What do i need for Full Hard Drive backup

[JMR]

I'm reasonably ok on computers but when it comes to things away from the mainstream I'd rather ask for help.

I want to buy a usb hard drive and make a full copy of my harddrive.

Is there a [preferably free] program I can use which would allow me to have windows etc and everything else on my new drive just in case the worst happened?

Then would i be able to use this as a boot drive on another pc [or similar laptop]?

James

 

[FiDoDiDo]

I tend to use something like Ghost.

 

[JMR]

Would that give me what I wanted then Ben?

 

[FiDoDiDo]

Yes, you can boot from the disc that comes with Ghost and then it creates files like big zip files of your hard drive that you can restore from. It costs but is a great solution for this sort of thing and is worth the money IMO.

 

[bigmouk]

Agreed, I use the latest version of Norton Ghost all the time. Never had any problems and only this week restored my PC using the boot cd, very easy to use aswell.

 

[JoelDee]

Yup ghosts the best thing to use, get it on a external hard drive

 

[David]

oi u coped my avatar!!!

and to answer the thread. yes norton ghost is the best one....that or u can try using windows backup but it won't backup the OS

 

[Daz]

oi u coped my avatar!!!

and to answer the thread. yes norton ghost is the best one....that or u can try using windows backup but it won't backup the OS

NTBackup does back the OS up
It can do the whole lot with an ASR disk..

 

[Oggy997]

Ghost gave me errors the other day so I use (and is Idot Proof)

Acronis True Image.

 

[JMR]

Mmmm, I read in PcPRO that Acronis True Image is their A-List backup software.

Not bad for £20.

Edit:- So this will back up my OS [windows xp] too?

 

[Oggy997]

Yeah - I ghosted for the 1st time last week....NG ghost kept on throwing a hissy fit, ATI - 1st time, took 40 mins!

 

[FiDoDiDo]

Acronis I've heard is quite good, have you restored from your image yet Oggy?

 

[Oggy997]

Nope - I upgraded to a larger hard drive so just cloned it.

 

[JMR]

This is a great help fellas.

So I'm going for;

Acronis True Image
Western Digital Mybook External USB drive [80 or 120gb]

Its as a complete backup for my laptop. Baby's first steps on it etc etc, i can't risk losing it all for the sake of getting my ar5e into gear and making a carbon copy of the whole drive.

Then if the main HDD fails, i'll have everything inc XP and all my programs!

 

[Final Maxim]

i mean if someone you knew had the disc and it got scratched then you could download it from here for free, but obviously dont download it, this is a scenario of what you could do.

http://www.mininova.org/tor/617546

 

[JMR]

FM-AVA-696

:approve:

 

[Floodie]

Casper XP thats all you need.. it is by far the best hard drive cloner...

 

[JMR]

Cool

I have a dog called Casper!!!