How to do XP backup to ultrabay hdd and create ASR floppy?

[duncan]

I have a T20 running XP Pro. I have a second hdd mounted in an adapter in the ultrabay. I want to use the ultraybay hdd for system backups. However, if I do, I am unable to use the floppy as required for the ASR. If I take the adapter out and replace with the floppy drive, the backup aborts. Is there a solution? Or is it possible to make an ASR floppy independent of the backup process?

At the moment I use an external hdd for backups. This takes in excess of 4½ hours! whereas using the ultrabay hdd it hakes about 30 mins. My boredom threshold is less than 4 hours!

Thanks for any advice.

Duncan

[zhenya]

What kind of connection are you using to your external drive? It would be my suggestion to not use the 2nd internal drive as your backup destination. It's more prone to accidental damage (dropping your laptop- and you lose both your primary disk and your backup) as well as on-line proximity to viruses/corruption, etc. I might also consider an alternative backup program - Acronis True Image, which, while not a backup program per-se, is far and away the quickest and easiest way to get a damaged system running again. As incremental backups take up tremendous amounts of space with images, perhaps use Windows backup to backup specific important folders weekly, and keep a functional image that you update before important system changes, etc.

[christopher_wolf]

You are perfectly fine using the 2nd HDD as an internal backup, provided you follow good care and handling procedures when using the HDD. Assuming, of course, that you don't have the 2nd HDD in their all the time whilst using your Thinkpad.

[duncan]

Thanks for tha advice - and I will look at the Acronis but am not familiar with 'imaging' software. [I have plenty of space on both internal and external hdd.] But I am still none the wiser on the main thrust of my post, which was, how to create the ASR disc etc. Cheers

[zhenya]

You are perfectly fine using the 2nd HDD as an internal backup, provided you follow good care and handling procedures when using the HDD. Assuming, of course, that you don't have the 2nd HDD in their all the time whilst using your Thinkpad.

While I'll grant you that backing up to that is infinitely better than not backing up at all - the only time I would trust that system would be if it was paired with a third external copy somewhere. If it's in there sometimes, you're at a risk of losing everything should you forget to remove it even occasionally.

Thanks for tha advice - and I will look at the Acronis but am not familiar with 'imaging' software. [I have plenty of space on both internal and external hdd.] But I am still none the wiser on the main thrust of my post, which was, how to create the ASR disc etc. Cheers

Certainly.
"Imaging" software creates a sector copy of your entire drive. Think of it as a "point in time snapshot" of your drive. If you restore this image it brings you back to the way your system was at the time it was created. Norton Ghost is another popular form of imaging software. With True Image, you can mount an image as a virtual drive, so that you can recover individual files. Because the image is created by sector, rather than by individual files, data transfer is very fast. I can back-up or restore a 40gb drive in typically 20-40 minutes over usb2, fw, or ethernet. Restores happen so fast that you no longer have to worry much about installing new software, hardware, disk failure, testing code, etc. -as long as you have a recent image, you can be back in business from any of the above problems in 40 minutes, tops.

edit: I'd also thought I'd mention that True Image works in the Windows background. Most modern machines don't slow down appreciably while it runs, and you can continue your normal work while it creates the image.

[zhenya]

Regarding creating the ASR's the only suggestion I have would be to get your hands on a usb floppy drive. They can be purchased cheap online or you might know someone you could borrow one from. I'd also look further into your idea that they might be able to be created separately.

[bill bolton]

you can be back in business from any of the above problems in 40 minutes, tops.

If you have done a drive "clone" back up, using True Image or whatever, to a drive that is directly suitable for booting in the primary drive slot of a Thinkpad, you can be back in business a quickly as you can physically swap the drive into place.

On a T4x, this takes about 5 minutes tops from a Ultrabay Slim 2nd drive carrier into the primary slot, even with swapping the ThinkPad caddy fitting. If the 2nd drive is already in a ThinkPad caddy, it only takes a minute or so!

Cheers,

Bill

[duncan]

Thanks very much Zhenya and Bill for further advice. Having failed to get a grip on 'imaging', I can see, from what you say, that that would be the best way to proceed, both regarding speed and security. And there I was, thinking everything would be hunky-dory if I used the 2nd hdd for backups! Still, I'm only young [fifty-eight young!] but still keen to learn. And what an excellent place this is to do it! Many thanks. Duncan

[dsvochak]

If you do a search here for "true image" there are numerous postings that explain the imaging/cloning process.

If your external hdd is connected to the T20 via USB, a PC USB 2.0 card will significantly speed up the backup process. They're generally available relatively cheap.