Roxio backup my pc vs XP backup utility

Go Back, a former Roxio product now owned by Norton, needs to be uninstalled or disabled to use Norton Ghost 2003, and most likely other versions of Ghost also.

 

Data files can be rather easily backed up by saving to various media and locations, but system and application files need to be captured using imaging software for later restoration, or else they need to be reinstalled completely.

 

Norton Ghost is a popular imaging program, and it works for me. Imaging software captures, and allows complete restoration of, everything on a hard drive or a partition of a hard drive.

 

Drive Image from PowerQuest was also popular, but it has been purchased by Norton and is now a part of Ghost 9, as is Ghost 2003.

 

From the ad, I can't tell exactly what Roxio Backup My PC does. I do see the word "data" preceeding "restoration", and some oblique references to "powerful disaster recovery", but no specific statement of system imaging capability.

 

Because of my browser configuration, I am not able to get a good look at the screen shots. "The Copy Tab includes tasks that let you copy discs, burn images to disc or save images to hard drive."

 

http://www.roxio.com/en/products/backupmypc/index.jhtml;jsessionid=CZWXVU5N4MREDLAQAMFRVQVMCABQYIV0

 

http://www.stompsoft.com/backupmypc.html?SourceID=afc_cj_backup

 

 

GM

Will Ghost 9.0 work with the XP sp1 as I haven't upgraded to SP 2?

So the Ghost will give me an exact image of the system, but won't back up the data files and I will need to do that with another program such as the Roxio Back Up or just save them one at at a time to the external hard drive or CDs?

 

I want to get the Maxtor External hard drive, but have read that they have their own back up system and don't support Ghost. Maxtor's backup system will only copy the data, but not make a copy of my system as the Ghost would?

 

If my system would crash, can I boot up and get things going from the external hard drive?

 

Seems like I am making this more complicated than it should be. Anyway I can keep this simple?

Norton Ghost 2003 will make an image of either a partition or an entire hard drive, as the user specifies. It will not differentiate system files from data files. I only meant to indicate that imaging software is necessary to create a restorable backup of system files, because it can capture all system files, and restore all system files, though it will serve to backup data files as well. Other means, such as copying from XP, or using Roxio Easy CD Creator, are available and optional for data file backups.

 

In your first post, you mentioned the XP Home Backup utility, which does a fair job of saving many files, including some system files, but it is not a true imaging utility, as I understand it. Some recovery is enabled, but full and swift recovery is not assured. Imaging software can assure complete recovery whether the system becomes so corrupt it will not boot or even if a hard drive failure and replacement with a new blank drive occurs. The ability to capture a complete image and store it in a safe location, away from the primary system hard drive, and then restore it by booting to floppy or CD/DVD and copying the image back to the hard drive, is what makes imaging software so reliable.

 

Norton Ghost 9.0 is PowerQuest's Drive Image 8.0 (with some modification) after the purchase or merger of PowerQuest by the new parent company, Symantec. The Norton Ghost 9.0 retail CD includes Norton Ghost 2003 as a separate program. The two programs differ in some fundamental ways, and users who have used both Drive Image 8.0 and Ghost 2003 will know the nuances better than I, but I will offer the differences I am able to discern in a followup to this post shortly. Other users have reported favorably regarding other imaging software also, including Acronis True Image.

 

GM

 

Edit - Speiling

Thanks GM.

 

Not being a computer wizard, things do get a bit tedious. Looking forward to your followup.

 

Tirna

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/ghost/ghost_2003_info_man.html

Norton Ghost 2003, as with previous versions of Ghost, operates from DOS. While earlier versions were run from DOS only, the 2003 version can also be configured from a "wizard" within Windows. The preparation to create images is assisted by an interface offering the options to select what is to be imaged and where the image is to be saved. After the entries are made and verified, a temporary virtual partition is created to save the instructions and executable files, the system reboots and executes the task in DOS. Images may be saved directly to many devices, but most home users will be limited to selecting which options are available or economical to acquire. A local CD/DVD drive, a second local hard drive, or a CD/DVD or hard drive on a local USB or Firewire port may be commonly available. Drivers included or made available through updates to Ghost enable port access and device control that is not native to DOS. (A notebook PCMCIA/PC Card to USB/Firewire adapter is not directly supported, though it may work in some instances.)

To facilitate smaller system image files, whether backed up to CD/DVD or another storage location, it can be advantageous if the primary system hard drive has one partition dedicated to system files and a second partition dedicated to larger collections of data. Another potential benefit is that the data partition may remain intact, without impact even if the system partition is restored from an image or reinstalled from the factory CDs. Many users have one large combined partition by default, but there may be convenient moments of opportunity for partitioning that coincide with the original system setup or following a full system backup.

Images saved to CD/DVD media can be (and probably should be, as there is little drawback) made bootable to simplify recovery. Recovery of other system drive images requires a Ghost boot floppy. (It may be possible to create a bootable CD with the Ghost DOS executable files, but that is not automated by the Ghost program.) Once booted, a menu offers the opportunity to identify the source device, browse to a previously saved Ghost image, then select the destination, commonly the C: drive, to restore the image.

 

 

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/ghost/ghost_9_info_man.html

Norton Ghost 9.0, although fundamentally different in many other ways, offers system recovery by booting from the Ghost 9.0 CD rather than a Ghost boot floppy. Ghost 9.0 is not DOS based, requires the Windows 2000 or XP operating system and .NET framework for installation, and can be run from within the operating system when creating images.

 

 

This oversimplification of Ghost 2003 and 9.0 is not adequate to describe the products, but for practical purposes many recent notebook/XP users may choose the 9.0 version simply to avoid the floppy drive recovery requirement. There are additional image storage locations available to both versions, and I did not address imaging and restoring drives or partitions other than that which contains the operating system. The primary need for many users is to enable fast and reliable system recovery through the use of imaging software, identifying suitable locations for the storage of system images, and ensuring that recovery is convenient and effective.

 

 

GM

 

Edit - PCMCIA support is not entirely resolved in Symantec documentation.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/1999062808022225?Open&src=&docid=2002093011135225&nsf=ghost.nsf&view=pfdocs&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl=

I should add a few references. Some are dated (2-3 years old!), but useful information remains.

 

This series of articles discusses backups in general, Windows Backup / Shadow Copying, DOS-based imaging software, hard drive partitioning, backup media, Go Back, Windows System Restore, USB hard drive, second internal hard drive, Drive Image 5 / Drive Image7, BootItNG, Acronis True Image, and that's just articles linked from the first link.
http://www.langa.com/backups/backups.htm

 

Some details in this guide to Norton Ghost are specific to the 2002 version, but the addition of Windows based wizards in the 2003 version makes the process a bit more user-friendly.
http://ghost.radified.com/

 

This guide on partitioning strategies may also be helpful.
http://partition.radified.com/

 

Partition and format hard drives using the XP CD.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313348

 

Some users may find the DOS-based FDISK utility guide helpful.
http://fdisk.radified.com/

 

A look at three drive imaging programs.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1091166,00.asp

 

Acronis True Image
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

 

BootIt NG
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

 

One issue regarding imaging software compatibility with devices and ports is driver availability for the image creation and restoration "environments". DOS-based utilities (Ghost 2003, Drive Image 5, BootIt NG) need DOS drivers, Linux-based utilities (Acronis TI?) need Linux drivers, and those that operate within Windows to create an image may have access to Windows drivers, but system recovery may be required when Windows, and Windows drivers are unavailable, and the basis for recovery of some imaging utilities, like Ghost 9.0, remains unclear to me.

 

 

GM