How many use disc image software for system backup

[KrisZ]

Just curious, what image software are people here using for their data and system backups.

I use Acronis True Image 11, and I think this is the best $50 I ever spent on a computer.

It worked so well for me that I don’t bother with anti-virus type programs anymore. I don`t have to deal with a lot of viruses and spyware to begin with, but what I found is that anti-virus software more often than enough will have trouble removing some of the nasty bugs, and your computer never runs the same.

So, pretty mush for the same time it take the anti-virus software to scan my system I can restore the whole drive with a working backup.

What are you guys using?

 

[47HO]

Clonezilla

 

[heypete]

Acronis is quite handy. We use it at work all the time.

It turns out that Western Digital offers a free version of Acronis at http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp -- useful for home users.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: 47HO

Clonezilla


+1

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Originally Posted By: heypete
Western Digital offers a free version of Acronis at http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp -- useful for home users.


you ROCK! Thanks!!

 

[Ndx]

Clonezilla ... - OpenSource ... Flexible ...
Acronis is great tooo

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: Ndx
Clonezilla ... - OpenSource ... Flexible ...
Acronis is great tooo


Indeed, but Acronis lets you mount the image and pull out individual files, which is frequently useful.

 

[Jim 5]

I've been trying to decide between Acronis true image and Norton Ghost.

Does anybody have any thoughts here?

I don't need anything fancy, just incremental back ups so that I can restore my full system in the event the main hard-drive fails, or I get a pesky virus. Don't need any other features.

 

[heypete]

Originally Posted By: Jim 5
I've been trying to decide between Acronis true image and Norton Ghost.

Does anybody have any thoughts here?

I don't need anything fancy, just incremental back ups so that I can restore my full system in the event the main hard-drive fails, or I get a pesky virus. Don't need any other features.


I'm a fan of Acronis. I don't think the free Western Digital one does incremental backups but the commercial version does.

They offer a free trial, so you can make sure it works with your system. (Some esoteric systems may not work with it's built-in list of drivers.)

 

[Ndx]

I would chose Acronis over Norton ... More user friendly ...
Yes having access to files from image is good ...

 

[KrisZ]

I never used Norton, but Acronis is super easy, both to create the backups and restore the system. Plus, if you don't have the operating system CD, you can create a bootable CD using Acronis, this way in the event of total HD failure, you're covered.

One thing to note is that these images are best kept on an external HD or if your computer has a second HD, it's also an alternative. Never keep the backup image on the same HD, even is it is partitioned.

 

[SrDriver]

Here the free ones I use.
Link To Macrium Reflect

Link to Paragon Backup

Have used both. Paragon free version has more features + it will backup both Ext3 and Ext4 Linux Partitions.

Windows 7 has a easy to use backup program too.

Make sure no matter which one you use to made the bootable recovery disk.