[Drumbum667]

I'm looking into a backup software. It doesn't have to be free. If one that u have to buy is better i'll go for it. And also can someone explain how they work and what they do. Any help is appericated.

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Hi. First, you will be backing up to an external hard drive, right? I would say to go with Acronis True Image, or Norton Ghost. Both will give you the option to make an exact duplicate of your hard disk the way it is now, and copy it over to the external drive. It will even take your operating system and copy that, so if you ever need to boot from the external drive, you can. It pretty much copies every file and folder on your computer and moves it over. Both programs do this, so give them a shot. I would actually favor Acronis here. You can always try a demo version to see if you like it. Also, if you want to try Norton Ghost for 15 days, click here. Hope this helps

[Facedown98]

Hi. First, you will be backing up to an external hard drive, right? I would say to go with Acronis True Image, or Norton Ghost. Both will give you the option to make an exact duplicate of your hard disk the way it is now, and copy it over to the external drive. It will even take your operating system and copy that, so if you ever need to boot from the external drive, you can. It pretty much copies every file and folder on your computer and moves it over. Both programs do this, so give them a shot. I would actually favor Acronis here. You can always try a demo version to see if you like it. Also, if you want to try Norton Ghost for 15 days, click here. Hope this helps

[Drumbum667]

If i get them and put it on an external harddrive can i boot into Windows from the harddrive and have all the programs i have on this on it.

[Facedown98]

Yes, however, you should only boot from that hard drive on this same machine, becuase your registry values and such are set for that machine, not so much another.

[Drumbum667]

Is it possible to make it so i can boot into it for any other computer

[Facedown98]

Well, you could boot it right now, but I don't think that things would work right... Drivers for video and such would probably not be compatible with what's there already, so you would have problems there...

[Drumbum667]

And lets say i put it on a portable hard drive can i still put other files on it at the same tie or would i have to keep only the OS.

[Facedown98]

Oh no, you're not restricted to the OS. You can keep certain folders or files if you want. The disk image feature is just a plus

[Drumbum667]

Thanks a lot StormKnight. I'm gonna look into it. First i need an external harddrive. Then i need Acronis. Any suggestions on the hd.

[Facedown98]

Well, how big is your hard disk now? You don't want anything smaller really. As far as brands, Maxtor and Seagate are well known for good reason I'll research some with you tomorrow.

[Drumbum667]

I have two partitions but my hard drive is 80 GB. My XP partition though is 42.2 GB. I was looking at a Western Digital but I have no idea what's bad or good.

[Facedown98]

Western Digital is alright too. I would say to get probably a 100 GB hard disk, just for more space.

[Drumbum667]

Any reccomendations for a cheap one that is rele good. I was looking at a Seagate 100 GB.

Edited by Drumbum667, 12 October 2006 - 06:41 PM.