[Mark W]

I am looking for a backup solution for a computer running Windows XP. The computer may be upgraded to Windows 7 within the next few months.
Two I have used in the past are Norton Ghost and Acronis but I have not used these for awhile so I know with newer versions they've changed. I will be purchasing 2 External USB Hard Drives to do the backup onto.
I am looking at doing 2 types of backups. They will be:

1-A complete backup of the hard drive which can be used in an emergency such as a crash to completely restore the computer

2-A file backup which will just be used to backup certain folders that will vary with each backup.

Which of the above programs would be best for these uses or is there another program I should look into?
Thank you for your help.

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For disk-imaging I currently use "Active@ Disk Image" as it's totally compatible with Windows 7 which sometimes has the boot files on a small, hidden partition which must be set as the 'active' partition. "Active@ Disk Image" recognises this arrangement, some of the competing products don't.

However, it doesn't do file backups, but that can be done without software unless you have hundreds of files to back up every week.

http://www.disk-image.net/

[phillipcorcoran]

For disk-imaging I currently use "Active@ Disk Image" as it's totally compatible with Windows 7 which sometimes has the boot files on a small, hidden partition which must be set as the 'active' partition. "Active@ Disk Image" recognises this arrangement, some of the competing products don't.

However, it doesn't do file backups, but that can be done without software unless you have hundreds of files to back up every week.

http://www.disk-image.net/

[123Runner]

For folder and file backup I use SyncBack Free

EDIT: SyncBack freeware and SyncBackSE V4.0.x and earlier: Windows 98, 98SE, ME, NT 4 (*), Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Please note that Windows 95 is not supported.

Edited by 123Runner, 17 July 2010 - 06:21 AM.

[Computeky]

Stay away from Acronis if your running XP It will not allow you to open restore from a cold boot with theyre restore. A message "Missing Linux Module, cannot continue. I've tried this program which I paid for on two xp machines neither could perform a restore. Ghost on the other hand is more difficult to set up. Pay attention, but it always works the way it should. I'm using Ghost 15. It works great.

[lisja4ij]

Has anybody tested true image 2013? it looks like not many features were added, i just noticed that they removed synchronization and added acronis cloud instead, anything else? Norton Ghost is a little bit outdated as it lacks any upgrades for many years now. check this article on acronis vs norton