Recommendations for Disk Imaging Software?

Here is the link for IFW at Bitsdujor for $29.21

http://www.bitsdujour.com/software/image-for-windows/

The VSS technology is from Microsoft and every imagining program uses this technolgy.

The PHYLock used in IFW has been proven to be better than VSS, and this is the only technology that can be used for hot imagining Rollback Rx. I believe that Paragon has it's own technology too, but the default in Paragon is VSS.

Best regards.

 

Most of imagers are using VSS if available or give you an option to force to use VSS(e.g. DS)

I think all(maybe) imagers do hot imagining are using VSS.

I have tested some imagers will pop-up error messages(say no VSS) if WinPE system does not have VSS modules. e.g. Active Disk Image and Macrium. As for Active Disk Image, if you ignore the error messages, you can still backup.

 

I do not know how they compare. I just use PHYLock and have not had any issues. I am still using only Windows XP Pro SP3 32 bit and have no experience with the Imaging of Windows Vista or Windows 7.

 

From the TeraByte newsgroup....

 

Hi,
Do you mean IFW can also use VSS and not only Phylock ?
Thanks.

 

Yes, you can choose either.

 

Thanks, I thought I had to install Phylock.

 

I tried VSS (once) instead of PHYLock and didn't like it. But I can't recall why.

 

I've used IFW pretty extensively and from my experience, PhyLock is the best to use. A looooooong time ago (years ago) I had some issues with it, but it's been rock solid for a long time now. While I prefer offline imaging (all this is avoided that way), I only use IFW with PhyLock for my live images.

 

I have no trouble using Phylock when imaging, the catch is that Phylock relies on a filter driver which may trigger incompatibilities later on with other software. VSS being standard from MSFT, it doesn't have this drawback.

 

It seems Phylock has to be installed to allow VSS to work from within IFW. Is this right ?

 

Thanks!

That would be my concern as well...

Leaning towards IFW because of the discount and 3-PC license term. Functionality-wise seems more or less the same between IFW and Reflect. But Reflect HomePack is >2-time more costly than IFW.

Cheers.

 

You won't regret an IFW purchase.

 

Done. If I regret it, I'll come back to you.

 

loyukfai,

Make sure you also get IFD, IFL and TBOSDT Pro. They are included in the purchase.

 

Some observations on IFW...

• The lack of a main screen baffles me at first, but shouldn't be a major issue. Could still be a contentious issue through.
• The software as a whole seems less polished than Reflect. The tools work but lack an integrated interface.
• PHYLock works as advertised, so far so good.
• Scheduling makes use of the built-in scheduler, which is good.

BTW, I would like to make a USB rescue disk, which one should I use...? IFD or IFL...? The backup is located on an external drive connected via an eSATA PCMCIA card.

Cheers.

 

loyukfai,

Not sure what you mean

Both should work. See which one you prefer. IFL is better if you have a USB external HD as IFL doesn't use the BIOS to access the HD.

Lately I've been using IFW to restore my images. In my computer it's about 20% faster than the other two apps but this could be hardware dependent.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/howto/tbwinpe_tutorial.htm

IFW is simpler than the other two for someone new to TeraByte apps. The disk (CD or USB flash drive) has good network functionality as well.

 

i agree 100% in the fact that i wish so much ifw had a main gui to use. its such a great program but i can not recc it to my customers or to my mom or sister etc because its just way to confusing for them. and both my mom and sister have tried it and my mom is a accountant and works on her computer all day she is not computer savy i guess but she at least knows her way around. and my customers fealt the same way when they tried using it. so most of my clients use macrium and a few use shadow protect mainly the ones with larger systems / amount of systems networked together prefer the image manager from sp.

if ifw could make this a more integrated program with a decent gui i know for me it would be much more popular with SO MANY people..

 

Guys,

I'm scratching my head as I find IFW one of the simplest GUIs to use. There are 2 IFW variations. One is GUI and the other runs in a Console. Here is a screenshot of the console.. (it is more difficult to use)

 

i would agree that Macrium is easier for "newbies".
i found it quite slow on the restore times but that is no big deal for people that don't restore often.

if people who are new to imaging are using Windows 7 than i would encourage them to use Windows 7 own imaging utility as it is very easy, fast and rock solid.

 

This is what I do with IFW GUI...

Select Backup (ignore the Settings button), Next
Select the partition to backup, Next
Select where you want to save the backup, Next
Accept the default Options, Next
Start

I don't see how it could be simpler. An imaging app must know what you want to backup and where you want to save the backup. IFW isn't asking for more than that.

 

but with all the separate installed items it makes it very confusing for many people where with macrium and sp you can simply click the macrium exe and everything is right there. that way ifw installs is also intimidating for newbies with all those different options. i do agree the main box is pretty simple but when someone wants to do continuous incrementals and things that are not in the gui it is def a lot harder imo in ifw. i recc this to a freind a few months ago. i asked him a couple weeks later if he liked it and he said he never bothered to go past the install screen since it had so many different parts to install he just didnt know what to do with it.

 

you know, that's exactly why i avoided trying out IFW for a long time.

i am glad i finally tried and tested it but i could see where all those extra 'modules' to install would confuse a beginner.

 

exactly. i wish it had a single exe to install and run everything from within a single gui is my point. he ended up spending way more to buy sp simply because he said it was pretty much install and go without all kinds of crazy options etc. i know how powerful it can be ifw i mean but as moontan said this makes a lot of people look at it and say forget it since they have no idea what to do with all that stuff

 

what is the official upgrade policy if someone buys a lic now? also for a beginner what is required to be installed or should one install everything on the list im curious in case someone asks me about it again. i mean can they just install one or two of the items or are they all pretty much needed?