Hard drive for backup

Question

Running a new XPS Gen4 with a 160GB Raid 1 hard drive.  I discovered too late that the Raid 1 HD is only for mechanical failure / crash. Since my screwup was software induced I was up that well known creek without a paddle.  So, I went out and bought an external 160GB hard drive to use as backup. I'm using the basic Iomega backup software.  In order to make the next crash a 'non-event' I would like to back up the entire hard drive,  Windows and all. In order to do this I guess I need the Pro version on Iomega.  Just having the basic backup makes for better sleep at night.  The question is : Does it make sense to backup EVERYTHING.....Windows, all of the 'stuff' I installed..which is a lot ? ? ? My thinking is that when (not if )  it happens I want to to do a restore from the exterior unit and go on.  Any thoughts or advice ? ? ? Thanks Lew

woochman · Answer

I have my OS and all programs on a C partition, all my data resides on a logical D partition on the same physical drive. If you have 2 physical drives, even better. This way, if the C drive fails, all your data will remain intact on D. I use Acronis True Image to create an "Image" of my system partition. In the event of failure (software or hardware), I can restore the image to the exact state that it was in before my last image.

You can get Acronis True Image @ newegg.com for around $31.49. I highly recommend.

I back my D volume up to a network share, then to a DVD for permanent archiving. I could use Acronis to image my D volume, I just choose not to.

ejn63 · Answer

The simplest, fastest way to restore is with an image backup - and there's no better way to do that than Acronis TrueImage. You can buy a single copy for $35 or so from newegg.com, and it runs rings around Symantec Ghost.

Storage, Drives & Media

Hard drive for backup

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