Free imaging software

Took a very quick look at it. IMO, very beta at this stage. A look at the forum shows many odd bugs. I could not get it to see my PC's drives in the file manager. Imaging app apparently only does it at the disc level, not partition.

It may end up being quite a good project some day. But IMO, not yet...


(Edited for clarity.)

 

I used this a few times before at work on a test machine. It worked fine but it didn't "feel" right...like it wasn't quite there yet.

 

You can download Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5.1 Trial from here:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/Symantec-Ghost-Solution-Suite.shtml

And after installing it you can copy ghost32.exe to WinPE and boot it from USB/CD. The ghost32.exe is no trial, it is full version. Ghost32 seems very good compared to Ghost 15 that seems so bloated.

 

Sorry. But it is not free after all. I tried now and it said that ghost is running in trial mode. Last time i tried it did not say trial so i assumed it is full version :S

 

I had the same experience. Too bad but understandable.

 

Drive Image XML is my favourite freeware. its tiny, portable (just extract the free Bart PE plugin) and its been very reliable for me over the years

perfect freeware

 

Good call...no one really talks about Drive Image XML but it's a great free app for someone looking for one.

 

Yes this one often slips under the radar when free imaging is discussed.In fairness it's a very reliable and easy to use solution.

 

Another alternative would be to download the free ISO for Hiren's Boot CD, burn it to CD, and use one of the included freeware imaging tools.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/

In the later versions, you get Macrium Reflect and by using it via the boot CD you can backup as well as restore an image.

I use the CD and recommend it. It's free and it works.

 

i don't know if this has change since the last couple of years.
apparently, Hiren's contained pirated software.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1436339&postcount=3

 

You are correct moontan.

Some earlier versions with the added moniker "Rebuild" or "Restored" have been floating around and I'm certain that practice will continue.
I wasn't referring to them and certainly don't endorse the use of pirated software- that's theft.

Here is a detailed list of everything contained in version 14.1

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/hbcd-v141/

As you can see, some of the included applications are shareware.
In my experience, by the time someone downloads and burns the ISO, most are already "timed out"; the trial period has ended.

I use Hiren's for access to Macrium without having to install it, and also for occasional use of Active Kill Disk and Partition Wizard Home Edition.

 

One unfortunate thing I see from time to time is the inability to run the Linux restore CD/DVDs from makers like Macrium and so forth. I have never quite figured out why they don't always work but they don't.

The most recent issue was on a new I7 based Dell where I tried free Macrium 4.2. The program installed, made what appeared to be a good image and also burned a restore CD. I then went to test the restore process and found it was a no go. The Linux CD would freeze and not allow the process to continue. I finally told the new owner to use the built-in Windows image burner (which works but I really would never use it myself. Way to basic in functionality.)

The use of Linux recovery media is the reason why, for the most part, I tend to shy away from free imaging and go to paid products that offer a Windows PE recovery environment. I have tested 3 or 4 Win PE based programs and they have all worked flawlessly (and this includes Macrium's paid version.)

There may be many reasons why I see these issues but in the end, I do not want to figure out why things aren't working. Especially for imaging apps. I want something that works right first time, every time. Linux boot recovery discs haven't given that to me...

 

Can anybody suggest me a free software I can use to backup 15.1GB system to a 4GB USB pen drive? Is it even possible?

 

While most imagers do use lossless data compression of some sort, I have never encountered one that was able to do a 4:1 compression on a general system image... which is what you seem to require above. 2:1 is about the best I've seen on average.

Yer gonna need a bigger storage device (there are 16gB pen drives for about $16-18 these days).

 

Depends...is that 15.1gb your actual data (no free space) or the whole partition? If it's the former, then you might be out of luck as that would be steep compression. If it's the whole partition, see how much actual data is on there. Thanks.

 

Might be possible if you skip the pagefile, hibernate, and other auxiliary files, plus use maximum compression. Unlikely though.

 

Easeus todo backup 3 has a pre-OS feature..no need for boot cds when u get an option to load in easeus's environment when u on the pc

 

Same can be said for Paragon system recovery (via manage backup capsule). They're not hard drive failure-proof though.

 

u mean the windows 7 backup and restore feature right ?
edit - u edited ur post

 

No, forgot to add something, although it's another option.

 

All the freeware Imaging and Cloning software, where can a novice or intermediate PC user would look for......dig in

 

I'm using Macrium Reflect Free, never an issue with it. Trust me, I backup and restore frequently. As for the backup, I always do full backup. And I use their linux based restore image running from my old flash drive. If you do not know how to make it boot from you USB disk, search their blog, OR you can use SARDU - Multiboot CD /DVD and USB Builder. Comes very handy when you want to make an PC rescue kit.

 

i am trying my hands on any free Imaging or Cloning software too......so far i have tried Clonezilla, Macrium Reflect and Drive XML : and Macrium wins hands down in compression and speed, so left is PING and COMODO and i am yet to make a USB out of it: which requires "Syslinus.exe" for PING:

Can someone upload Syslinux v 4.0 and does anyone know the procedure to make a Bootable USB for PING.........

 

You tried with SARDU (last beta)? You can choose the version of syslinux

 

Hirens Boot cd

Backup Tools

CloneDisk 1.8.9: All in one tool for MBR, Partition, Disk, VMWare Disk images vmdk/vmx/vhd, and much more (Windows Freeware).
COPYR.DMA Build013: A Tool for making copies of hard disks with bad sectors (Dos Freeware).
CopyWipe 1.14: Copy old hard drive to a new hard drive by copying the entire contents of one drive to another, CopyWipe can also help prevent confidential or private data from being recovered, by securely wiping the contents of a drive (Windows/Dos Freeware).
DiskImage 1.6: Creates and writes disk images files to hard and floppy disks (Windows Freeware).
Drive SnapShot 1.40: Creates an exact Disk Image of your system into a file while windows is running (Windows Shareware).
DriveImage XML 2.22: Backup any drive/partition to an image file, even if the drive is currently in use, a very good freeware alternative to Ghost / Acronis (Windows Freeware)
FastCopy 2.08: The Fastest Copy/Delete Software on Windows (Windows Freeware).
G4L Ghost 4 Linux 0.34a: A hard disk and partition imaging and cloning tool similar to Norton Ghost (Linux Freeware).
GImageX 2.0.17: ImageX is used to backup/restore WIM images for Windows XP/Vista and Windows 7 (Windows Freeware).
Image For Dos 2.65a: Quickly, easily, and reliably create a complete image backup of all the data located on your hard drive, backups made to CD/DVD/BD are bootable (Dos Shareware).
Image For Windows 2.65a: Backup and restore utility that creates a snapshot of a selected partition or volume, and saves it to disk, or burns it directly to most DVD+RW+R-R-RW or CD-R/RW drives (Windows Shareware).
ImgBurn 2.5.5.0: Lightweight CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray burning application, supports BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI, Ability to build DVD/HD/BD Video discs from a VIDEO_TS/HVDVD_TS/BDAV/BDMV folder, Unicode folder/file names (formerly DVD Decrypter) (Windows Freeware).
InfraRecorder 0.52: An Open source CD/DVD burning software, also create/burn .iso images (Windows Freeware).
Macrium Reflect 4.2.3775: Create complete backups of your disk partitions, including operating system, installed programs and all your settings (Windows Freeware).
Partition Image: PartImage 0.6.9: Supported filesystem includes Ext2, Ext3, Reiserfs, HFS, HPFS, JFS, Xfs, UFS, Fat16, Fat32 and NTFS (Linux Freeware).
Partition Saving 3.90: A tool to backup/restore partitions (SavePart.exe) (Windows/Dos Freeware).
Raw Copy 1.2: Useful tool to transfer the data directly from a faulty drive to another drive, built in data recovery function which will also attempt to recover data from bad sectors (Windows Freeware).
RegBak 1.0: A light-weight and simple utility to create backups of Windows registry files (Windows Freeware).
Seagate DiscWizard 11.8326: Backup drive/partition to an image file, for Seagate owners (Powered by Acronis TrueImage) (Windows/Linux Freeware)
SelfImage 1.2.1.92: To create image files of any mounted or unmounted hard disk partition (Windows Freeware).
ShadowCopy 1.00: Copy all your files and entire system: even if they are locked by Windows (Windows Freeware).
TeraCopy 2.12: TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, providing the user a lot of features includes pause, resume, auto shutdown, verify, error recovery and unicode support (Windows Freeware).
WhitSoft File Splitter 4.5a: A Small File Split / Join Tool (Windows Freeware).
XXClone 0.58.0: The simple way to clone a Windows disk to another disk, it makes a self-bootable clone of Windows system disk (Windows Freeware).