Which is better for me Hard Disk Manager 2009 Suite OR PRO ?

[dudely]

Hello,

I am in need of a new backup software, I was using a Acronis True Image 11 but it has failed me on several occasions, I need a more robust tool set and am looking at options.

I was first looking at the Drive Backup 9 product but then I saw the Hard Disk Manager and I am confused about the difference between the PRO and the SUITE version.

From reading other threads HDM has 5 of the other products all built into it, I assume the full versions. When each product is updated do they get updated in HDM as well or do we wait on HDM update?

I see talk about version 10 of software if I purchase now, which I need to, will I get the 10 version or 9 or 2009?


My Computer Stats:

Raid 0 Operating System Drive

3 Partitions

1: Windows XP Pro ( Main System )

2: Windows XP Pro ( Copy of Main system but a little out dated )

3: Acronis Secure Zone


I am going to be removing all Acronis software including their dual boot utility and dumping the 3rd Partition and replace it with I assume your backup partition and I hope also a way to dual boot into that partition to run backup utility outside of Windows?


I have been reading about the Drive Backup product and it seems that the backups created are much larger than what the version of Acronis software I use creates.

I backup 3 partitions with total of somewhere around 75GB of used space and compressed down to 41GB for the entire drive. I do not create incremental backups as I have had major restore problems where entire partitions were unable to be completely restored so I do 100% Full Backups.

I was just backing up partitions individually but then I got into a dual boot scenerio and whenever I restored partitions individually the system would NOT boot and say hal.dll was missing or corrupt. Though when I restored from an entire disk backup the entire drive no problem booting in.

I need something that will NEVER cause me any trouble and I can restore from both FULL drive, individual partitions and have no problem with booting into the dual boot setup.

Most important it must work with RAID 0. Acronis does not have any troubles with the Raid 0 I have and I use both the recovery CD and the same utility located in the 3rd partition of the drive.

Now I am looking at the Hard Disk Manager but I am not sure which one is best for me the Suite or the Pro and what do I get in the PRO that I don't get in the suite version? I don't care about the money difference I have lost more money than this so far dealing with these computer problems I just can't afford to have any more problems and to be able to restore from major melt down ASAP.

I just am not sure which version is right and what I get in the PRO that I don't get in the Suite?


Thank you.

[Paragon_Tommy]

Hello dudely,

First of all, you will find a nice comparison sheet of the product here:

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-personal/comparison.html

The main differences between the Suite and Professional edition are: dynamic volume support( dynamic to basic conversion, backup and restore dynamic volumes), command line and script generator, and email notification.

Regarding backing up and restoring hard drives or partitions, to avoid problems when it comes to multi-booting, you'd have to backup the MBR and restore it with your partitions. Regardless, HDM will come with boot-corrector tools that can detect your OS, repair the MBR, and edit the boot.ini to jump-start your OSes.

HDM Suite come with the WinPE recovery disk which supports most raid configuration including raid 0.

By default with "best" compression, you will attain approx. 60% of the original size. But hidden inside the program you can modify to achieve better compression if space is an issue but not speed. (In layout.ini, modify compression value from 2 to 9 ;) )

Best of all, we provide live phone support to our customers during office hours to resolve any issues.

Regards,

Tommy

[SIW2]

Tommy - thanks that's a good tip.

Is there any way to increase speed - yet maintain a reasonable compression level.

Other products have the ability to alter priority - increases cpu usage somewhat, but also increases speed.

Is there a way to do that with Paragon Drive Backup products?

[Paragon_Tommy]

Currently we don't have a way to "throttle" the CPU usage per say. In the coming version of Drive Backup 10 and Hard Disk Manager 2010, this feature will be added.

-Tommy

[SIW2]

-{ Quote: "Currently we don't have a way to "throttle" the CPU usage per say. In the coming version of Drive Backup 10 and Hard Disk Manager 2010, this feature will be added.

-Tommy" }-


Thanks Tommy - I will look forward to that.

I Love the products - I recommend them constantly on the various Windows Forums - but it would be great to speed up the imaging process.