Some questions n ideas

[enli]

Hi
M currently using trial version of latest build of FD and m quite impressed about the flexibility of this program. I had read about software n saw some pictures on net n I thought this wont b a software to give a try to , but i was wrong , ; )

M on my 2nd day i guess and m learning much fast i guess.I have repartitioned C:\ to make room for 3-4 snaps m going to create there.I had system crash before FD so i formatted C:\ to give try to FD.

I have created 2 extra snaps ,
First for games (where i m finished with all the tweaks i know ,with some appz like Daemon tools n Winrar ,not much really)
2nd for Testing or Backup purpose in case primary snap get some problems
I already had some software issue with primary snap so i copied backup snap to primary snap. Everything is smooth now.

1. I was wondering what happen when say i m in my backup snap and i uninstall FD (FULL), so that uninstalls every snap n also removes the Spash screen at startup. In this case to which state my computer will b ? I mean will it be in my primary snapshot or the Backup snapshot ?

2. I wanted to know in brief how this program handle different OS ?
Does this replaces the snapshot files back to root of C:\ ? I guess its not possible coz evey snapshot is booted in the same time as that of if we r loading our normal XP

3. If i export snapshot to archive which was already created for that snapshot. How does this upadates that snapshot so fast? It took me like 2 mins to update archieve to write 150MB data

4. No matter i use RSS or VSC i get avg. speed of 5MBps for copying copying/updating snapshots. Is this normal ?

5. I dont have installed any defragmenter yet as i m building my PC frm groundup and currently working on gaming snapshot.So i want to keep min. softs for this snapshot. Wanted to know how snapshots are stored on C:\ ?
They r scattered or kept in contagious space? What strategy u use for defragmenting ur C:\ ?

Some ideas:
As i have got only 160GB HDD which is pretty much full now n C:\ is 30GB i was thinking for the best strategy to backup with ATI to DVDs.And Here is what i came up with :
1. Export all archieves to other partition and delete all but primary snapshot
2. Make image of C:\ with only primary partition. but before disable the spash screen of FD to make image bootable
3. Now the C:\ size will b so small i can get image size almost near to 7-8GB . When its done
4. Burn ATI image to DVDs alongwith the snapshots(seperately)
5. In case of Disaster we got atleast 1 working snapshot so that after restoring we can easily copy snapshots on HDD from DVD and then import in the other snapshots
6. Advantage of this can b we can get much smaller image of C:\ and those snapshots can b further updated afterwards very easily

Do This idea apeal to u ?
What is your strategy for backup of C:\

Night
EnLi

[tradetime]

1 To the best of my knowledge if you uninstall ISR completely you will be in whatever snapshot you uninstall it in, so in this case the only "system" that would remain is the one you are in when you do the uninstall.

2 Not sure what you mean.

3 When you copy a snapshot to an existing archive only the changes are copied.

4 Sounds about right

5 I only use the built in windows defragmenter.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE->
Some ideas:
As i have got only 160GB HDD which is pretty much full now n C:\ is 30GB i was thinking for the best strategy to backup with ATI to DVDs.And Here is what i came up with :
1. Export all archieves to other partition and delete all but primary snapshot
2. Make image of C:\ with only primary partition. but before disable the spash screen of FD to make image bootable
3. Now the C:\ size will b so small i can get image size almost near to 7-8GB . When its done
4. Burn ATI image to DVDs alongwith the snapshots(seperately)
5. In case of Disaster we got atleast 1 working snapshot so that after restoring we can easily copy snapshots on HDD from DVD and then import in the other snapshots
6. Advantage of this can b we can get much smaller image of C:\ and those snapshots can b further updated afterwards very easily

Do This idea apeal to u ?
What is your strategy for backup of C:\

Night
EnLi <-QUOTE}
If space is a problem and you don't want to expand your hardware then I have these suggestions.

First of all, ATI has a Recovery CD, which is able to backup and restore your harddisk(s). So you don't really need ATI installed under Windows. So you save space this way. Just create a few more Recovery CD's, in case one fails.

When you anchor the folder "My Documents", where your personal files are stored, all your snapshots will be much smaller, because anchored folders are not stored in snapshots.
In that case you have to backup the folder "My Documents" separately and the software "Karen's Replicator" might be a good solution for this and it's freeware.
I have no practical experience with "Karen's Replicator", but member "Huupi" knows all about it and can give you good advice.

The secondary snapshot doesn't need to be a rollback snapshot, it can be a pure refuge snapshot, which contains just enough softwares to restore the primary snapshot. Member "Peter" uses such a snapshot, which contains only security softwares.

The image of your system can be reduced significantly,
1. if you only take an image of Windows and FDISR with ATI.
2. Take an archive of each snapshot (primary and secondary) with FDISR

So a complete restoration of your harddisk can be done this way :
1. Restore the Image (Windows + FDISR) with the ATI Recovery CD first.
2. Restore the UPDATED archive of the primary snapshot.
3. Restore the UPDATED archive of the secondary snapshot.
4. Restore your personal data with "Karen's Replicator"

I wouldn't advice DVD's and certainly not with Acronis True Image and most likely you won't need them.
1. The image of Windows and FDISR will be very small, which can be stored eventually on DVD.
2. The archive of secondary snapshot will be very small.
3. The archive of primary snapshot will be the biggest one.
4. The rest is personal data.

Don't store FDISR-archives on DVD, because you won't be able to update them quickly.
You can also streamline Windows with nLite, but that is a bit risky.

I hope this helps. :)

[Huupi]

This is all true what EA said and it shows one more time the flexability of FDISR.A rare exeption is if you mess the partition table in the first tracks on disk,then FDISR and imaging app. are of no help .In my case i had to install windows again.But even then with all the hassle i brought my system current with an archived FDISR snapshot in no time.

[tradetime]

{QUOTE-> A rare exeption is if you mess the partition table in the first tracks on disk,then FDISR and imaging app. are of no help . <-QUOTE}
Hi Huppi, glad you were able to sort this problem, may I ask how this occured, primarily so I may avoid it.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> This is all true what EA said and it shows one more time the flexability of FDISR.A rare exeption is if you mess the partition table in the first tracks on disk,then FDISR and imaging app. are of no help .In my case i had to install windows again.But even then with all the hassle i brought my system current with an archived FDISR snapshot in no time. <-QUOTE}
In this case :
1. I would zero my harddisk first.
2. Then I would restore my IMAGE with ShadowProtect or ATI
3. Then restore the archives of each snapshot.
My experience with ATI and ShadowProtect is that they always restore an image on a zeroed harddisk and I have done this many times.
If your harddisk is zeroed, you don't have any damaged partitions anymore and that's why the restoration works.

Remember you the test of Peter regarding the "Killdisk virus" ? After this attack his partitions were also damaged and the Recovery CD's of SP and ATI didn't work anymore. You probably had a similar situation.

[Huupi]

Remember you the test of Peter regarding the "Killdisk virus" ? After this attack his partitions were also damaged and the Recovery CD's of SP and ATI didn't work anymore. You probably had a similar situation.{QUOTE->

You guess right !! I also damaged the part. table so i had the same problems he had but he eventually recovered from this mess with Terabyte Bing if i remember right ?!?

[Huupi]

{QUOTE-> Hi Huppi, glad you were able to sort this problem, may I ask how this occured, primarily so I may avoid it. <-QUOTE}

It was my own stupidity,i tried to partitioning my drive without that much understanding about the matter so i screwed up everything,tried all means to recover but no go,so by carefull and if you feel unsure about all this,ask member MUDCRAB on the Acronisforum he is a specialist on this matter and is very helpfull.

[tradetime]

{QUOTE-> It was my own stupidity,i tried to partitioning my drive without that much understanding about the matter so i screwed up everything,tried all means to recover but no go,so by carefull and if you feel unsure about all this,ask member MUDCRAB on the Acronisforum he is a specialist on this matter and is very helpfull. <-QUOTE}
Thanx Huupi, I appreciate you sharing that, and will not attempt anything similar.

[Peter2150]

Yep, I sure did mess up a partition table. It was so bad, Winpe,Bartpe, and the Windows CD would all blue screen.

Worst part was anything that could load my raid drivers bsod'd, and anything else couldn't see the drives. Truly was the proverbial rock and hard place.

It was indeed Bootitng to the rescue.

Pete(enjoying vacation)

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Yep, I sure did mess up a partition table. It was so bad, Winpe,Bartpe, and the Windows CD would all blue screen.
<-QUOTE}
All these CD's seem to have problems with damaged partitions, which I still find unlogical. If these CD's detect such a problem, why don't they fix it first and then continue doing their job like the average user expects it.

[Peter2150]

{QUOTE-> All these CD's seem to have problems with damaged partitions, which I still find unlogical. If these CD's detect such a problem, why don't they fix it first and then continue doing their job like the average user expects it. <-QUOTE}


Problem is the only way they all have of accessing the partition table is with Microsoft routines. Same as defragging. All defraggers use the Microsoft API's

Pete

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Problem is the only way they all have of accessing the partition table is with Microsoft routines. Same as defragging. All defraggers use the Microsoft API's

Pete <-QUOTE}
Right. I have to accept this, because there is no other way and I'm well armed :
1. I have a zero tool to wipe my harddisks completely.
2. I have a partition manager to fix partitions.
With the "killdisk" test you certainly proved, that these tools are sometimes necessary and what most users don't expect at all is a not-working Recovery CD. :)

[EASTER]

{QUOTE-> My experience with ATI and ShadowProtect is that they always restore an image on a zeroed harddisk and I have done this many times.
If your harddisk is zeroed, you don't have any damaged partitions anymore and that's why the restoration works. <-QUOTE}

Good topic. I like to add another benefit i discovered when zeroing your hard disk for a fresh new install or restore. Normally in my case the XP Pro install disk installs alright but always seemed somewhat sluggish and took quite a few minutes.

However, after zeroing the disk, i even gone to the extreme of first using RANDOM pass then ZERO with ActiveKillDisk and/or the hard drive's product manufacturer's "wipe" utility, and let me tell you now the XP install literally "flies!" and is 100% complete in just a few minutes. Looks like you can save at the least 5, 10, or more minutes with that type of technique and the only time loss is manually entering the CD serial code and pressing the few prompts.

I would be curious to know if this plays out the same with a restore so far as saving time with a backup image. Seems zeroing really "cleans" or smooths the platter nicely. :)

Greets, EASTER

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Good topic. I like to add another benefit i discovered when zeroing your hard disk for a fresh new install or restore. Normally in my case the XP Pro install disk installs alright but always seemed somewhat sluggish and took quite a few minutes.

However, after zeroing the disk, i even gone to the extreme of first using RANDOM pass then ZERO with ActiveKillDisk and/or the hard drive's product manufacturer's "wipe" utility, and let me tell you now the XP install literally "flies!" and is 100% complete in just a few minutes. Looks like you can save at the least 5, 10, or more minutes with that type of technique and the only time loss is manually entering the CD serial code and pressing the few prompts.

I would be curious to know if this plays out the same with a restore so far as saving time with a backup image. Seems zeroing really "cleans" or smooths the platter nicely. :)

Greets, EASTER <-QUOTE}
I never experienced any speed improvement after zeroing my harddisk and installing WinXPproSP2.

I've done some experiments with nLite :
- patching WinXPproSP2
- removal of components
- unattended
- tweaking
but I wasn't satisfied with the final result.

For instance :
1. Removal of components.
Although I did it pretty safe, I probably removed too much.
After installing WinLite, I installed my NVIDIA/ATI/CREATIVE/CANON-drivers = 4 CD'S.
During the install of each CD, I was asked to insert the original WinXPproSP2-CD.
Also the installation of MS Office 2000 pro asked for the WinXPproSP2-CD.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see which missing files were installed back by the WinXPproSP2-CD.
The final result was good, I just didn't like to insert my original WinXPproSP2-CD.

2. Unattended
The unattended didn't work either, at least not complete.
The regional settings were not correct as instructed.
The computer name, organization name, ... were back to blank, although I mentioned them.
I didn't consider this as a real problem.
The serial number was accepted and Windows never showed the screen for filling in the serial number.

3. Tweaking
I didn't notice any problem with all these tweakings and they were probably all executed.

After that I tried to activate Windows and that wasn't possible anymore, because I reached the limit of activations.
This has nothing to do with WinLite, because even when I install Windows with the original CD, I can't activate Windows either. I have to re-activate Windows by phone.

So the removal of components wasn't really successfull and this is the only option, that really streamlines Windows.
Back to the drawing board. :)

[EASTER]

I'm one of the lucky ones i guess. Speed=Rapid Velocity which means everything to me when it comes to computers or why bother with just a glorified typewriter/copy machine? ;)

One other thing is certain. FD-ISR is a computer/user's dream come true. I know it's been months now but this super creation almost defies the very physics of Windows.
Leapfrog's developers can be very proud of this accomplishment.

If Window users, whether they be business or home users ever longed for a great immediate recovery solution, FD-ISR has to take those honors IMHO.

I know it becomes old hat after awhile but still you just can;t go wrong with the ADVANTAGES it provides.

I never really cared about any rollback solution before all this buzz over FirstDefense and was quite resigned the rest of my life would be to turn to an imaging app to restore matters when something went wrong, but this revolutionized my entire strategy as well as gave software confidence a whole new meaning when i finally joined this crowd. :)

[silat]

{QUOTE-> Right. I have to accept this, because there is no other way and I'm well armed :
1. I have a zero tool to wipe my harddisks completely.
2. I have a partition manager to fix partitions.
With the "killdisk" test you certainly proved, that these tools are sometimes necessary and what most users don't expect at all is a not-working Recovery CD. :) <-QUOTE}


Hello Erik,

What zero tool and partition manager do you use?

[Peter2150]

Be aware the zeroing tools might not work. They didn't for me as WD's tools are very simple, and provided no means to install the Nvidia raid drivers, so they never saw my disks.

This is a limitation if you need to load disk drivers.

Pete

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Hello Erik,

What zero tool and partition manager do you use? <-QUOTE}
Western Digital provides free tools to do things with my type of harddisks, like testing and one them zeroes my harddisk.
If you don't have my type of harddisks, WDnnn (nnn = number), you can't use it.

Go to the manufacturer's website of your harddisk(s) and see if it provides also tools for your harddisks, if not you might try "Darik's Boot and Nuke" at your risk.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/
DBAN has an ISO-file, which you can burn on a CD. If you reboot with that CD, you can wipe your harddisk in several ways. Just don't use the Gutmann method, because this might take a very long time.
I didn't test it yet on my Seagate external harddisk, but that is my intention.

I use PartitionMagic for partitioning (no RAID), which was originally developped by PowerQuest, but Norton is now the owner.

I don't use these tools very much, just in case when I need them or when I feel better to use them. It depends on the situation.
Recently I zeroed my harddisk to re-install Windows and Windows wanted to install itself on partition [E:] instead of partition [C:]. I didn't understand this, because the partition letter "C" was available. Windows couldn't use "D", because that was my data partition (my second harddisk), so Windows choosed the next letter "E" instead of "C" and I wanted "C".
I used the PartitionMagic's floppy to prepare the partition [C:] and after that Windows installed itself on partition [C:].
There are probably other methods to fix this, but I'm not a very knowledgeable user and then I use my logical brain to fix things and it worked.

After a destructive malware attack (Killdisk virus) or any other malware infection, I would always zero my harddisk first.
I just feel more comfortable to start with a clean harddisk, when I re-install Windows from scratch or when I restore Windows with ShadowProtect.
What I learned from Peter's killdisk test, is that these tools are NECESSARY, before that I thought I didn't really need them, I only used them to feel more comfortable. Keep in mind that Peter's Recovery CD didn't work anymore after the killdisk test and nobody would expect this.
Can you imagine such a situation : your system is destroyed and your Recovery CD doesn't work. That is a panic situation. :)

[enli]

Thanks n sorry been out for a while (couldnt reply)

I m using NOD32 antivirus which is always updated. I guess i wont be attacked by that Killdisk virus ?

Anyway happy chatting ;)

[lucas1985]

{QUOTE->
During the install of each CD, I was asked to insert the original WinXPproSP2-CD.
Also the installation of MS Office 2000 pro asked for the WinXPproSP2-CD.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see which missing files were installed back by the WinXPproSP2-CD.
The final result was good, I just didn't like to insert my original WinXPproSP2-CD. <-QUOTE}
Just copy the i386 folder to the HDD (http://ask-leo.com/so_just_what_is_the_i386_directory_anyway.html)
{QUOTE-> The second reason for C:\I386 existing is simple convenience. Even if you have the CD-ROM, as you should, it's often more convenient to keep a copy on your hard drive. That way, instead of reaching for the CD-ROM each time Windows needs something, you can just tell Windows to pick it up from C:\I386, already on your hard disk. In fact, it's such a convenience, and disk space is so plentiful these days that copying the Windows XP CD-ROM to my hard disk is often one of the first steps I take when I'm about to set up a new machine.

So what does all this mean? Well, remember that C:\I386 is just a copy of a Windows Installation CD-ROM.
<-QUOTE}
{QUOTE-> So the removal of components wasn't really successfull and this is the only option, that really streamlines Windows.
Back to the drawing board. :) <-QUOTE}
Virtual machines (VMware, VirtualBox) can assist you in testing XP builds :)

[Huupi]

It would be great to make a bootable CD from the I386 folder but i learnt that it is not that easy to do.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Thanks n sorry been out for a while (couldnt reply)

I m using NOD32 antivirus which is always updated. I guess i wont be attacked by that Killdisk virus ?

Anyway happy chatting ;) <-QUOTE}
Sorry but your reasoning is WRONG.
Dear member "Huupi" was in a similar situation and it was not caused by the killdisk virus.
Accidents do happen, you know and it doesn't matter who or what caused it.
The disaster is there and you have to solve it. Even Peter's Windows-CD didn't work anymore. How are you going to re-install your computer ? :)

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Just copy the i386 folder to the HDD (http://ask-leo.com/so_just_what_is_the_i386_directory_anyway.html)
<-QUOTE}
Many thanks for the info, that might solve the problems. I will try again.

[silat]

{QUOTE-> Western Digital provides free tools to do things with my type of harddisks, like testing and one them zeroes my harddisk.
If you don't have my type of harddisks, WDnnn (nnn = number), you can't use it.

:) <-QUOTE}


Thanks for the reply Erik. I happen to have WD drives also.. So its off to the WD site:)

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Thanks for the reply Erik. I happen to have WD drives also.. So its off to the WD site:) <-QUOTE}
OK. That's good, than you will have a safe zero tool. Mine works fine and is more userfriendly than the DBAN-CD. One day you might need it and it's hard to create this CD, if your harddisk has damaged partitions. LOL.

[Peter2150]

{QUOTE-> Thanks n sorry been out for a while (couldnt reply)

I m using NOD32 antivirus which is always updated. I guess i wont be attacked by that Killdisk virus ?

Anyway happy chatting ;) <-QUOTE}

Erik is very right in his answer. Yes Nod,KAV or FProt would have stopped KillDisk. But what I did using Acronis Disk Director from a Bartpe disk, made Killdisk seem tame. At least with Killdisk, I could boot my Windows CD and delete the corrupted partition. The DD corrupted it even worse, and even my windows CD blue screened. Wasn't pretty.

Pete

[Huupi]

{QUOTE-> Good topic. I like to add another benefit i discovered when zeroing your hard disk for a fresh new install or restore. Normally in my case the XP Pro install disk installs alright but always seemed somewhat sluggish and took quite a few minutes.

However, after zeroing the disk, i even gone to the extreme of first using RANDOM pass then ZERO with ActiveKillDisk and/or the hard drive's product manufacturer's "wipe" utility, and let me tell you now the XP install literally "flies!" and is 100% complete in just a few minutes. Looks like you can save at the least 5, 10, or more minutes with that type of technique and the only time loss is manually entering the CD serial code and pressing the few prompts.

I would be curious to know if this plays out the same with a restore so far as saving time with a backup image. Seems zeroing really "cleans" or smooths the platter nicely. :)

Greets, EASTER <-QUOTE}

Then you zeroing the disk flying also i guess,at the time i messed with partitions to the point everything failed to recover, zeroing the disk took 8 hr !

[EASTER]

{QUOTE-> Then you zeroing the disk flying also i guess,at the time i messed with partitions to the point everything failed to recover, zeroing the disk took 8 hr ! <-QUOTE}

The time a "wipe" takes surely differs depending on your disk size also no doubt. 8 hours for me does seem extreme for a single pass ZEROING, but then maybe some tools might be designed to go at it differently then others.

Everyone's technique however, differs to a degree. I like many others, simply experimented. At first, on cleaning ANY drive platter disk i used to blindly just "wipe" with any freeware then install via CD as anyone. It always took some time for the install to fully complete. I use XP Pro.

Reading up does has it's rewards. So does sharing experiences be they good or bad.

I found later after going over some posts here that zeroing was a favorable choice for obvious reasons, but then again i begin to experiment since some utilities i used offered several different passing methods. Most of us i'm sure opt for the "quick" factor so we can get along with things sooner than later.

Recently, at least for me, from Seagate to Maxtor or SamSung hard drives, i decided to scramble methods, that is first use RANDOM passes (either 1 or more) followed lastly by ZEROES (either 1 (usually) or more). After such wipings upon inserting the CD install disk i noticed a marked increase in speed and less time for the complete install. For me, even a savings of 5 minutes or less i consider a huge benefit, although the time savings i discovered have been more depending on the drive and how much was left on it.

I'm no expert in this field by any stretch, but from hands-on experience thru simple observations, even deleting a system partition b 4 wipe still leaves enough scraps that the Read/Write heads seem to have to stumble over them and that is a delay thats very noticable to me on a reinstall.

It also makes sense that a wiped with ZEROES hard disk, is refreshed enough to a degree that it does maximize the efficiency of the reinstall and makes for less friction to hesitate on. Just an uneducated assumption of mine but still a reality i discovered nonetheless that i now enjoy.

EASTER

[enli]

Guys have u tried combination of FD n ShadowUSer ?

IF m not wrong , freezing snapshot makes the new freeze snapshot and works on it. So we r wasting valuable C:\ space ?

I dont have given it a try , just wondering how effective that will be ?

[silat]

{QUOTE-> OK. That's good, than you will have a safe zero tool. Mine works fine and is more userfriendly than the DBAN-CD. One day you might need it and it's hard to create this CD, if your harddisk has damaged partitions. LOL. <-QUOTE}

Erik is it the Data Diagnostic disk? http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=3&swid=30

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> Yep, I sure did mess up a partition table. It was so bad, Winpe,Bartpe, and the Windows CD would all blue screen.

Worst part was anything that could load my raid drivers bsod'd, and anything else couldn't see the drives. Truly was the proverbial rock and hard place.

It was indeed Bootitng to the rescue.

Pete(enjoying vacation) <-QUOTE}
Was it sue to raid drivers specifically?
What if u did not have BING?

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Erik is it the Data Diagnostic disk? http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=3&swid=30 <-QUOTE}
I downloaded my WD Zero Tool from this link.
http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=30
I downloaded this file Diag504cCD.iso.
I use it on this type of harddisk :
WD Raptor WD740GD HDD 74gb 10000rpm SATA 8mb Cache 4.5ms

In the left column of the link I choosed :
"Serial ATA WD Raptor - 10,000 RPM"

In the right column of the link I choosed :
"Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)"

At the bottom you can see the files for downloading.

I hope this helps.

[Peter2150]

{QUOTE-> Was it sue to raid drivers specifically?
What if u did not have BING? <-QUOTE}

Hi Aigle

Creating the problem wasn't caused by raid drivers. But to see the disks, the drivers have to be installed. If I boot my Windows CD and don't use the F6 option, Windows boots, but I don't see any drives. I have to uses F6 and install them. When I boot my Bartpe disk, the drivers have been installed as I built bart that way.

As to what I'd done if I didn't have BING. Good question. Going to have to try Dban one of these days, but I don't know otherwise

Pete

[aigle]

Thanks Peter.

[silat]

{QUOTE-> I downloaded my WD Zero Tool from this link.
http://support.wdc.com/download/?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=30

I hope this helps. <-QUOTE}



Thanks Erik.. :)

[EASTER]

Likewise Erik, thanks for the link.


These hard drive tools are beneficial & valuable assets when dealing with your drives. I'm still experimenting to arrive at the closest to Perfect wipe of a HD platter as humanly & machinely as possible.

Theres no doubt from my experiences that a really well-efficiently wiped drive with the right tools not only speeds up an install but you're less likely to run into problems anytime soon afterwards and AFAIK prolongs the life of a hard drive.

I been getting the scraps. Shops that either consider the used HD as outdated or caused too many problems from lets say a severe virus attack. I can take those destined for the scrap heap drives and remaster them strickly from software Hard Drive tools and they perform excellent.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> Likewise Erik, thanks for the link.


These hard drive tools are beneficial & valuable assets when dealing with your drives. I'm still experimenting to arrive at the closest to Perfect wipe of a HD platter as humanly & machinely as possible.

Theres no doubt from my experiences that a really well-efficiently wiped drive with the right tools not only speeds up an install but you're less likely to run into problems anytime soon afterwards and AFAIK prolongs the life of a hard drive.

I been getting the scraps. Shops that either consider the used HD as outdated or caused too many problems from lets say a severe virus attack. I can take those destined for the scrap heap drives and remaster them strickly from software Hard Drive tools and they perform excellent. <-QUOTE}
At the SWI-forums, they recommended me these wipe/zero tools, because they seem to be stronger than the format of Windows, when you install Windows.
There seem to be existing infections, that can survive a Windows format. I don't know if that story is true, after all I'm not a tech, just an average user.
Nevertheless, I feel more comfortable to zero my harddisk, before I install from scratch or restore a clean image and certainly after a destructive attack like killdisk and similar infections.
I know for sure, that I'm not the only one. Acronis has members, who do the same thing.

Acronis True Image is easy, to restore an image over a zeroed harddisk, that 's because ATI allows you to restore the complete disk, while ShadowProtect restores partition per partition.
With ShadowProtect you have to do something extra first, before you can restore the image, but it's all very logical, at least I didn't have a problem to find what to do.

Darik's Boot and Nuke (freeware) seems to be a general wipe tool and has more ways to wipe your harddisk.

[EASTER]

{QUOTE-> Darik's Boot and Nuke (freeware) seems to be a general wipe tool and has more ways to wipe your harddisk. <-QUOTE}

Thanks. That wiper is been around since my forst discovery of ERASER which by the way revolutionized the way i handle simple deletions. I don't let $M get it's grubby code on any of my deletions because their still there, minus a single letter removal, and the machine still regards them as data which consumes space and requires Read/Write Heads to spend time reviewing them on passes from other programs even though we were led to believe they were to become dismissed from the disc.

Since i have to reformat today courtesy PCTools ThreatFire lousy code they bungled the old CyberHawk with, i thank you for that generous suggestion.

Today, Dban will get a working project to clean up.

[Huupi]

Hi Easter, take a seat and be patient,wiping toke over 8 hours on my disk with this stuff.

[EASTER]

{QUOTE-> Hi Easter, take a seat and be patient,wiping toke over 8 hours on my disk with this stuff. <-QUOTE}

Thanks

I have a new modularized tower that stands a mere 14 inches tall. The aggravation is that i have to forcefully pull the side panels to get to the drives, and that alone will consume some time, let alone the wipe itself.

But, we live and learn. I will never try another product again that changes hands which then proceeds to recode it so terrible that it renders your system a total waste.

But forsight is the better part of valor, and so i plan ahead anymore, hence i tested it on a mere 8.4 Gb drive (ha ha). Should take no time at all plus this go round i'm going to use Erik's suggestion of DBAN.

[Huupi]

{QUOTE-> Thanks

I have a new modularized tower that stands a mere 14 inches tall. The aggravation is that i have to forcefully pull the side panels to get to the drives, and that alone will consume some time, let alone the wipe itself.

But, we live and learn. I will never try another product again that changes hands which then proceeds to recode it so terrible that it renders your system a total waste.

But forsight is the better part of valor, and so i plan ahead anymore, hence i tested it on a mere 8.4 Gb drive (ha ha). Should take no time at all plus this go round i'm going to use Erik's suggestion of DBAN. <-QUOTE}

I wont scare you off but i used Dban !

[ErikAlbert]

My Western Digital ZERO tool takes 20 minuts for a full zeroing of one harddisk (80gb).
The quick zeroing only takes a few minuts.

I have no practical experience with DBAN, because I didn't need it yet.
I might use it for my Seagate external harddisk.

[EASTER]

The test drive i'll be wiping is Western Digital. I'm going to run several passes of many methods finishing with Full Zeroing of it. What i do is use PARAGON to format after wiping because i read where Windows format tool is not as good and my results definitely bear that out. Windows format install goes slow whereas a PARAGON format loads files at a dizzying clip and makes the reinstall take only a few short minutes.

[Huupi]

{QUOTE-> My Western Digital ZERO tool takes 20 minuts for a full zeroing of one harddisk (80gb).
The quick zeroing only takes a few minuts.

I have no practical experience with DBAN, because I didn't need it yet.
I might use it for my Seagate external harddisk. <-QUOTE}

So i am curious how long it will take on your Seagate with DBAN.

[ErikAlbert]

{QUOTE-> So i am curious how long it will take on your Seagate with DBAN. <-QUOTE}
That can be a long time. I only have DBAN ready, because I can't use my WD Zero Tool to wipe my Seagate external harddisk.
I have no good reason to wipe my external harddisk at this moment.
If my memory is still good, I remember that DBAN has an option to zero my harddisk, which is supposed the quickest method.
If I would use the crazy Gutmann method than it will take probably days to wipe 160gb.