Question for Drive Snaphot users...

...this is one app I don't own. It seems highly praised on here. Is it worth the ~$50? I tried the non-install version...seems really cool and backups ran OK. Is it possible to do an offline image? Also, can you resize a partition or no? Has anyone had any live imaging issues? Thanks all.

 

I have been using DS for 3 years, during which time I've performed several restores, and it has been 100% reliable. Also during that time, I have not had to pay for any updates!

The one issue most people have with it is that it only comes with a DOS recovery disk which is not especially easy to use. However, that is easily overcome because the DS executable (snapshot.exe) is truly portable! So you can copy it to (and run it) from just about anywhere. I keep it in the root of my external drive (same drive where I save my images). To run an offline backup (or to restore) I use a WinPE boot-disk, open my external drive, and run snapshot.exe.

DS Positives:
- Portable
- Very Small
- Does not use any services
- Fast & reliable backup & restore

DS Negatives:
- Does not include a WinPE or Linux boot disk
- Minor build updates are not documented

Hth,
Aaron

 

Thanks Aaron...good information. I do like the portability aspect. Tom (the developer?) seems to be a one-man shop, no? The DOS disk won't scare me...I'll check it out. After all, IFL (and IFD) are some of my favorites.

 

BTW, I like how you run it off an external drive using a WinPE CD. That's a good idea. Is this a custom WinPE you use or one from another imaging tool?

 

Yw. I believe Tom has one or two programmers working for him. I forgot to mention that you can also initiate a restore from within Windows and DS will automatically boot into DOS to carry it out.

Also, regarding your question about resizing partitions, DS does not facilitate resizing partitions and will not restore an image to a target partition smaller than the source partition.

Aaron

 

I use the free UBCD4Win, but any PE boot disk will do the trick.

Aaron

 

OK, thanks. Not a deal killer. Like most people on here I use multiple imaging solutions so if I needed to resize I would just use one that can (IFL is good for this), or a partition managment tool...although I have yet to find one I fully trust (if you can recommend one, let me know).

I am going to buy it I think...

 

I have an old Acronis Disk Director boot CD that has worked well for me (but I'm still on XP).

 

Trying out Easus Partition Master Professional Edition now...have used Paragon too.