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daverose808
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March 23rd, 2006 16:00
Backup Xp to dvd?
I just reformatted my new xp media center edition inspiron 6000. i put on all the programs i will want, all my personal files and settings, and really want to create a DVD (or set of DVDs if need be) that, at any time in the future, i could put in, and make XP go back to that exact state, with nothing lingering from things that happened after the date of the intended original backup.
sort of like a reinstall cd, but instead of reinstalling to nothing, reinstalling to what i have set up. so, for example, after reinstalling this new cd, the desktop will have my customized picture as the desktop, instead of the default "Bliss." im sure u get the idea...
i see the backup program in ACCESSORIES, but it wont let me back up to DVD(s). does that mean i have to buy something like Norton Ghost? or is there a workaround for what i am looking for, or a free utility?
i dont need something that will also do incremental backuping, and dont need syncing, or really anything else. i just want this one time set described above.
I would really appreciate help on this matter!
sort of like a reinstall cd, but instead of reinstalling to nothing, reinstalling to what i have set up. so, for example, after reinstalling this new cd, the desktop will have my customized picture as the desktop, instead of the default "Bliss." im sure u get the idea...
i see the backup program in ACCESSORIES, but it wont let me back up to DVD(s). does that mean i have to buy something like Norton Ghost? or is there a workaround for what i am looking for, or a free utility?
i dont need something that will also do incremental backuping, and dont need syncing, or really anything else. i just want this one time set described above.
I would really appreciate help on this matter!
- I prefer Acronis True Image 9 to make an image of my operating system partition.
If you need to recover your system then you boot from an acronis cd which you previously made. after the program is loaded, you remove the cd then insert your dvd with the system image and choose to recover the system from the dvd using the user interface you've loaded from the cd. tonebalone
1372 Posts
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Posted March 23rd, 2006 17:00
An imaging program such as Acronis True Image, will create an image of the system as you want it, then split it into DVD-sized chunks. Later, you can boot to a bootable CD with the necessary Acronis software and reassemble the DVD set to your hard drive. Acronis will also let you store this image on a hidden partition, and do a CTRL-F11 restoration to your active partition. I imagine Ghost does the same thing, but I don't have any experience with Ghost.I use Acronis true image to do a master image which I store on a separate hard drive, then I do incremental images every week. To keep things manageable, I redo my master image once a quarter, and delete the previous images. It all does this in the background, and it does work well. I had a catastrophic failure of my RAID 0, and it took all of 30 minutes to restore everything back to it was before the crash.
daverose808
37 Posts
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Posted March 23rd, 2006 16:00
again, that question assumes i do have to make a purchase. let me know if there are more options. i am willing to spend the money, i just dont want to be foolish and frivolous with my cash...