What is the best way to back up a Windows XP Machine?

[Moon (James)]

I have made a big mess and installed the wrong drivers on a XP machine.

So I have decided to format the hard disk and start all over again - it seems the only way it can be cleaned properly.

Before I waste yet another day doing this, what is the best way to take a backup of the machine so I have an easy way to restore it in case I get into this situation again??

Are there any free / cheap tools that 'just work'??

TIA

James

[chappo (John)]

Macrium Reflect Free Edition

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Clonezilla - and it's free

http://clonezilla.org/download/sourceforge/

[astro744]

Best and free/cheap do not necessarily go together. Watch out for spyware.

Sometimes you can pick up an older version of a commercial product in the computer magazines at the news stand (or your local library).

I use Paragon Partition Manager 10 Pro which I bought but earlier versions (8SE) were available in the mags, a long time ago. Version 9 may pop up if it hasen't already.

[Moon (James)]

Thanks guys, I'm testing them both out.

[multiweb (Marc)]

I use acronis true image. Saved my ass many many times. I mirrored the whole drive with an E-Sata base. I must have restored my drive 6 or 7 times so far due to windows updates gone wrong or anti-virus stuff ups, etc...

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

I use acronis true image....

Same here, I back up all my drives this way.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Yep i know the feeling. Install the OS and do hours and hours of updates and driver installs with the attendant reboots and your day dissapears quickly.

Having recently gone through this I created a small partition to hold a partition image of my setup using clonezilla. This comes in a form that can create a bootable usb thumbdrive for restore functionality.

[Barrykgerdes]

I have used Power Quest Drive image for many years and back up each drive onto a different HDD and also save to a data DVD. It has other copying features as well.

However since the company was bought out by Symantec its development ceased so it does not work with Vista and later.

I looked around for a replacement and found Acronis true image would fill the bill best. It works on Vista and its operation is almost the same as Drive Image so there no big learning period.

Barry

[floyd_2 (Dean)]

I use Acronis True Image as well. Excellent software. I had to restore one of my machines just last night when a video card driver update went pear shaped and left me with no way forward, and no way back. Less than an hour later I was back and ready to go.

Dean

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Starkler

Yep i know the feeling. Install the OS and do hours and hours of updates and driver installs with the attendant reboots and your day dissapears quickly.

Having recently gone through this I created a small partition to hold a partition image of my setup using clonezilla. This comes in a form that can create a bootable usb thumbdrive for restore functionality.

You should make another copy on another disk. What if the disk fails?

I also like clonezilla because it is operating system independent - it will back up anything.

[Moon (James)]

After some experimentation, I selected Acronis True Image Home 2010.

I had troubles with boot disks with some of the other options mentioned. Acronis seems to 'just work' and the price ($70) isn't too bad I suppose....

Thanks for the recommendations.

James

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Time to move to windows 7 No driver issues here. And my hardware is approaching 3 years old.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Moon

Before I waste yet another day doing this, what is the best way to take a backup of the machine so I have an easy way to restore it in case I get into this situation again??

Are there any free / cheap tools that 'just work'??

TIA

James

Hi James,
I use a package called "Acronis". Cost about $70, 4 years ago, not a blink since. This is what I did:

I built a clean system (O/S and upgrades) and backed up to one set
I installed all apps, Backed that up in a different set
I backed up all irreplaceable data
I set up an "incremental" back up process in 5 minutes flat
Every day at 5pm, or as soon as I start up after 5pm, the data from the previous 24 hours gets backed up.

Backups go to a different drive to O/S and once a month I drop a copy to an external drive which I carry with me. in my work case.

Leave home for more than a day and I take out the back up drive from the Hot Swap bay and it goes to a relatives house, in case of fire.

I had a major drive crash a year ago and rebuilt the system in 20 minutes on another drive.

BOMB PROOF!

Acronis is simple, fast and deadly reliable