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RAYH78

67 Posts

22847

February 5th, 2007 03:00

Best easy backup

looking to confirm this.
Recently had a problem installing a game on PC that may have caused some problems and system restore could not restore to a restore point before this.

From what I am reading and if I understand the best thing to have is just to buy any external hard drive and imageing software like Acronis True Image 8.0 or the Norton Ghost.

I am sort of a novice and used to have free support with my Dell PC. Now they charge if I ever have a problem and need to call. and the above seems better. Ever a big problem just a fast reinstall of everything which would be on the backup.

Is it really that simple and easy to use. If I have a problem just put in something like a recovery cd and plug in the usb drive and it will put me back 100% to where I started Includeing windows xp.
Then of course looking at review on CNET it seems just about every PC product out there has some negative review.

Need something simple and easy if there is such a thing.

Thanks for any suggestions.

mombodog

12.7K Posts

February 5th, 2007 04:00

Acronis 10 is the latest and it is as easy as it gets, you will will make a entire disk image of the hard drive, then when disaster strikes, you boot off of the Acronis rescue disk that you make after installing the software, then navigate to your external drive where the Acronis .tib file is and tell it to do a restore. Acronis is very powerful and can be complicated, but you can just use the more simple functions of the software, it is up to you on how complex you want to get with your backups.
 

scottwhitty

6 Posts

February 5th, 2007 05:00

I'm using norton ghost. It's slow to boot from the CD, however it works great.
As mentionedwith Acronis, its has many features, some you may use, others you won't need. You install the software, run a backup. It creates a ghost image on the specified target(your external drive in this case) and your good to go.

When you want to revert back to your nice new install (ie factory settings out of the box kinda deal) you boot from the CD and run a restore, pointing the program to your external drive and voila. Generally speaking a restore for me, whicj contains about 6 gig takes about 30 minutes. All my windows updates are mostly done, and all my favorite programs are installed. Really, imaging software like Norton Ghost or Acronis are the only civilized way to work these days...after all..screw me once shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me. lol

RAYH78

67 Posts

February 5th, 2007 11:00

It all sounds pretty easy then as long as I just use it for a full restore.
When you do this will the restore clean or format the old drive and install everything or when up and running you reformat and copy?
Thanks

scottwhitty

6 Posts

February 5th, 2007 12:00

No, no theres no need to format after the restore of an image. When you restore the image it will revert the HDD back to the state it was in when the image was made, effectively formatting and reinstalling all your apps and settings to the way it was when the image was made.

kdmphx

322 Posts

February 5th, 2007 13:00

The original 40G Maxtor C drive on my Dim 4600 failed two weeks ago. I was using Ghost 10 and it was running a monthly "full image" and a daily "incremental image" to a second HD. You can use an external drive for this purpose. I got a new HD, Seagate 160G, put it in place of the Maxtor and booted via the restore CD. Followed the directions, used the custom mode and in about 20 minutes I had a fully functional working C drive. No need to format, etc. No loss of data and a much noticeable improvement in performance.
 
Ghost has it's own forum http://radified.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi where you can get help and answers about the program, the same as with this forum.

lagerpe

38 Posts

February 5th, 2007 13:00

Let me make sure I understand this : so even if your primary boot drice (c:\) is completely shot and goes in the bin; the new drive you install into the computer to replace it will not need to be formatted, partitioned or anything? You just install it physically, close the cover, boot up from the recovery disk and transfer all the content of your previous c:\ drive onto the new "bare metal" c:\ drive?
Per
 

scottwhitty

6 Posts

February 5th, 2007 13:00

Heh, sweet eh! As long as the new HDD is as large or larger then the original, it will do it. On smaller drives it may work as well granted theres enugh space to restore the image.

lagerpe

38 Posts

February 5th, 2007 13:00

Great stuff! Real peace of mind then!
Cheers guys!
Per
 

kdmphx

322 Posts

February 5th, 2007 14:00

I am not an expert, but looking at the service manual for the E521, it says you have 2 spots for serial ATA HD's. Am I looking at the wrong specs?
 
 

Drives 

Externally accessible:

Bays

one 3.5-inch drive bay (FlexBay)

two 5.25-inch drive bays

Available devices

Serial ATA drives (4), floppy drive, USB memory devices, CD/DVD drive, and Media Card Reader

Internally accessible:

two bays for 1-inch high serial ATA hard drives

 
 


Message Edited by kdmphx on 02-05-2007 10:29 AM

RAYH78

67 Posts

February 5th, 2007 14:00

The only thing that makes me think twice about this is the reviews on cnet. It seems almost like it is about a 50% chance it either works like magic or is terriable.
Maybe the bad review are from people just trying to do to much much with it instead of a complete backup and complete restore?
 
For a external hard drive should I just look for any brand just go by the best deal. Any big differences?
Wish my Dell E521 had an extra slot so could even put in a removeable hard drive instead of external, but guess its best to use the 2 slots like I am. One for a cd drive and other for a DVD burner 
 
All this sounds almost to good to be true. Seems dell and everbody should sell or highly recommend this as a option. In a lot of cases this could be cheaper and take less time troubleshooting than using paid dell support. Even a minor problem just restore.  Miss the days when you had free lifetime tech support and the techs could speak english. 
 
Thanks again, so far this makes my day

RAYH78

67 Posts

February 5th, 2007 16:00

I think it has 2 slots for an internal drive but to make it safe would want to remove so would need extra 5.25 slot in front and only have 2

scottwhitty

6 Posts

February 5th, 2007 16:00

Your Dell comes with lifetime free phone tech support.
Dell uses Symantec Ghost as its System Recovery software. Now its changed to reflect a Dell presence, however the engine if you will is still Symantec's Norton Ghost technology.
 
As for a specific HDD, well, I'm not that concerned when I make a purchase. As long as its got a half decent warranty, then giver er. I have to say in my lifetime I've not been plagued with HDD problems....

RAYH78

67 Posts

February 5th, 2007 16:00

If they still offer free tech support why they not advertise it ANYWHERE and when you place an order have options to order paid support.

kdmphx

322 Posts

February 5th, 2007 17:00

Dell will give you free "chat" tech support. I don't know about the free phone support. "Chat" can be very frustrating. Language is one problem and the other is getting verification for what they tell you. Unless you have a second source, my experience is if you chat with two different agents, you're liable to get two different answers. When you can duplicate an answer, then you can go from there.
 
I may be missing something, but what and why do you want to remove anything from the 5.25 inch bays if you're interested in having a second internal HD? The 5.25 inch bays are at the top of the computer and the 1 inch hard drive bays are at the bottom.  I thought you wanted a second internal HD instead of getting an external USB HD?? Sorry if that's not what you're looking to do. I'm easily confused!


Message Edited by kdmphx on 02-05-2007 01:09 PM

scottwhitty

6 Posts

February 5th, 2007 17:00

I live in Canada and used to work for a call center that did Dell Hardware Warranty Support. Trust me, you have lifetime phone support for any and all Dell systems.
The paid service is for hardware replacement and onsite service (they come to your place and replace the bad part).

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