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General discussion

Bacup Recommendations

Jun 8, 2005 11:49AM PDT

Would love to hear recommendations for backup software for a Windows 98se desktop without internet connection where most files - and all of importance to me - are text files - no photos, no music. I have a floppy drive and cd burner and would prefer using the burner - don't want to backup to my C-drive - what an idiotic idea - and don't want to use MSBackup. Thanks for your help.

Discussion is locked

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Re: backup
Jun 8, 2005 6:12PM PDT

It depends on the volume of data to backup and where they are.
What I do is - in essence - use my burning program to copy all of My Documents to cd. There are some more files to backup, of course (like the Address book and the Outlook Express mail folder, that are somewhere in the Windows folder), and you can either add them manually each time, or write a simple batch file to copy exactly the files you want to backup to a dedicated folder in My Documents. And a second batchfile to delete them after the backup.

Hope this helps.


Kees

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Backup
Jun 9, 2005 1:31PM PDT

Thanks Kees - your reply made me clarify my own question - I will be doing what you suggested for my texts (burn cds), but I am also looking for software to backup the entire system -- What do you think? Is Ghost a decent product?

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Yes, Ghost is considered to be a good product.
Jun 9, 2005 9:06PM PDT
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Backup
Jun 10, 2005 9:14AM PDT

Thanks again, Kees (By the way, one of our dearest friends was from The Hague)

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Backup or Imaging
Jun 16, 2005 10:50PM PDT

Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, PowerQuest Power Image (now Syamantec) and many others will 'image' your hdd, creating a byte by byte copy of the whole hdd (data files and OS system files will be completely backed up) that can be used to recover the whole system in case of havoc.

I prefer PQ Power Image, but Ghost is also reliable. Unfortunately, I had a couple of bad experiences with Acronis TI but many say it is very good.

I also like BootITNG that does the same as the others (although slower) but can also be used to partition hdd and boot several OS's in the same PC. Price is even lower than the other products.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

BTW, I recommended this product in another thread, for another solution. I dod not work for terabyte, I just like their products, as I like Ghost and Power Image (this one had died and has become part of the new Ghost 9). Shame!

hope this helps

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Ghost imaging
Jun 17, 2005 6:52AM PDT

I have been using ghost for several years and find it quite satisfactory. Not perfect, mind you, but can you name any perfect software?

Ghost originally did only true cloning, making a bit-by-bit copy of a disk as Tatttenbach described. This means that it copied all totally empty regions on the disk, as well as the useful data. You can still force Ghost to do that, now called sector copy mode, if you run it from the command line and set the switch ?ia. However, that is no longer its normal mode of operation; since at least 2002, Ghost normally creates an image file rather than a true drive clone (though Symantec still calls these images ?clones?). I have not used PQ Drive Image or Acronis True Image, but I suspect the same is true for them also.

In imaging mode, only the useful data are copied into an image file. This file can then be used to recreate the functionality of the original, but it will not be an identical clone ? mainly because any empty sectors between files on the original will be eliminated on the restored one. Also, imaging can be on a partition-by-partition basis, rather than on a total disk basis. You can do a full-disk image if you wish, and as you must if your disk is not partitioned; it will smaller, perhaps much smaller, than a sector copy clone.

Another feature of Ghost images, one that many do not seem aware of, is that with Ghost Explorer, you can retrieve selected files from the image. You do not always need to restore the entire partition.

As an illustration of Ghost usage, we have 10 systems, and all of the disks are partitioned. We Ghost the system partition of Machine A to an image in a partition in Machine B, then Ghost its system partition to an image in a partition in Machine C, and so on, finally Ghosting Machine J to machine A. We thus have a fairly simple, but robust backup system.

One advantage of partitioning your drive, and putting the OS and apps in one partition and all data in another, is the reduced size of the images and the time required. The System partition generally needs to be backed up only when significant changes are made. The data should be backed up much more frequently. But by backing up only the data partition, by Ghost or other method, fewer CDs will be needed and it will go much faster.

As you apparently have only one machine, you must save your images to CD or DVD disks. An advantage of Ghost over Lees? copying is that Ghost has two levels of compression. You will need about 70% as many CDs for a backup.

BTW, PQ Drive Image is no longer available since Symantec purchased it. The latest Ghost, Version 9, is an amalgam of Ghost and Drive Image ? supposedly taking the best of each. One disadvantage of version 9 is that it will run only on XP systems. Those who have both XP and 98/ME, as I have, or only 98/ME as you seem to, will need Ghost 2003. This latter is included in the Ghost 9 package.

Hope this provides some info on Ghost options.

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(NT) (NT) A very nice and readable story.
Jun 17, 2005 7:53AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) Thanks, Kees
Jun 17, 2005 9:45AM PDT
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Ghost Imaging
Aug 13, 2005 2:03AM PDT

I am using Ghost basic that came as a part of Norton SystemWorks 2003. I have been researching the simplest, and best way to do a backup. I used Ghost and did a complete backup, (6-7 CD's). When the time came to do a restore, The program went through either two or three CD's and then popped up with the message, "cannot read disk, and immediately went to "disk defragment" there were something like twelve hundred files showing in Disk defrag, when I followed the on screen instructions and let defrag do its thing, my system was rendered useless. Ended up doing a fresh install. I'm running PIII-500, Two Hd's,(93 gigs) Win Xp Pro, 256 ram, and 56 k modem. Any input would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

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How to do automatic back ups?
Jul 14, 2005 5:57AM PDT

Any ideas on how to write an automatic back up on a particular software program if it is not resident in the program? Example, I use Quicken, and every 3rd time that I close the program it prompts me to do a back up. Is it possible to get some other existing software program ( Word or WordPerfect )to do the same thing?