Disk Backup from BartPE...

[Degnar]

Greetings all!

I have searched this forum as well as googled various combinations of Acronis and BartPE in an attempt to figure out if I can use an Acronis product with BartPE to create an image of a hard disk or partition.

From what I have read I understand that Acronis True Image can be used with BartPE but only to restore an image.

Can I use Acronis Disk Director with BartPE to create a disk image to an attached USB Hard drive?

I am familiar with BartPE and I can build a BartPE disk with Ghost 8 that allows me to access the USB hard drive from Windows XP but Ghost 8 does not support creating an image on a USB drive. The USB drive does not show up in the drive selection list for Ghost 8 (even though I can see the USB drive and manage it from Windows XP).

I wish to use BartPE because the hard drives I want to backup are on different RAID and SATA controllers and I need to be able to specify the drivers for them. This makes many of the Unix based solutions, like Clonezilla, of little use to me as I am guessing they will not be able to speak to the RAID controllers. This is why BartPE is very useful to me.

I know that Disk Director supports BartPE but what I can not figure out is if I can use Disk Director from BartPE to create an image of a hard drive onto an attached USB hard drive. Can anyone confirm or deny whether or not I can do this?

Thanks in advance for any and all help and/or insights!

Degnar

[MudCrab]

Degnar,

Welcome to the forum.
-{ Quote: "From what I have read I understand that Acronis True Image can be used with BartPE but only to restore an image." }-
True Image can backup and restore when run from BartPE. The program is basically the same as if run from Windows. You can use the Acronis supplied BartPE plugin or you can use mustang's plugins (http://www.mechrest.com/plugins/) which provide support for more features (such as Mounting an image).

-{ Quote: "Can I use Acronis Disk Director with BartPE to create a disk image to an attached USB Hard drive?" }-
Disk Director doesn't create images. You can copy partitions into unallocated space, but that's about it (there aren't full cloning type features). DD is mainly a partitioning program. TI is the program to use for backups and imaging.

[Degnar]

Thank you for the response MudCrab.

Based on your reply I purchased a copy of True Image from NewEgg.com for $39.99 and it worked great! I am so pleased with the results that I will be purchasing three more copies for the other PCs I will be supporting.

Thank you for your help and insight!

Degnar

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Based on your reply I purchased a copy of True Image from NewEgg.com for $39.99 and it worked great!" }-
That's good to hear.

-{ Quote: "I am so pleased with the results that I will be purchasing three more copies for the other PCs I will be supporting." }-
If you haven't purchased TI (I assume 2009) already, you may want to boot the other computers with the TI CD and make sure it recognizes the hardware. You could also download the trial version and run it before purchasing just to make sure it works well for what you want on each computer. I say this because every computer is different. Just because TI works great on one computer doesn't mean it can't have some problems on another. However, hopefully, you won't have any problems.

-{ Quote: "Thank you for your help and insight!" }-
You're welcome.