Please Advise: Best way to test Backup

I just purchased TI-10 today. Thanks to the many posts I've read on this site, I was able to do the following:

1. Successfully install (build 4942).
2. Create a full BU/Image of my C drive (including validation) in a backup location created on my external hard drive.
3. Create the bootable rescue CD (overcame a minor glitch caused by 3rd party CD conflict).
4. Boot using the rescue disc in "full" mode and was able to see all of my drives (including the .tib file created on my external HD).

My main reason for purchasing the software is for disaster recovery in the case of a hard drive crash.

My question is: I'm assuming the restore will work (if/when I need it). However, I guess you never really know until you actually try it out. Is there anything I should do to test the restore process? Or, am I essentially good to go (ie just follow some sort of periodic backup strategy....I'll just do periodic full backup's.... and hope the restore will work if/when I need it).

System Info:
O/S: XP Media Center Edition 2004
Only 1 internal Hard drive (ie the one that I backed up)
Backup/Image stored on SimpleTech 320GB external Hard drive (USB).

Thanks in advance,

 

Consider what you would have to do if or when your hard drive fails. A replacement would be needed. What I did was to get a new hard drive to have one on hand before disaster struck.

Now I could do fully fledged restore in perfect safety. The old drive was removed and the new drive inserted. No preparation of the new drive was needed other than check its jumper setting. All that remained was to boot from the recovery CD and run the restore.

Xpilot

 

Xpilot is giving you the right answer. The best proof that you can recover is to actually restore an image to a hard drive and to boot from it.

Use a spare drive or buy another drive to do the test. If you restore to your current drive, and it doesn't work... Well, that's not a nice situation. Of course, if you try it and it works, you don't need a second drive. It's your choice, but I'd watch for a new drive on sale. After all, you can always put that drive in a USB 2 external drive case and have a second external drive.

If you validate your backup after booting from the Recovery CD, you've done as much as you can do to prove that a restore will work without actually doing one.

 

Thanks for the advise (Xpilot and JMK94903). Purchasing a spare drive to have on hand in the case of a HD failure (and to prove the backup works) makes perfect sense to me...sounds like a little well spent use of insurance money.

 

That's a perfect description of the purchase.