives that can be used for 2 or more PCs.
Maybe there's a workaround for this.

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You haven't said what you backup program you used
Feb 26, 2015 10:46PM PST

Not knowing what backup program you used, it's impossible to tell you how to separate them. With the programs I've used, you tell the backup program where to put the backup. YMMV.

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I used the Maxtor/Seagate software
Feb 27, 2015 2:19AM PST

supplied with the Blackarmor device. At that time I didn't know I could use other programs.

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I've used other backup apps.
Feb 27, 2015 2:25AM PST

For years I used Clonezilla since I can backup the entire HDD to a folder on the external. Be warned this seems slow to backup so I let it fly when I have time. Restore however has been very fast and a dream to put a machine right back to where it was.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-to-clone-and-copy-your-hard-drive/ lists other titles.

Once we have a cloned image in some folder we can entertain backup of just our files. I've used RoadKil's Unstoppable Copier, GoldSync and SyncBack over the years (all good titles.) Some have Portable versions so you don't have to install them.
Bob

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First I want to continue with the supplied software
Feb 28, 2015 6:13AM PST

in order to figure out how to separate the old and new PC backups.
The old PC is not working and I cannot risk losing the backup of the old system. (Although I have some important files from it also backed up on Mozy.com)

After that is done I can begin to think about what other software to use, like Clonezilla which seems like a good idea.

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Then you are stuck with
Feb 28, 2015 6:17AM PST

Then you may be stuck as I don't use their app for many reasons like the issues you are hit with.

Maybe they only support 1 drive backup per PC?

As to risk, you can solve that by making a backup copy. 2 copies = backup. 1 backup copy is no backup.
Bob