Decent Backup Program

[J. Anderson]

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]>
wrote:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

First, sorry to say I don't know of a freeware program that will do
what you need.... but if you decide to buy a program, look into
Acronis True Image. It is available as a trial (limited use) so you
can at least be certain it will do the job before you buy it. I
downloaded the trial from their web site, tried it out, but decided to
buy a copy from Newegg rather than activating the downloaded trial
copy because I got a better price from Newegg.

I highly recommend the program. However, your requirement #1 will
depend entirely on what type of files you are attempting to compress.
Some file types compress a lot, whereas others not hardly at all.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[Joe User]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, J. Anderson wrote:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets the
following requirments.

Get a linux distribution like Knoppix that boots from CD.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or less.

Use gzip or bzip2. They cannot guarantee compression, but they work OK.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

Do a command like:

dd if=/dev/hda0 | gzip >/mnt/hdb1/hda0.image.gz

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

To linux, a disk is just a file.

Just order Knoppix. You'll be glad you did.


--
Scorched Earth Party: Because 130 years between
civil wars is far too long.


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Denis Beauregard]

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]>
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis

--
0 Denis Beauregard -
/\/ Les Français d'Amérique - http://www.francogene.com/genealogie-quebec/
|\ French in North America before 1721 - http://www.francogene.com/quebec-genealogy/
/ | Maintenant sur cédérom, début à 1765
oo oo Now on CD-ROM, beginning to 1765

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:06:26 -0500, Denis Beauregard
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis

I basically agree with Denis, you really need a strategy. As he said,
many files are really not compressible, and hard drives are really
cheap if you buy from the right stores, so a good strategy is to
simply copy data files to a separate hard drive.

To this end, I recommend a freeware program called XXCOPY. I have a
batch file that I run every couple of days, that simply clones all my
data disks onto a larger, separate data disk.

In another post on this thread, I also recommended Acronis True Image.
I use this to automatically back up my system disk every night. True
Image gives you a complete backup system, as elaborate as you want to
make it.

The only part of his suggestion that I really do not agree with is the
use of DVDs. With a data DVD capable of 4.7 GB, they are just too
small to be really useful as backup media. (The smallest hard drive in
my computer is 120 GB, so it would take about 25 DVDs to back it up if
it were full.)

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:06:26 -0500, Denis Beauregard
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis

External hard drives are not very expensive now and neither are flash
sticks.

I use Norton Ghost and back up to an external, presuming from the
literature that, should my computer fail, I can buy another HD and
restore to exactly what I was before. It's automatic and I never
notice except the desktop is slightly slower when backing.

I also use CDs and a networked laptop.

Hugh

[Denis Beauregard]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 18:47:13 -0600, Charlie Hoffpauir
<[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

The only part of his suggestion that I really do not agree with is the
use of DVDs. With a data DVD capable of 4.7 GB, they are just too
small to be really useful as backup media. (The smallest hard drive in
my computer is 120 GB, so it would take about 25 DVDs to back it up if
it were full.)

I did this previously, using a removable hard disk, but after some
times, I think the connector is too weared and the disk is no more
working correctly. I used it with 2 external hard disks and both
stopped to work at about the same time, which makes me thinking it
is the connector and not carrying the disk.

As to backuping everything, I do it from time to time, but usually,
I copy only the live files.


Denis

--
0 Denis Beauregard -
/\/ Les Français d'Amérique - http://www.francogene.com/genealogie-quebec/
|\ French in North America before 1721 - http://www.francogene.com/quebec-genealogy/
/ | Maintenant sur cédérom, début à 1765
oo oo Now on CD-ROM, beginning to 1765

[tim sewell]

"Charlie Hoffpauir" <[email protected]> wrote

I basically agree with Denis, you really need a strategy. As he said,
many files are really not compressible, and hard drives are really
cheap if you buy from the right stores, so a good strategy is to
simply copy data files to a separate hard drive.

Yes, but... Do not make the mistake that I did.

I used to "back up" from my working hard drive to another internal hard
drive (very quick and simple...), working on the principle that both
hard drives would not fail simultaneously. I then learnt the hard way
that there are more ways than I had understood for a hard drive to
"fail".

In my case, the hard drive controller on my motherboard started to fail,
and began to corrupt the vital regions of every partition to which I
wrote. As a result, both of my hard drives became progressively
unreadable (although the drives remained mechanically intact - I am
still using both of them). One of my internal hard drives is now
controlled by an Adaptec card (separate from the motherboard), and I do
my "real" backups to two external (USB) drives.

As far as software is concerned, I use Retrospect. It is not
particularly cheap, but it is more than adequate for my purposes. I
have backups of my C: drive (containing little more than Windows itself
plus my personal settings) and My Documents scheduled to run every
evening - alternating between two backup locations for each for each of
them. I also keep full duplicate copies of my C: drive on internal and
external hard drives. So, in case of real disaster, I can restore my C:
drive to its condition several days (or even weeks) previously with a
minimum of anxiety.

All of that probably sounds like paranoia, but in my case it is a case
of "once bitten, thrice (or more) shy"

Right now, I remain vulnerable to a house fire or computer theft, and am
still thinking about that. Perhaps an additional external drive to be
kept elsewhere, or possibly on-line file storage. I would be interested
in anyone else's views on that.

Cheers,
--
Tim S.

(Please remove my fairly obvious spamtrap
if you wish to reply by direct email)

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:11:28 +1100, "tim sewell"
<[email protected]> wrote:

"Charlie Hoffpauir" <[email protected]> wrote

I basically agree with Denis, you really need a strategy. As he said,
many files are really not compressible, and hard drives are really
cheap if you buy from the right stores, so a good strategy is to
simply copy data files to a separate hard drive.


Yes, but... Do not make the mistake that I did.

I used to "back up" from my working hard drive to another internal hard
drive (very quick and simple...), working on the principle that both
hard drives would not fail simultaneously. I then learnt the hard way
that there are more ways than I had understood for a hard drive to
"fail".

In my case, the hard drive controller on my motherboard started to fail,
and began to corrupt the vital regions of every partition to which I
wrote. As a result, both of my hard drives became progressively
unreadable (although the drives remained mechanically intact - I am
still using both of them). One of my internal hard drives is now
controlled by an Adaptec card (separate from the motherboard), and I do
my "real" backups to two external (USB) drives.

As far as software is concerned, I use Retrospect. It is not
particularly cheap, but it is more than adequate for my purposes. I
have backups of my C: drive (containing little more than Windows itself
plus my personal settings) and My Documents scheduled to run every
evening - alternating between two backup locations for each for each of
them. I also keep full duplicate copies of my C: drive on internal and
external hard drives. So, in case of real disaster, I can restore my C:
drive to its condition several days (or even weeks) previously with a
minimum of anxiety.

All of that probably sounds like paranoia, but in my case it is a case
of "once bitten, thrice (or more) shy"

Right now, I remain vulnerable to a house fire or computer theft, and am
still thinking about that. Perhaps an additional external drive to be
kept elsewhere, or possibly on-line file storage. I would be interested
in anyone else's views on that.

Cheers,

I particularly like the backup to an external hard drive, which I also
do, but not as frequently. I have several "smallish" hard drives left
over from when large drives were not so cheap, and I use them with a
backup kit as external USB drives. They are all 40 or 80 GB each, so
it's possible to back up a lot on data on 4 of these drives.... After
copying the data I just store the drives away on a shelf. The drive
adapter kit (IDE to USB adapter) is used over and over for each drive,
so the cost is just that of the old drives, which have practically no
market value if I tried to sell them.

My internet connection (satellite) doesn't work well for transfers
over 170 MB, so on-line file storage isn't really an option for me.

As for multiple drives internal to the computer, the likelyhood of
something taking more than one out is reduced by the use of several
different controllers. I have two on the on-board IDE controller, two
in the SATA controller on the mainboard, and up to 4 on a Promise PCI
controller. You just have to make usre that data and backup data are
not one the "same" drive or controller.

By the way, it really depends on "how" you're making those copies of
your C drive (if you're using Win XP). If you're just Xcopy or XXcopy
the files, then that backup won't boot. You have to use a program like
Ghost or True Image to get a bootable copy of your C drive with Win
XP. (I'm not familiar with Retrospect, so it may be that it makes a
reliable image.) But I found out (the hard way with an old computer)
that XXCOPY wouldn't clone my Win XP C drive.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]>
declaimed the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

No honest backup program will promise any particular compression

ratio -- if one is backing up lots of, say JPEG images or ZIP files, the
compression algorithm can actually result in a larger file...

--
bieber.genealogy Dennis Lee Bieber
HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~bieber.genealogy/

[tim sewell]

"Charlie Hoffpauir" <[email protected]> wrote

By the way, it really depends on "how" you're making those copies of
your C drive (if you're using Win XP). If you're just Xcopy or XXcopy
the files, then that backup won't boot. You have to use a program like
Ghost or True Image to get a bootable copy of your C drive with Win
XP. (I'm not familiar with Retrospect, so it may be that it makes a
reliable image.) But I found out (the hard way with an old computer)
that XXCOPY wouldn't clone my Win XP C drive.

Charlie,

My C Drive duplicates are not intended to be bootable. They are merely
reliable copies from which Retrospect will restore the drive.
Retrospect gives you an option to create a "disaster recovery disk"
which is bootable, and which utilizes backups that you have created.

I did try True Image once, but must have mucked up the process somehow,
since my computer would not recognize the "bootable" disk that I
generated. Perhaps, with my current level of paranoia, I should try
again.

Cheers,
--
Tim S.

(Please remove my fairly obvious spamtrap
if you wish to reply by direct email)

[henry]

External usb hard drives are not very expensive now and it provides a
cheap external backup solution.

I use Uplus Sync to automatic back up my work data to my usb hd. It can
support compressing the data file and the compress ratio depends on the
file type. This help me to anti the loss of the data. And I make a
image of drive c once a month. Burn the image in a dvd by nero. Now I
can say that my data is safe. I think image backup is a good solution.
But it spends lots of space and I think it does not fit for data
backup.



"J. Anderson дµÀ£º
"

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

[Edward Feustel]

"J. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

I don't think you will find a free one.

Retrospect by DANZ/EMC is what I use. It can back up NTFS and FAT32.
Versions exist for doing the backup over a network, for copying to another
disk or
DVD, cd-r. Most output devices are supported.

Retrospect produces a catalog of what is on the DVD (s). It can use this
catalog to do an
incremental backup, continuing on the remainder of a DVD or a new DVD.
Restoring can
be a single file, a directory, a mixture, or the whole thing.

You can choose compression, encryption, and verification. Can't guarantee
that compression
will reduce the files as much as you want. If it is text, perhaps more.
JPGs, perhaps less.
But if you want really accurate restores, you don't want lossy compression
anyway.
Regards,
Ed

[Hugh Watkins]

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:06:26 -0500, Denis Beauregard
[email protected]> wrote:


On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:


I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis


External hard drives are not very expensive now and neither are flash
sticks.

I use Norton Ghost and back up to an external, presuming from the
literature that, should my computer fail, I can buy another HD and
restore to exactly what I was before. It's automatic and I never
notice except the desktop is slightly slower when backing.

I also use CDs and a networked laptop.

do you manually check the back ups to make certsin they are not corrupted?

an office lost one years accounts becsue the weekly back ups were blank

the girls pressed all teh buttons put tapes in and out
but nobody checked the results

my most effective back up is by sharing on world connect

Hugh W






--

Beta blogger
http://nanowrimo3.blogspot.com/ visiting my past
http://hughw36-2.blogspot.com/ re-entry
http://snaps4.blogspot.com/" photographs and walks

old blogger
http://hughw36.blogspot.com/ MAIN BLOG

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:31:44 +0000, Hugh Watkins
<[email protected]> wrote:

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:
On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:06:26 -0500, Denis Beauregard
[email protected]> wrote:


On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:


I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis


External hard drives are not very expensive now and neither are flash
sticks.

I use Norton Ghost and back up to an external, presuming from the
literature that, should my computer fail, I can buy another HD and
restore to exactly what I was before. It's automatic and I never
notice except the desktop is slightly slower when backing.

I also use CDs and a networked laptop.

do you manually check the back ups to make certsin they are not corrupted?

an office lost one years accounts becsue the weekly back ups were blank

the girls pressed all teh buttons put tapes in and out
but nobody checked the results

my most effective back up is by sharing on world connect

Hugh W

I have not checked the backups. I also save the data by copying to HD
and a laptop. My thought is that everything won't fail.

I have no plans to share my genealogy data except one-on-one - and not
all of that. It sounds good for those who want to share to that
extent.

Hugh

[Hugh Watkins]

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:31:44 +0000, Hugh Watkins
[email protected]> wrote:


J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:06:26 -0500, Denis Beauregard
[email protected]> wrote:



On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:



I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

This makes no sense nowaday.

There are now many scanned works available on the net, i.e. books
in public domain because the author died since enough time. So, it
is common to have a HD with 250 GB and not enough room in it. Also,
you will have photos, scanned images of your searches, etc. JPG
files can't be compressed and they are probably the larger files you
will have.

Why doing a backup ? To save your search in case the disk breaks.
So, what you need is a strategy, not a software.

For example, divide you computer in directories and save them to
DVDs. Organize the data so that the stable files (scanned images,
ebooks) will be in one set of directories and the unstable (the
database you update daily) to one DVD you will replace weekly or
monthly for example.

Disk images are risky because the next disk will probably be
different.


Denis


External hard drives are not very expensive now and neither are flash
sticks.

I use Norton Ghost and back up to an external, presuming from the
literature that, should my computer fail, I can buy another HD and
restore to exactly what I was before. It's automatic and I never
notice except the desktop is slightly slower when backing.

I also use CDs and a networked laptop.

do you manually check the back ups to make certsin they are not corrupted?

an office lost one years accounts becsue the weekly back ups were blank

the girls pressed all teh buttons put tapes in and out
but nobody checked the results

my most effective back up is by sharing on world connect

Hugh W


I have not checked the backups. I also save the data by copying to HD
and a laptop. My thought is that everything won't fail.

I have no plans to share my genealogy data except one-on-one - and not
all of that. It sounds good for those who want to share to that
extent.

but what about your unknown cousins
how will they find you?
large victorian families produced many branches


Hugh W



--

Beta blogger
http://nanowrimo3.blogspot.com/ visiting my past
http://hughw36-2.blogspot.com/ re-entry
http://snaps4.blogspot.com/" photographs and walks

old blogger
http://hughw36.blogspot.com/ MAIN BLOG

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:19:50 +0000, Hugh Watkins
<[email protected]> wrote:

J. Hugh Sullivan wrote:

[snip]

my most effective back up is by sharing on world connect

Hugh W


I have not checked the backups. I also save the data by copying to HD
and a laptop. My thought is that everything won't fail.

I have no plans to share my genealogy data except one-on-one - and not
all of that. It sounds good for those who want to share to that
extent.

but what about your unknown cousins
how will they find you?
large victorian families produced many branches


Hugh W

I don't seem to be very well hidden.

As for expanding my data I communicate regularly with all the sincere,
capable researchers of my line.

I think the best way in the foreseeable future is through DNA. As
people test and post their marker numbers to a central clearing house
people will be looking for matches. My DNA is already posted.

Also message boards abound and I frequent them.

Hugh

[John]

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:42:12 -0600, Charlie Hoffpauir
<[email protected]> wrote:

On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

First, sorry to say I don't know of a freeware program that will do
what you need.... but if you decide to buy a program, look into
Acronis True Image. It is available as a trial (limited use) so you
can at least be certain it will do the job before you buy it. I
downloaded the trial from their web site, tried it out, but decided to
buy a copy from Newegg rather than activating the downloaded trial
copy because I got a better price from Newegg.

I highly recommend the program. However, your requirement #1 will
depend entirely on what type of files you are attempting to compress.
Some file types compress a lot, whereas others not hardly at all.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

Definitely test Acronis on your specific hardware. I tried it a
couple of versions back and spent more time fighting problems with the
trial version than actually using it. Their tech support was
responsive, but I lost interest in running 10-12 hour backups to help
them determine why it didn't work over my local network when tools
such as xxcopy ran fine (and in less time) when backing up the same
drive to the same other PC on the network.

Running it one time to learn the product and one time to test a "fix"
for them was more than enough of my time spent in "beta testing".

John

[Hugh Watkins]

John wrote:

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:42:12 -0600, Charlie Hoffpauir
[email protected]> wrote:


On 28 Nov 2006 14:25:04 -0800, "J. Anderson" <[email protected]
wrote:


I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

1) Must be able to compress backup files to 2/3 the original size or
less.

2) Will allow me to create a disk-image of my HD.

3) Must be able to handle NTFS and FAT32 partitions.

Perhaps, someone can assist me in my efforts.

First, sorry to say I don't know of a freeware program that will do
what you need.... but if you decide to buy a program, look into
Acronis True Image. It is available as a trial (limited use) so you
can at least be certain it will do the job before you buy it. I
downloaded the trial from their web site, tried it out, but decided to
buy a copy from Newegg rather than activating the downloaded trial
copy because I got a better price from Newegg.

I highly recommend the program. However, your requirement #1 will
depend entirely on what type of files you are attempting to compress.
Some file types compress a lot, whereas others not hardly at all.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/


Definitely test Acronis on your specific hardware. I tried it a
couple of versions back and spent more time fighting problems with the
trial version than actually using it. Their tech support was
responsive, but I lost interest in running 10-12 hour backups to help
them determine why it didn't work over my local network when tools
such as xxcopy ran fine (and in less time) when backing up the same
drive to the same other PC on the network.

Running it one time to learn the product and one time to test a "fix"
for them was more than enough of my time spent in "beta testing".

this is really a general computing question which would better be
addressed in an appropriate news:comp.sys.* group

hugh W


--

Beta blogger
http://nanowrimo3.blogspot.com/ visiting my past
http://hughw36-2.blogspot.com/ re-entry
http://snaps4.blogspot.com/" photographs and walks

old blogger
http://hughw36.blogspot.com/ MAIN BLOG

[Doug McDonald]

J. Anderson wrote:

I'm looking for a back up program, freeware or shareware, that meets
the following requirments.

What I have is a strategy. It actually worked, as I have
thrice actually had total disaster.

I backup whole physical disks periodically, about once a
year, using Ghost. This is commercial, but the old version
we have a site license for still works fine. Ghost
allows copy partitions to a larger physical disk.
I copy to a larger disk and keep the original as the backup.

For in-betweens, I backup spasmodically my data to CDs. I'm
paranoid about doing this if I am doing tricky programming,
for saving the photos I take, for my genealogy files,
and for business matters. I backup important e-mails I get
to paper. Otherwise, I'm just prepared to reload commercial
programs if they get lost in between Ghosts.

The only real pain a better backup would have saved me was
one, just one, day's worth of tricky programming which was
lost when my computer died near the end of a day's work. But
it was still clear in my head. This was quite memorable: it
was the trickiest part of the code of my very own program
for drawing ancestor trees, with lines connecting every
instance of the same person involved in cousin marriages. I
can send this to anybody interested in it.

Doug McDonald