I have a PC running
Windows XP, and currently back up my data regularly using copy and paste
onto an external hard drive. The problem with my current drive-to-drive
method is that, in the case of a full windows reinstall, it means that
I still have to reinstall some software (and this eats into my
downloads and licences from the developers’ web site). Is specialised
disk cloning or imaging software a better option?
Paul Allerton, via email
SOS contibutor Martin Walker replies:
You’re
very wise to back up your data regularly, but there’s a fundamental
difference between copy and paste backups and disk imaging or cloning:
the latter takes a snapshot of everything on the chosen partition or
drive, including all the hidden and system files, although it’s clever
enough to ignore such things as huge page files that only contain
temporary data, to keep the image file sizes to a minimum.
Each
image file is, therefore, a time capsule, since when you ‘restore’ it
your computer will return to exactly the same state it was in when you
created that image file, leaving your licensed software intact. Most
imaging utilities also offer compression options, typically squashing
the data to about half the original size, while still letting you
explore and restore individual files contained within.
It’s
always safest to store these image files onto external media, such as
DVD or an external hard drive, to cope with the worst-case scenario of
your entire computer blowing up or being struck by lightning. In which
case, when you get your replacement PC, you can restore your external
backups onto this and avoid days of reinstalling Windows and
applications, and authorising copy-protected software. However, if, like
many musicians, you have several hard drives in your audio PC, you can
also store routine images of one drive to another, so that if one drive
goes belly-up, you’ll still have a recent image file on your other
drive to restore when you’ve replaced the faulty one.
We explored different strategies for backing up your data in the October 2007 issue of Sound On Sound (see www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct07/articles/data_protection.htm), and it might be worth giving that a read for more information.
There’s
a bewildering array of imaging utilities on offer, so here’s a quick
rundown of some of the best alternatives. Windows 7 now includes its own
Backup & Restore application that many users find perfectly
sufficient, and for Windows 7/XP/Vista a very popular commercial
package is Acronis True Image, especially since free licensed versions
are available from various hard-drive manufacturers, for use with their
own products.
An
imaging utility (such as Paragon Backup & Recovery, shown here)
will create a complete snapshot of your computer’s hard drive and save
you having to reinstall software after a crash or drive failure.
There are also various utilities that work with all
makes of hard drive and are totally free for the home user. After trying
out quite a few, I’ve ended up using Paragon Backup & Recovery
2010 (www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express),
which has a free advanced version that is fairly unique among the free
utilities in offering an incremental backup option that only stores
files newer than your previous image files. I’ve been very pleased with
its clear and easy-to-use interface, and my slimmed-down 10GB Windows
partition takes just four minutes to back up to a compressed file of
some 6GB.
This free version of Paragon Backup
& Recovery 2010 runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows
7, Vista, XP and Server 2003/2008. It can create a Linux/DOS recovery
environment onto CD, DVD or Flash memory (so that you can boot your PC
from these media and restore image files even if your computer refuses
to boot up by itself). You can even assign a drive letter to ‘mount’ an
archived partition, so you can access the files within using Windows
Explorer. More sophisticated versions are available, but to date I’ve
been perfectly happy with the free one.
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