I need to back up my data, what is the best solution?

[fbrdphreak]

My $0.02:

I bought a USB-to-IDE adapter a while back which came w/a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. I have to sent my T42 in for repairs, so I yanked the HDD, hooked up the adapter to my desktop, and copied all the important stuff off in no time. The adapter cost about $20 shipped. Woohaa

[Uncletoad]

I have used Acronis for years. (cut..) I still use v7.
In my version, cloning moves the contents from drive 1 to drive 2.
I use complete hdrive image instead. You must use a second drive to do this and store the image. The easiest method I have found is to boot from the TI boot cd, make a complete drive image to my desktop network hdrive, but set the size of the .tib files to 650mb. When done, I sometimes drop and drag the .tib files to cd or as many as will fit on dvd. To restore I boot the TI boot disk and then insert the dvd and select the last file when prompted. Restoring from a network hdrive is even easier. (cut....)
Write zeros to the target drive before recloning. Use the TIboot disk to do your clone and don't reboot until your new hdrive is installed as your boot drive. Basically you have lost your mbr. You can do a repair install of xp with a xp cd, if you need to recover data etc.
Acronis images of op system partitions will NOT boot. You must do a complete drive image for the restore to be bootable.

Not sure I totally understood all that. Version 8 is supposed to create dead on clones of the drive being copied without disturbing the source drive. I thought that is what I did. I've explored some of the other ideas suggested but no luck.

Seems like it should be simpler. Earlier in this thread folks used what appeared to be this method with success. Am I using the wrong software or is there a procedural thing I am missing?

The idea is to have two copies of the same hard drive that are interchangeable. It seems like others have been sucessful at that.

[d lehmann]

Uncletoad
I don't use v8, but a clone is a perfect copy. As I stated earlier, if you let the computer reboot after the cloning process, without physically removing the original drive and putting the clone drive on ide channel 1, it may not boot from the new drive. This wasn't an issue with xpsp1, but for some reason it seems xpsp2 doesn't like have 2 active partitions on 1 box.. I don't know why. What works is to shut down after the cloning process, switch drives and then power up on the new drive.
I haven't cloned in a long time, just imaging instead. I may have confused Acronis with another imager as far as leaving the original drive intact. I have tried almost all the commercial imagers and Acronis works best for me.
As I mentioned before, what I like for ease of use is to create and save over a network. I connect the tp to another tp or desktop via a cat5 cable(for speed) boot the computer I want to image with the Acronis boot cd, and save the 650mb .tib files (acronis files) to a desktop hdrive. If I want a secondary image storage, I drag and drop those files to dvd. To restore, I boot the problem computer with the Acronis boot cd, then point to the .tib files on the networked desktop ( or laptop, wherever the files were stored) and proceed with the restore. Alternately I can just put the dvds with the .tib files on them in the problem computer and restore from the dvds. Either way, it's around 40 minutes for me.
You can also restore to a new hdrive and have a "clone" as you desire. The main difference is that with a clone process, you don't have the.tib files in addition. Also as previously mentioned, the connecters on a tp hardrive bay are not meant for continual swapping like the 2nd storage bay is.
Another alternative is to get the 2nd hdrive bay adapter from IBM for 45bucks +tax and free shipping. It comes with cloning and imaging software that is very simialar to Acronis. With that you can put your 2nd hdrive in the slim bay and clone to it.
Cloning or imaging, saves me probably at least 40 hrs of fresh installing and tweaking etc, not to mention countless things that you can easily miss on reinstalling, such as favorites, seldom used utilities, etc. Once I have a fresh xp install on a computer with all my progs and utilities tweaked the way I want. I image that and also write it to dvd. This is my base system. Then if I install a buggy program or or get hijacked or the drive crashes, in 40 min I'm on again.
Your methods are determined by how much you value your data and time and which method is easiest for you. I also backup data only on dvd (accounting, family pix etc) in addition to imaging the hdrive. As you have seen by the replies in this thread, there are numerous options. It can be confusing at first, but I would suggest that buying Acronis for 50 bucks or whatever these days is insignificant in comparison to your data or the time to reinstall your system(s).
When I build a new machine, I give the customer an image on dvd. It saves everyone a lot of wasted time.

[pae77]

Uncletoad
I don't use v8, but a clone is a perfect copy. As I stated earlier, if you let the computer reboot after the cloning process, without physically removing the original drive and putting the clone drive on ide channel 1, it may not boot from the new drive. This wasn't an issue with xpsp1, but for some reason it seems xpsp2 doesn't like have 2 active partitions on 1 box.. I don't know why. What works is to shut down after the cloning process, switch drives and then power up on the new drive. . . .

What is stated above will work, but it is not necessary (or desireable given the connector issue) to routinely swap drives to successfully clone with Acronis True Image. The key to success is BEFORE rebooting for the FIRST time after the clone is made, it is essential to either remove the newly cloned drive from the system, or swap drives as above.

So, the absolute simplest method is just get the IBM second hard drive adapter for $45 or so plus a second hard drive to put in it and either use the software that comes with the adapter or Ghost or True Image (my preference), and: 1. "Clone" (not image) the drive. 2. Shut down computer. 3. Remove the cloned drive from the system. 4. Reboot.

At this point you will have a complete bootable back up identical clone of your system ready to install in your primary hard drive slot when/if necessary. No swapping is necessary unless and until you have to replace the original drive with the clone.

[Nolonemo]

Hi, as others have said, I think your best option is a big (200GB or so) hard drive inside an USB drive enclosure, and then use something like GHOST, TrueImage or (my preferred due to simplicity) Drive Snapshot.
This is what I do, and I can backup my full 7K60 in 30 minutes. Having a big external drive allows you to mantain *several* backups at the same time, in a cheap and convenient manner. It is true that you lose the ability to do incremental backups, ... but being so easy, I just backup almost any other day.

Better option is to have two 2.5" drives, same size as the one in the TP, an clone daily on a rotation between the 2. That way if you crash, all you have to do is swap out.

Of course if you're main drive is a 7K60, that method is a little pricey

[greghead]

Here's a whole other approach to consider: Connected online backup. http://onlinebackup.connected.com/

The first backup can take awhile, especially if your internet connection isn't so fast in the upload direction (e.g. home DSL). But thereafter it does a smart differential upload. I don't mean simply backing up only files that have changed. I mean it does checksums, and will upload only changed portions within a file. That's cool.

The backup can be scheduled. If your PC is connected to the internet and turned on, it will be backed up.

Obviously there are pros and cons with this approach. For example, although your data is encrypted, you may not trust it. I do, but you may not.

The biggest advantage to consider, is that you can keep backing up even while traveling. This is, after all, a laptop forum. If you have an internet connection in your hotel room or wherever, you can back up throughout a trip of any length.

I suppose you could bring along a backup device on a trip. But if it's the same bag as your laptop, and gets lost or stolen ... ?

This isn't for everyone but it's worked very well for me, for a couple years now.

Just another option to consider.

[FTC]

Better option is to have two 2.5" drives, same size as the one in the TP, an clone daily on a rotation between the 2. That way if you crash, all you have to do is swap out.

Well, if you consider that there will be *a lot more* backup operations than restore ones, then simplifying the backup will be more important than simplifying the restore (which *still* takes no longer than 30 minutes in my case), and doing backup into a huge 3.5" drive is still faster and cheaper than using other 7K60's. besides, I am backing up to that drive not only my lappy, but the 4 computers at home.. and I don't want to fill my home with 8 different backup drives (2 per machine, as per your suggestion) .

[d lehmann]

It's a good idea to have a replacement 2.5 drive cloned or imaged on hand in case your hdrive goes bad.
Creating images on a daily basis, probably is not necessary for most users. Mostly, your data is changing on a daily basis and there are many progs and methods that can do this automatically, quickly, and/or simply.
I would suggest a combination of both in a time frame best suited for your needs.
I would also strongly suggest more than 1 medium be used.

[Rahula]

How can I create a restore CD/DVD that is similar to the IBM restore CD, except that the IBM restore CD covers only the OS, but mine would also include all the installed apps plus my data files? Currently, I clone (weekly) my T23 HDD into a spare HDD that I keep in an external USB enclosure. In the replies above on this thread, there were many favorable comments about Acronis True Image, but I couldn’t find any suggestion on making a restore CD with Acronis.

For my cloning, I now use the Apricorn EZ GII software which also provides imaging but, because I don’t understand what imaging is all about, I just do the simple “automatic” cloning, i.e. from 40GB HDD to another 40GB without any special configuration. If you have used the EZ GII as well as the Acronis, I would appreciate your comparison of these two so that, if what I already have can do most things that Acronis does, then I don’t need to spend additional money.

Oh, someone also mentioned using an external 3.5” HDD as backup for 4 computers, which is certainly less costly than keeping a spare clone HDD for every laptop. In case I mess up my laptop HDD and want to restore my entire system, is it possible to restore by using the 3.5” external HDD which also keeps the backup for a few other computers?

I realize my questions sound confusing, but my only intent is to find a less costly way to restore, rather than the costly method of keeping a cloned HDD for each laptop.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Nolonemo]

Acronis will split and burn an image it's creating to CD. Acronis will let you create a bootable CD. To restore, you can boot with the CD then you swap in the CDs containing your backup images.

Or you can image to a hard drive (using this method, when you image the drive, you have to tell Acronis to split the image into chunks 2GB or smaller) and then burn the image files to DVD(s). Boot with the CD and swap in the DVDs.

The Acronis forum has a method to create a bootable Acronis DVD to which you can add the image files, but it's a bunch of work for nothing, IMO, because you can just swap in the DVDs after you boot.

YOu can also start the restore process from the program on the PC, if the restore includes your OS partition, Acronis will reboot and prompt you for the restore files (it's really the same as booting from the CD).

One thing to bear in mind is that only a full disk image will include the boot sector data (though you can restore selected partitions individually from the image file). Partition by partitiion images do not contain the boot sector info.

[pae77]

Is it really that costly to keep a cloned hard drive for a laptop as backup?

I don't think so. For me the cost is insignificant compared to the loss of my data and configurations. Costwise we are talking about only $45 or so for the hard drive adapter (which, at least when I got mine, included EZ GIG cloning software) and about $100 to $180 or so depending on your laptop HD of choice. If you want to use another software program for cloning that's another approximately $50. So a total of about $200 for most folks who would use EZ GIG.

But for that modest price you have the peace of mind of knowing that if your laptop is destroyed or stolen, or if the HD crashes, or you get a catestrohpic virus, all you have to do is remove and replace your hard drive with the the cloned HD and you are back up in minutes with no tricky restore process required.

Personally, I think the cost is very cheap. Are there cheaper ways? Probably yes, but to me, having a cloned HD backup ready to go is priceless and, in fact, it has saved my butt on a few occasions already.

[msilano]

I also use Acronis True Image v8 and have not had a problem either cloning drives (using the Ultrabay HDD adapter) or dumping differential images to my Maxtor USB external 250GB drive.

Restores work, cloned OS drives boot, I've even upgraded one of the drives to a 100GB Seagate, which worked just fine.

I am a former Norton Ghost user and tested that for a while. It just didn't give me the same confidence as Acronis. Oh, and it wouldn't boot a cloned disk for me and had trouble recognizing some of my external USB devices.

Used Rapid Recover for a bit as well - it was ok, but not granular enough for me.

Whatever you choose, make sure you backup often. Never can tell when you will need to save your data. And, you can even sleep better at night, knowing that when the inevitable click-click-click starts, your data (up to the last backup) is safe and sound........

[Uncletoad]

I also use Acronis True Image v8 and have not had a problem either cloning drives (using the Ultrabay HDD adapter) or dumping differential images to my Maxtor USB external 250GB drive.

Could you describe your process in a bit more detail? I'm still not having success with the USB driven harddrive. I can clone to a separate hard drive through a network but have yet to create a bootable clone with my current setup.

[mlykke]

What i consider to be the best possible solution if you require both a decent amount of storage space but still want to use the fast 7200 rpm 60 GB disk and have a good security about your backup, is the following.

Have a Terastation box on your network. It's a NAS box with four 250 GB drives in it which can run RAID 0,1 or 5. Set it to run either RAID 1 or 5, and you get either 500 or 750 GB of storage on your network.
This all comes with a built in FPT server you could setup if you want to be able to access some files from a remote location that you dont have on your main harddrive and it comes with security in the form that you can setup users and so on.

On the laptop i then have a single folder in where all my files are - I dont use the My Documents but you could. This folder is then synched to a backup area on the NAS every two days(i use two days because if i delete a file by accident i will still have it on the NAS), but you could also do it every day or even more often than that.

That is enough for me because i consider that to be VERY safe datawise. I get my main data with me whenever i pickup the laptop and go somewhere but i can still have huge amounts of data available on the NAS which i dont require to take along with me.

And i will begin to create an ISO like image of my windows installation to get up and running even faster incase of a HD crash.

you can read about the Terastation with the following link. It's now available in three sizes - 600 GB, 1 TB or 1.6 TB depending on your budget. In my opinion you dont get anything better than this and i have been searching for a LONG time. You could maybe get something better if you are willing to spend several thousand dollars, but since the 1 TB version of Terastation can be bought for 900$ it's cheap in my book for the security, flexibility and the storage i get. And the FTP server is a VERY nice thing when 2000 km away from home and you just need a certain file not on your maindrive in the laptop.

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/pro ... egoryid=19

For those interested, im concidereing writing a review of this great piece of software and maybe back it up with an article about backup strategies for the home and small business user in mind(Alot of my experience comes as a former owner of several hosting companies dealing with huge amounts of data).
So if that could be of interest to any of you please let me know either in this thread or by PM.

[dr72]

What i consider to be the best possible solution if you require both a decent amount of storage space but still want to use the fast 7200 rpm 60 GB disk and have a good security about your backup, is the following.

Have a Terastation box on your network. It's a NAS box with four 250 GB drives in it which can run RAID 0,1 or 5. Set it to run either RAID 1 or 5, and you get either 500 or 750 GB of storage on your network.
This all comes with a built in FPT server you could setup if you want to be able to access some files from a remote location that you dont have on your main harddrive and it comes with security in the form that you can setup users and so on.

On the laptop i then have a single folder in where all my files are - I dont use the My Documents but you could. This folder is then synched to a backup area on the NAS every two days(i use two days because if i delete a file by accident i will still have it on the NAS), but you could also do it every day or even more often than that.

That is enough for me because i consider that to be VERY safe datawise. I get my main data with me whenever i pickup the laptop and go somewhere but i can still have huge amounts of data available on the NAS which i dont require to take along with me.

And i will begin to create an ISO like image of my windows installation to get up and running even faster incase of a HD crash.

you can read about the Terastation with the following link. It's now available in three sizes - 600 GB, 1 TB or 1.6 TB depending on your budget. In my opinion you dont get anything better than this and i have been searching for a LONG time. You could maybe get something better if you are willing to spend several thousand dollars, but since the 1 TB version of Terastation can be bought for 900$ it's cheap in my book for the security, flexibility and the storage i get. And the FTP server is a VERY nice thing when 2000 km away from home and you just need a certain file not on your maindrive in the laptop.

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/pro ... egoryid=19

For those interested, im concidereing writing a review of this great piece of software and maybe back it up with an article about backup strategies for the home and small business user in mind(Alot of my experience comes as a former owner of several hosting companies dealing with huge amounts of data).
So if that could be of interest to any of you please let me know either in this thread or by PM.

I'd really like to see a review and/or guide. Looking for strategies to back up data easily into a raid config for 3 laptops and 2 desktops. Being able to restore an image/clone (i.e the entire drive) to a new drive after a hd failure would be ideal.

[mlykke]

Ok then - Im currently testing some thinkpads. When im done with that project sometime after the weekend i will begin working on some backup article and review of the terastation.

[msilano]

I also use Acronis True Image v8 and have not had a problem either cloning drives (using the Ultrabay HDD adapter) or dumping differential images to my Maxtor USB external 250GB drive.

Could you describe your process in a bit more detail? I'm still not having success with the USB driven harddrive. I can clone to a separate hard drive through a network but have yet to create a bootable clone with my current setup.

Sorry - I mixed several different operations in that post.

1. Incremental backups of my drive to an external Maxtor 250GB USB drive. This backs up the data on my HD to a image, and I can restore files as needed by mounting the drive as an image.

2. I upgraded a drive or two to the 100GB Seagate 5400 RPM drive. Using True Image, I cloned the original drive to the 100GB drive and put the 100GB drive into operation.

Hope this helps.