Disk backup

Thank you Jack for your reply. The thing that still puzzles me is that Ghost 9 has options for both image and copy. It seems to me to imply that there is a difference?

as Jack mentioned; but not only between different software publishers, but within the same company. Symantec has sometimes been rather vague in definitions, whereas usage in Ghost was originally more specific.

At one time a disk clone, sometimes called a sector copy, was an exact, sector-by-sector, copy of a disk or partition. It included copies of everything, even empty sectors. Another type of copy is what Symantec now calls SmartSector copying; sectors containing information, valid or not, are copied -- empty sectors are not copied.

A disk (or partition) image is the data needed to recreate all the currently valid files present on the disk. Unlike a true copy, it does not contain such things as the residual information from "deleted" files. It may also rearrange the data, effectively defragmenting files to some extent.

As Jack said, however, these terms are often used interchangably -- and erroneously.

Hope this clears things up somewhat

Frank

Could you say anything about the advantages or disadvantages of the two methods of backup. Thank you very much for your replys.

For the initial backup you want to backup everything on the drive, including the hidden system files. This will allow you to restore everything necessary to bring Windows back up in case of a fata failure of the drive. Disk 'cloning' or disk copy will create an exact image of the drive by copying sectors. File copy copies the files as a file, regardless of how fragmented the file is. Incremental backups select those files that have changed in any way since the last backup whether it be the original clone or a backup created two sessions ago.

So, as a first you need to clone. Then incremental after that. Scheduling backups could depend on how important the data is you just created or how long it's been since the last backup. Usually it's a combination of both.

and life goes on...

Jack

Symantec has now (Ghost 10.0) renamed image to restore point and pretend that they have added a new feature similar to Go Back. How about muddling the terminology some more!

Frank