Free Image Software?

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by firzen771, Nov 23, 2007.

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  1. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    does anybody know any good free system imaging software?
     
  2. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    Seagate DiscWizard (slightly crippled version of Acronis TrueImage 10)

    DriveImageXML
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2007
  3. firzen771

    firzen771 Registered Member

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    how does imaging software work exactly? does it create an image then u just load the image to a CD or DVD then use it when needed?
     
  4. DCM

    DCM Registered Member

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    I like Drive Image XML. It is free, was written by a data recovery company and I have used it successfully several times. Never a failure to restore a drive image or individual files or folders.

    The only downside is not a big deal. If you want to restore the drive containing your operating system, you need to make a boot disk with BartPE with the DriveImage XML plug-in's.

    There are plug in's available on the "Runtime" site that offers the program and creation of the disk is not too hard if you follow the instructions given on the BartPE site. There are also some data recovery program plug-in's on their site.

    There is also a link to a site (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/) that contains everything else needed to create a BartPE boot disk plus a lot of really good information about how it works etc.

    Restoration of any other drive or individual files or folders can be done right out of the Windows operating system without the boot disk.

    The site for downloading the program is;

    http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm

    I always backup to either an external drive or a separate partition on my computer. To get the files on CD or DVD, you must create the image on a hard drive and then copy files to the CD's or DVD's.

    When I made my first BartPE disk I did not fully understand how it works so just posted questions here and there was plenty of help avaialble.

    After doing the first one, it was very interesting and I went on to create more and now have one that contains 40 programs. I don't think I will ever need all those programs but it was a challenge to do it and I was interested so kept at it.
     
  5. Longboard

    Longboard Registered Member

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    Hello DCM:
    want to post a list of your tools on the boot CD?
    Just me being nosey and to see what I might have missed....
    Regards.
     
  6. DCM

    DCM Registered Member

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    I will find my BartPE disk in the next day or two and make a list.
     
  7. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    You could and should have a second hard drive with a backup operating system. You can backup your main system from this drive and/or use it for running your programs in an emergency. No need to mess with any of this bartPE nonsense either.
     
  8. yeow

    yeow Registered Member

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    Hi, does anyone here use or tried GParted-Clonezilla LiveCD (or maybe Clonezilla)?

    So far I've imaged & restored with it several times successfully, but I've only used it in a limited way & not explored much.

    More importantly I'm hoping somebody can share what restore parameters they've used before. I thought some of the default parameters looked kinda "risky" and changed them (e.g. -g, -k, -t).
     
  9. tradetime

    tradetime Registered Member

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    Interesting you should say that, as it is what I am hoping to do with my new system early in the new year, though I am not sure of all the logistics of making it work yet. Will likely start a thread to seek some assistance in setting it up. The concept seems to me to have a lot of pros.
     
  10. Huwge

    Huwge Registered Member

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    This months PC Advisor has Paragon DriveCopy 8.5 Full Program on the cover CD
     
  11. DCM

    DCM Registered Member

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    I have a second hard drive unplugged inside my computer and it has a fully operating clone of my C: drive. The clone is a few months old while my DriveImage XML images of the C: drive are always less than a month old and usually only a couple of weeks.

    BartPE is not nonsense if you want to restore your C: drive from an image. It will not work while your C: drive is operating or inoperative.

    You have two options at that point and they are to plug in your extra hard drive with a recent clone of your C: drive or restore an image. If you are using DriveImage XML, you will need to run it to restore your C: drive from an image on DVD, CD, or extra hard drive (but not other partitions if you have images of them).

    To answer the question about how many programs I have that will work on my BartPE disk they are as follows;

    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Acrobat 7.0
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\AgentRansack
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\bst5
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\CWShredder
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\DeepBurner
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\dixml
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\DriveErase
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Eraser
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\ExpressBurn
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\EZPCFix
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FileManagers
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Firefox
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Foxit-PDF-Reader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeAV-AntiVir
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeCommander
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeUndelete
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\HandyRecovery
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Nu2Menu
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\office2003viewers
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\PC-Wizard-2004
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\PDFReader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\peinst
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\RecvMngr
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Restoration
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\SmallCDwriter
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\snapshot
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\stinger
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Text-Editors
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\TurboNavigator-v146
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\UltraReader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\ZipUnzip

    Some of these folders contain more than one program that will work so they do total 40 programs even though there are only 31 folders showing. This was something I wanted to do just to satisfy my curiousity and would not be ecessary to restore a DriveImage XML image. All you would need there would be a bootable disk with the plugin for DriveImage XML (it is available on their website along with some data recovery software plugins).
     
  12. DCM

    DCM Registered Member

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    I have a second hard drive unplugged inside my computer and it has a fully operating clone of my C: drive. The clone is a few months old while my DriveImage XML images of the C: drive are always less than a month old and usually only a couple of weeks.

    BartPE is not nonsense if you want to restore your C: drive from an image. It will not work while your C: drive is operating or inoperative.

    You have two options at that point and they are to plug in your extra hard drive with a recent clone of your C: drive or restore an image. If you are using DriveImage XML, you will need to run it to restore your C: drive from an image on DVD, CD, or extra hard drive (but not other partitions if you have images of them).

    I choose to use this program because it has never failed even one time and it has been used several times. I use it often to recover older files and folders too and that function has never failed either. I have tried most of the commercial programs and cannot say the same thing about them. Whether or not they will always work without fail is a crap shoot that I have lost more than one time but never again.

    To answer the question about how many programs I have that will work on my BartPE disk they are as follows;

    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Acrobat 7.0
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\AgentRansack
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\bst5
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\CWShredder
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\DeepBurner
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\dixml
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\DriveErase
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Eraser
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\ExpressBurn
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\EZPCFix
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FileManagers
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Firefox
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Foxit-PDF-Reader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeAV-AntiVir
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeCommander
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\FreeUndelete
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\HandyRecovery
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Nu2Menu
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\office2003viewers
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\PC-Wizard-2004
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\PDFReader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\peinst
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\RecvMngr
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Restoration
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\SmallCDwriter
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\snapshot
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\stinger
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\Text-Editors
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\TurboNavigator-v146
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\UltraReader
    J:\BartPE K Folder with 40 files\Programs\ZipUnzip

    Some of these folders contain more than one program that will work so they do total 40 programs even though there are only 31 folders showing. This was something I wanted to do just to satisfy my curiousity and would not be ecessary to restore a DriveImage XML image. All you would need there would be a bootable disk with the plugin for DriveImage XML (it is available on their website along with some data recovery software plugins).
     
  13. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Posts:
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    Actually with a bit of creativity, you can get a lot to run under Bartpe. For example I have my winzip 10 on it.

    Pete
     
  14. Espresso

    Espresso Registered Member

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    Aug 1, 2006
    Posts:
    976
    Not sure what you mean. I boot to one of my other drives and I can image my main drive anytime. BartPE can be useful (I have a couple "emergency" discs but I never need to use them) but booting to a backup OS is much more convenient. Realistically, you need at least one extra hard drive just to safely back up your images so you may as well install a minimal OS.
     
  15. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Location:
    U.S.A. (South)
    You guys and BartPe. :rolleyes: Yes it's useful alright in many respects but how long did it take you to build all that?

    If i EVER need to access an unbootable system or add any program on one thats active and working i turn to Winternals ERD Commander CD and take care of business in record time.

    Not taking a single thing away from Bart's creation, but i had a devil of a time over and over again building it. You have to manually add a ton of programs, namely Plug-Ins, and go thru all the testings to ensure nothing is been overlooked. That's what prompted me to find an app (CD) already formed to perform critical operations to add features needed in a pinch.

    Just my 2 cents worth.
     
  16. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Location:
    NSW, Australia
    EASTER,

    I have a BartPE CD with dozens of programs. I never use it. I have another BartPE CD with 3 programs, including Drive Snapshot. I use this CD frequently as I realized that I rarely, if ever, needed all the programs on the other CD.

    I can build and burn this basic CD in less than 20 minutes. It's not difficult after the first time. Can you recall where you had problems?

    Winternals ERD Commander is great but not many can afford it. $500 plus. BartPE is free.
     
  17. yeow

    yeow Registered Member

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    Dec 11, 2006
    Posts:
    225
    Erm, anyone tried this free & opensource imaging project? It's on LiveCD.
     
  18. Cerxes

    Cerxes Registered Member

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    Location:
    Northern Europe
    Regarding the question and its requirements, I also advice this version from Seagate.

    /C.
     
  19. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

    Joined:
    May 9, 2005
    Posts:
    10,213
    Hello,
    You can download Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD4WIN), which is based on Bart, comes with its own installer and iso maker, and some 80-90 tools ready, including DriveImageXML, plus a load of drivers for extensive hardware support. It takes 5 minutes.

    On a side note, I added TrueImage to it...

    Mrk
     
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