[brady1988]

so u are basically telling me to follow that tutorial right? so u assure me my backup will work if i follow the tutorial right>? okay im gonna try then. thnx do not close this post yet i may need help

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Yes follow that tutorial. In case Windows will not boot, you can always use the boot CD to boot into a recovery environment and restore your drive image. You should make a couple copies of your drive image. Store them on an external media (DVDs or external hd) Dvds are preferred because they won't become corrupted or fail like external hds might. Don't worry, this post will stay open for a long time.

[edge2022]

Yes follow that tutorial. In case Windows will not boot, you can always use the boot CD to boot into a recovery environment and restore your drive image. You should make a couple copies of your drive image. Store them on an external media (DVDs or external hd) Dvds are preferred because they won't become corrupted or fail like external hds might. Don't worry, this post will stay open for a long time.

[loophole]

so u assure me my backup will work if i follow the tutorial right>?

I won't assure you of anything when it comes to computers Norton Ghost is the best product they have in my opinion and a very versatile product. I personally use acronis because I get it for free through work. If I had my choice I would always use ghost. Let us know how it goes

[edge2022]

I won't assure you of anything when it comes to computers

It will always be like that. Nothing is absolutely safe. When you create an image of your hard disk as a backup, you should store it on an external drive, and on a rewritable DVD (in case the external drive fails).

I have never used Ghost, but the UI looks nice, and it looks reliable. You can also use utilities like Clonezilla.
http://clonezilla.org/
You can find detailed tutorials on their website. It also runs as a Live CD, so even of you can't boot into Windows, you can still restore your drive, as with Ghost too.

[brady1988]

u guys are right im gonna stick to that im gonna use acronis, now if i follow this tutorial i will backup everything correct right?
http://www.whatsabyt...ronis_image.htm
then when i wanna restore my system i just click on the image file then everything i backedup will return back that's it?
tnx u guys answer me back.
i forgot, would u be so kind to tell me what version are they using in that website or should i just download this version Acronis True Image Home 2009 v12.0.0.9709

Edited by brady1988, 07 May 2009 - 05:42 PM.

[edge2022]

Any version of Trueimage will do.

then when i wanna restore my system i just click on the image file then everything i backedup will return back that's it?

Yes, True Image will then restore your hard drive from that image files it created.

http://www.whatsabyt...nis_restore.htm
That is another way of restoring the image with True Image.

http://www.whatsabyt...1/create_cd.htm
Follow the tut above to create a bootable CD to recover your computer if it can't boot into Windows. You should always keep image backups on an external media (hard drive or DVD). You should always make a bootable CD. If you ever have a problem with Windows, you will be glad you did.

[brady1988]

alright , im gonna follow all those tutorials and im gonna make a copy into my USB but i need something before i start doing this.
can u provide me some info about " how to make a USB bootable " that'll be nice that way i can make my USB 2gb bootable so if im gonna have some problems with this backup i will use my USB. not u forgot to tell me what version is the one that is in that tutorial or i can use this version Acronis True Image 2009 right?

Edited by brady1988, 08 May 2009 - 01:41 PM.

[hawklord]

i think the easiest way of finding out if you can boot from usb is to poweroff your pc then poweron, as it powers up keep tapping the F11 key and with any luck you should be presented with the boot options screen - if you get this screen then you will be able to boot from usb,

please be aware that a lot of old motherboards do not support the F11 (boot options) key,

if you get to the boot options screen, just use your up and down arrows to choose the device and press enter to boot,

i use a configured knoppix 2gb flash/pen/usb drive (very easy to install) and partimage (backup software) is built in - knoppix is a free linux operating system

http://www.pendrivel...sb-knoppix-510/

[brady1988]

thnx for the info but anyone else can help me with this.

[edge2022]

The instructions that hawklord has provided you will give you a USB drive that can boot into Knoppix. Why do you want your USB to be bootable?
You can store you image file on a usb drive, but it should be much larger than 2GB. Nothing will go wrong with the backup as long as you have more than one copy of it. You can use True Image 2009 or any other recent version.

[123Runner]

The image you are creating of your hard drive will only be bootable when you put it on another hard drive, or back on the original drive if your system crashes.
The size of the image will depend on the size of the drive you are imaging as a backup. I can assure you that it most likely will not fit on a 2gb flash drive.
You want your backup image on another complete drive and/ or a cd (DVD). You should have at least 2 images in separate locations.

What hawklord was indicating to you was to be sure your computer and main board supported "boot from USB". Not all do.

In a nutshell, what you need to do is the following.
1. Pick a backup/ imaging program that works for you. (There were many suggested)
2. Use the program to make a boot CD or USB (if your computer boots from usb). You need the boot CD to boot the system when it crashes to get to the saved image for recovery.
3. Create your image.
4. Most programs allow a verification of the image also.

[brady1988]

okay thnx im gonna do the backup as soon as someone checks my other post otherwise i cant make the backup yet

[edge2022]

All right then. Hope everything goes well with the backup!