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General discussion

NERO not consumer-friendly

Apr 15, 2010 3:02AM PDT

Hello - Have been trying to backup my computer on an external HD, using Nero 8 which I purchased at the full price due to Download.com review at the time. Formatted the first partition on the HD and tried to send a partition from my comp to it. The Nero backitup tool told me that the formatted partition had 12.8 GB on it, therefore could not accept any more. I reformatted, with the same result, and all the while on the comp index the partition (on the spare HD) showed up as empty. Wrote this to NERO a week ago, with a reminder four days ago - and no reply. Can someone take this up with NERO and, incidentally, help with the problem itself? Thanks - Amos.

Discussion is locked

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RE: Nero backup...
Apr 15, 2010 4:13AM PDT

Amos,

Issues involving technical support can be reflected in future product reviews written by the editorial team if they receive enough complaints or experience the issues themselves, but otherwise it's a matter between you and Nero.

That said, we may be able to assist in resolving the technical issue, though I would like clarification of the current partition arrangement. Specifically we need to know how much data you are attempting to backup (used capacity of the source partition). I suspect the issue is that the source partition contains more than 12.8GB of data, exceeding the 12.8GB available on the external hard drive, making the proposed backup procedure impossible for Nero to perform. If I have misunderstood the partition situation, please let me know.

Regards,
John

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space
Apr 15, 2010 7:24PM PDT

Hi John - definitely not. The target partition on the external HD has 15 giga, the partition on the comp that I am trying to back up has about 4 giga. The 12 giga at present on the HD must be the result of three previous backups where Nero refused to recognize the formatting. Thanks for your response - Amos.

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NERO backitup
Apr 19, 2010 7:11PM PDT

Hello John and everyone else insterested: I have come to grips with the issue of backing up data. NERO told me (after a long delay) that irrespective of the amount of data I want to back up - the PARTITION on which the data rest should not be larger than the Target Partition. So I had to do some juggling around with Partition Master in order to complete the task. I told Nero how silly this instruction was: it means that the target partition (of the backup) would have to absorb all the empty space of the original and back it up. And who in their right mind would want to back up empty space? I do not know if they were impressed with my remark, but had to tell them anyway. - Amos.

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Thanks for letting us know...
Apr 20, 2010 3:27AM PDT

I was not aware of that restriction, having primarily relied on programs specifically designed for cloning, such as Acronis TrueImage. However, I will note that many cloning applications make that method an option, rather than Nero's requirement, for those who need an exact, sector-by-sector, clone, either due to corruption (with the possibility of recovery) or for in-depth application testing (regarding defragmentation, malware scan, etc. timing). Sad to hear it's Nero's only option, but good to know for future reference.

John

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Other NERO options
Apr 20, 2010 5:01PM PDT

Hello John - to be quite clear (and avoid misunderstandings) NERO BackItUp is not the only option on the program for having a copy of your data. It is, or maybe this should be was, the easiest for copying partitions to an external HD. There is NERO burning ROM which easily accepted the 4giga of data off a 15giga partition, to put on a DVD disk that had 4.7 giga of space. I used both, since I usually make two backups of my data, on different types of media. = Amos.

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Nero Backitup is CRAP!
Mar 14, 2011 9:38AM PDT

I know what you're saying dude, I paid 50 GBP for this crap.

If you have a 80GB partition/hard disk and only a 1.5GB WinXP installation on it you will be asked for 20 DVDs to back it up of which 18 will be completely empty. Imagine trying to back up a 4TB drive with Nero BackitUp's boot disc?

What a load of crap. It even crashes my Compaq Evo laptop, it loads Linux into a sluggish, feature-devoid GUI with absolutely no essential multi-file copy/paste features.

Crap.

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NERO may not be the right software.
Apr 17, 2010 12:10AM PDT

There are free alternatives so why not explore those first?

Of course I've run into folk that need more support than others but for that they often end up with on site support or shop counters.
Bob