Any advice on cloning/imaging software?

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undesign

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Does anyone have experience with a free cloning/imaging programme to recommend (or cheapish, say max maybe R300)? I am going to reformat my HDD and want to image the clean install for future.

I'm a bit confused about the different software available (I've read the other thread on MyAdsl). What I need is something that can image the HDD, which will only have Windows plus a couple of critical programmes loaded. I then want to copy the image to a DVD for future restores.

I've looked at HDClone, but it seems to copy the entire HDD (100Gb) to another HDD/partition - so I can't use a DVD.

I have two HDD, each one only a single partition. But I don't want to involve the 2nd HDD. All I want is a DVD to restore HDD1 everytime I feel like formatting.

Your help is appreciated.
 
I use Ghost.

Here's a good methodology:

-Split HD into 20GB c: and the rest d: (20 GB so that you'll have space left to defrag)
-Install Windows to C:
-Load all updates and drivers
-Once installed, create all the users you want.
-On d:, create a folder called "Documents and Settings" and under that create folders for all the users you've created.
-Log on as each of your created users and >WHILST LOGGED IN AS THAT USER<, Move (not copy but move) the following folders to their corresponding place on d: - My documents, Desktop, Favourites.
-Create a folder called image or ghost or whatever on d:
- There's some other stuff that I do such as create d:\temp and set both user and system variables to point there (for all users), disable system restore, disable recycle bin, turn off accesability options, etc etc. All these are just personal preferences.
-At this point you can also load all the programs that you would like to be a part of your image.
-Boot off your GHOST CD
-Exit Ghost and type the following: Ghost -z9 -span -auto (-z9 enamles maximum compression - more so than you get through the GUI, -span will auto-span once you hit 2GB, -auto will auto name the span)
-Create a partition ghost from C: to D:

You can now restore a ghost at any time because your My Documents is resident on d: so as long as you always save data to My Documents you're safe. If you use Outlook, remember to delete the initial .pst file that gets created on c: and then restart outlook - it'll ask you for the location of your .pst which should be on d:

One more thing to remember - if you're gonna deploy the ghost to other machines, remember to run NewSID (from sysinternals) so that you don't get duplicate SIDs on your network.

Vista partitions can't be ghosted.
Hope this helps
 
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Hi thed33p - thanks for the detailed reply. I don't want to create partitions, but it doesn't really matter 'cos it's easy to copy My Documents to 2 HDD when needed. I store all my photo's and music on the 2nd HDD in any case.

Ghost does cost about $70, which is a bit much for me.

BTW, I forgot to mention both my drives are SATA - the other poster said this is a problem.

Thanks
 
bartpe + ghost8 32 works on sata drives, or any hdd like media (flash disk)
 
i back up my pc with a sata drive

formatted and could not norton ghost to load up on a sata drive :(

had to redo everything lucky it was just windows
 
If you all are referring to symantec Ghost then don't!! :) Corporate gives me those Ghost images and they take a good 2 hours to install :mad: :really mad!!:

I have found BartPE with Driveimage xml plugin to be alright. It's easy to setup once you know how. Word of caution, AFAIK most image solutions are hardware specific and also require the same partition size. Unless you use a X-Image solution like Dell X-Image, which Im sure is not freely available and also HW specific to Dell stuff in it's own right.
 
@ killadoob: 8 on my Dell M90 with a SATA drive
@ Johnny 2 shoes - I've never had a ghost that took longer than 8 minutes to restore
 
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thed33p said:
@ killadoob: 8 on my Dell M90 with a SATA drive
@ Johnny 2 shoes - I've never had a ghost that took longer than 8 minutes to restore
Click to expand...

Whats up with that then :(

Seriously I have been installing these Ghost images for a good 6 months now. Mainly on the Dell D620's and Dell D420's latitude laptops.

I boot with the CD, go have lunch, come back and it's has not even asked me for disk 2 yet. Not to mention the X-Image software that runs afterwards which takes another 30-40 odd minutes

Now I have never written an image for Symantec Ghost so I would not know if it is a setting that Corporate is using or what?

FYI at least half the time I get a "ghost has detected a corruption" and it closes down. Restarting the process usually gets through...usually but sometimes I battle. I have received numerous images from Corporate and all are the same. I have also installed a good 40 PC's with it at least....I haven't been counting but looking at my old list on the wall says probably many more.
 
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bekdik said:
Run everything in a virtual machine - look at vmware for a free version. Cloning then becomes a matter of a file copy and it's hardware and OS independent.
Click to expand...

If I had the faintest, tiniest idea of what you are talking about I would've investigated it :D
 
BartPE and DriveimageXML :)

Basic steps:

1. Download DriveImageXML program.
2. Install and run.
3. Select Backup and use defaults.(preferably dont compress so restore is faster. Tell it to split large files.)
4.Once backup of drive complete copy all the files to an external or other HDD or write to DVD, or if you have a big enough Flash drive which is doubtful but possible.

Then:
1.Download latest BartPE.
2.Also download Driveimage xml plugin for BartPE.
3.Install BartPE.
4.Add Driveimage xml plugin to BartPE plugins list and enable it.
5.Create BartPE image.(You will need your original Windows CD EDIT---NB!! NOT AN OEM XP BUT A NORMAL XP CD)
6.Burn Image to disc using your favourite disc burning software.

Then..(to test...BACKUP FIRST!!!! This is where you overwrite your data on the partition!!!)
1.Plug in external HDD with the backup.(or external DVD drive with DVD backup disc 1 in, or flash drive...whatever you used)
2.Restart and Boot with BartPE CD.
3.In BartPE locate DriveImage program, run it and select restore.
4.Find the backup xml file on ext HDD or DVD or flash
5.Wait to finish.

I think that about covers the basics :) But please test cautiously, I don't want to be responsible for any loss of data whatsoever. I also don't know if it works with Vista. I recommend you do this on a test PC first where you don't mind re-installing windows.

I think it is hardware specific so it won't work on different types PC's with different hardware, you will need to write seperate images for different hardware setups...if hardware is the same then it's fine. Also even if Hardware is the same but you made the image on an 80gig and try restore on a 60 or 120gig it won't work. Partition's must be the same.
 
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iris99 said:
Still a bit too expensive for something I don't plan on using regularly.
Click to expand...

I had the same thinking when looking at backup software however after trying it the features and ease of use justified the price. At the end of the day one has to ask themselves how valuable their data is and how expensive any downtime is.

Also with TrueImage you can easily mount the drive images and they appear in Explorer as another drive (useful if you want to access individual files in the image).

I believe there is still a trial version, download it and try it (www.acronis.com)
 
yea the problem i had was i went from ide to sata and the ghost went well till i booted up with it and never loaded up again with new sata drive

put in old drive workx well

i doubt the part size mattered because it was just loading the norton proggie up and not reimaging
 
Hi there guys. I would also recommend Acronis True Image - been using it for years. It is by far the most simple and feature rich backup / cloning app for home users. Plus there is a big bonus, (sorry to sound like one of those ads on tv) - if you own a Seagate or Maxtor hard drive you can get a free copy of the latest version from Seagate's site. It is called "Seagate DiscWizard" but under the hood it is a full copy of True Image 10.

Grab a copy at :
Code: 
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=DiscWizard&vgnextoid=d9fd4a3cdde5c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

The file is about 105MB.
 
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