Any Paragon Users Out There?

When I open Paragon Drive Backup Personal I am given the choices of 1) Basic Hard Disk0 (WDC WD800JO-00JJC0), 2) First Hard Disk Track, 3) Master Boot Record and 4) Drive C:.

In the past I have selected Drive C: only. But, I am now wanting to backup both Drive C: and Master Boot Record. But, I noticed that if I check 1) Basic Hard Disk that the program automatically checks all 4 choices.

My qestion is should I only be checking 3) and 4) or 1) which will check all 4? Since I only have Drive C:\ my feeling is that it really doesn't matter. Am I correct?

As always I will appreciate all replies and would thank you in advance.

John

 

I use paragon hard disk manager which includes drive backup. If you need to make a separate backup of the first track (which includes MBR) then check that option. If you just want to make backup of your C drive (which will include everything on drive including the first track and MBR) then check only the C drive option.

You can of course select the entire basic disk but the resulting backup folder will include two backups separately. One of your entire disk and one of your first track (MBR) only.

I have two partitions on my drive, C and D. When I want to backup my C drive, I only select C. I have restored from such a backup and can confirm that it includes the first track and MBR, as well as the entire contents of partition C.

 

Hi John,

As you suspected, it doesn't matter at all. I recommend you either do the partition by itself, or do the entire hard disk.

Backup of Entire Hard Disk:
When you backup an entire hard drive, the MBR is automatically included. When you restore, you can choose to restore everything (MBR included) or just 1 partition at a time. The option you choose also affects your resize capabilities. If you choose to restore the whole disk, you can either do a proportional resize or no resize. If you restore the partitions individually you can manually adjust the new partition sizes as you see fit.

Backup of Single Partition:
When you backup a partition by itself, the MBR is NOT included. However, you don't need it. When you restore a bootable partition Paragon will automatically update the MBR to make sure it is compatible. If there is no MBR, it will simply write a new one.

Backup of Multiple Components:
If you backup selected partitions and the MBR (without selecting the entire disk), Paragon will create a "Complex Archive". This is essentially multiple independent backups that are linked by a merged archive file. When you go to restore, if you choose the merged file, the following screen will offer a list where you can choose which to restore. You can also bypass the merged file and go directly to either a partition or the MBR. I generally tell users not to use this method because it results in a somewhat confusing set of a files and filenames.

You can make a separate backup of the MBR if you wish, which is what I prefer to do. You can then restore that before or after the partition(s); it doesn't matter what order. You only need to do this once, unless you make a change such as adding another operating system.

If you right click your hard disk on the Disk Map you can also do 'Update MBR' to write a new boot record.

 

I've used Paragon Hard Disk Manager for awhile now. Thanks for the tip! It never occurred to me to backup just the MBR like this. I've always just used dd from Linux, but this is MUCH less prone to clumsy user error.

 

I'm using Paragon HDM 2009 Suite - unfamiliar with other specific Paragon products.

This product also has an automatic MBR-rebuild feature. If Paragon sees an MBR problem at boot, it will offer to rebuild the MBR based on inspection of existing partitions on the drive. I had an MBR problem recently, and the feature worked perfectly to rebuild the MBR on my 6-partition drive.

Hope this helps!