Best Hard Drive Cloning or Imaging Software?

[olblueyez]

Im getting a NAS for my network and I have a Desktop running XP and a laptop running Vista. What software would you recommend for cloning or imaging?

 

[dazzer1975]

acronis is meant to be one of the best out there.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

Symantec Ghost or Acronis true image.

 

[kansei]

Ghost is good for imaging entire machines. However, I find it easier to back up just your data to your NAS instead of imaging the whole machine. I use Robocopy from the Windows 2003 Server resource kit tools. You can set up the command line to copy your data to the server. (for XP the location is C:\Documents and Settings\%username%). You will find "My Documents" and "Desktop" there.

What is great about Robocopy, it only copies the files that changed from the last time you ran the backup job. The files that are the same (or older) are ignored. This makes the backups really quick.

Restoring from an image never worked really well for me. It is usually easier to just build a new machine and put your data back on it.



Download details: Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools.

 

[olblueyez]

What do you guys think of this one?

StorageCraft - Provider of online disk backup software, disaster recovery, data storage, data protection, anti virus, anti spyware and internet privacy solutions

23 Powerful Utilities - ShadowProtect Desktop 3.1 - At A Glance - Reviews by PC Magazine

 

[trains are bad]

I just use dd. It's been working for like, 20 years now.

 

[armoured]

+10000 for Acronis true image.

 

[ziplock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just use dd. It's been working for like, 20 years now.

DD is an excellent utility, albeit dangerous if not familiar with command line. I believe there is a Windows (for CMD) version available too.

However, for simplicity, Norton Ghost 2003 is one of the best; it's pretty much fool proof.

As others have mentioned, I hear good things about Acronis, but do not have any experience with it. I'm kinda old school and stick to what I know works

Z

 

[1UP]

Acronis is really good.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

I have been using Acronis True Image for years, and not one problem.

 

[joe_cool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziplock /img/forum/go_quote.gif for simplicity, Norton Ghost 2003 is one of the best; it's pretty much fool proof.

Using Ghost 2003 I've had problems on NTFS target volumes where the "short" filenames didn't match the names in the Registry.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, you can only copy the system volume from a DOS boot.

 

[olblueyez]

Yeah, I don't think using a 2003 version of any software is an option.