reviewing backup strategies for Windows xp

Shinnen

Shinnen

Member
Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, and would like to start by asking for suggestions wrt the best backup strategy.
For years I have been cloning (mostly with XXClone) as my primary backup method. Up until recently this has worked pretty well, but lately the copies of my OS have been less than perfect. I have tried other (freeware) softwares, but all seem to have some shortcoming.
Just today I read a post suggesting that imaging is the best way to do backups. I really don't know much about imaging, and would like members of the forum to comment on imaging vs. cloning.
My interest is precipitated by the fact that I am faced with backing up a computer (Dell Optiplex SX270) with only one HDD connection, which I understand means cloning via the USB port, which is why I'm considering imaging.
So ...... basically I wondering if imaging is going to be easier and or more accurate than cloning.
Thanks,
...... john
 
Look into Acronis True Image Home. It's relatively cheap and is easy to use to make backup images. After you make one large backup images you can make incremental backup images after that which will take significantly less time.
 
Imaging takes up less space and you can just recover the image to a new drive with rescue media created with Acronis.
 
I personally like CLONNING a lot more than IMAGING.
Because if you make one single IMAGE file of your entire computer and if (for various possible reasons) the image file gets corrupted then you are screwed!
Cloning simply does the same thing of course,but not in ONE SINGLE file.Instead it does it on the way that it looks exactly like on your computer...in FILES and FOLDERS.
On that way if some file(s) get damaged,you can easily fix them (replace them) instead of being forced to REIMAGE the drive.
Of course,once you have the clone's file and folders,you can always later manually put them in a single image file using programs like PowerISO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN ONE SINGLE FILE.

Also (in the case you did not know) IMAGING or/and CLONING your entire computer CAN be done AND placed on the SAME HDD which you are imaging or/and cloning.
In the case if you are CLONING instead of IMAGING,be sure to create a folder in which you will place the CLONE in order to avoid duplicate files and folders on the same location...
On this way you do not need a second hard drive on which you will place either the IMAGE or CLONE.

Also I personally do not use any programs to clone my computer.I do it all manually using free Linux Ubuntu.
But you don't do it that way since I am the ONLY one probably who does it that way lol.

And the program which will do everything for you and which I recommend is definetely DriveClone Pro.With it you can do both...IMAGE or/and CLONE plus a lot lot lot more:
drive-clone-pro-s.png






Cheers!
 
Thank you all for your suggestions.
I'm still not sure what to do.
I'm trying not to buy any apps.
Whatever I do will have to be done via the USB port.
...... john
 
Which is why I suggested Acronis and making an image instead of cloning. It can be saved to an external hard drive and be recovered when needed. Acronis is pretty cheap too. Right now at Newegg it's only $50 but you can find it on sale regularly for under $30.
 
Hi,
Well, I found a solution that seems to work for both my machines. On my UBCD 5.2 there's a copy of HDClone, which in combination with my KROSS external drive enclosure does a very good job of cloning both hard drives, so (for the moment) I'm a happy camper.
Thank you all again for your help.
.... john
 
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