Alternative to True Image (nervous nellie)

The StorageCradt forum is unique in that the product license explicitly lis the forum as a support mehanis.

The forum is not at all gossipy, indeed, nobody is particiating.

 

The average PC comes with ONE primary active partition C containing windows. To restore a partition that is in use by windows, one must reboot the PC and run the imaging program when that partition is NO LONGER in use by windows (Image for DOS).

That's the primary weakness of a windows-based imaging program. You still have to exit windows to restore an active primary partition.

BING runs ouside of windows, no exception. Therefore, there is only ONE "pathway" to create and/or restore the image file. If you do not load BING to your HDD, then you can run BING from the installation disc/CD.

 

Huh? That's one of the clearest displays of faulty thinking I've ever come across. You claim it is a weakness of (substitute any imaging product not used by you here) that it can only be used outside of Windows, just like the product you promote. Geez.

 

Most noobs don't understand why one must boot out of windows to restore an active primary partition.

KISS. Do everything outside of windows. No confusion about imaging in windows and restoring from boot disc when working with a primary active partition.

If you still don't GET IT, then use GOOG.

 

You would have to have a DOS or equivalent operating system booted to do this. If all you have is WinXP, you wouldn't normally have or need this.(info corrected below) HOWEVER, there ARE some instructions here you may find useful: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=138

I always just "Restore From partition" and browse to a Folder I have on my external USB Drive that is used exclusively for IFD/IFW Backups. It's quite easy to remember since, when I back up from within Windows or outside of Windows, either one, I am backing up to "Folder".

P.S. I don't have my IFD boot CD with me here at work. After I'm done for the day, I will check it to be sure I'm not mis-remembering which option it is that I use and post back with an update.

P.P.S. OK, I double checked, aigle, and I believe you have File and Partition mixed up in this conversation. It is "Restore from Partition" that I select routinely from my IFD boot CD. Then I am presented with choices to the effect BIOS, USB2, or Firewire and I select USB2, which has a single NTFS partition. Then I select my IFD-IFW folder and then select the image file name.

You can still choose to make an MS-DOS boot diskette, copy IFD to it, and add a batch file to execute IFD per the instructions I linked to, if you want to use the "Restore from File" route. I can't think why you would unless restore from partition wasn't working and you also needed to load a special driver or something from the DOS boot floppy.

Sorry for the confusion but this confirms that I am not perfect, and that's fine with me.

 

So, you claim that the same noobs that don't understand how to boot out of Windows, do understand how to backup and restore out of Windows Is that how you profess to demonstrate a capacity for logical thought?

 

Please READ again what furballi wrote. You have reversed his statement completely.

Now, as to...

This is an interesting and informative thread. Please don't turn it into any assaults on personality, intelligence, etc. whether explicit or implicit.

 

I have received the link today ... so within less than 24 hours . I have had an interesting discussion with Russ, a technician, through emails.
If you don't mind, i will keep you all informed about this new release after testing it a while.
Cheers,
Hervé

 

Sorry. U are exactly correct.
It is my mistake. I mixed up the two.

Restore from Partition works and I did two successful restores by this way.
When I choose Restore from file- I get the message that u need to be running in DOS. So what does it mean and what is this option all about?

Thanks a lot.

 

I'm really interested in your test. Please do post your impressions even if you might have to start a new thread.

Thanks.

 

The BootitNG trial discussion has been split to its own thread as it went off-topic for here. That thread is at this link.

 

Hm, i just flew over all the postings and i am surpriced that nobody has mentioned Paragon Drive Backup. A ver solid and userfriendly aplication.

 

I use this on an off - instead of TI 9.1 as a substitute.

It is very good + reliable. - UK magazines have been giving variuos version away over the last few months

 

Hi I have FDISR installed with ATI. Can I try this one from paragon should I just remove ATI? Im willing to try things out. Best that way.

Thanks,
Dina

 

1. Paragon apparently does not support mounting of volumes.
2. Paragon will NOT respond in their forum. They do seem to respond promptly via email.
3. User manual is not well written. Really needs a native English writer.
4. Contains a hosgepodge of features. not only backup.

 

This is the same as my set up - should be fine without removing TI

 

1. Paragon apparently does not support mounting of volumes.

I have version 6 later versions might be different. True you cannot mount an image like TI but you can explore images and extract files .... so not a huge problem

2. I have never had the need to post - it simply works for me

3. Not really a problem for me

4. True - the interface is less attractive and the feature set has some interesting extras - editing and mbr - still useful . Newer versions seem better

 

There is NO need to mount an image file if the imaging program is 100% reliable with your rig. Noobs place too much emphasis on bells and whistles. If you don't have access to a good image file to restore, then it's time to format and clean install windows.

 

I find it handy on rare occasions to mount an IFW image and dig out the odd Word document that I've managed to lose track of. Much easier than restoring an old image and looking for the doc. TBIView has been a real time-saver for me in that respect.

 

I concur that an image file viewer/extractor is very useful tool. However, one should not confuse these tools with the ability to mount an image file.

The best part about Terabyte? They have many handy add-on utilities to complement BING/IFW/IFD. These programs are just as reliable as the paid products, yet they are FREE! This is a very smart strategy because it allows the core paid program to be very small and stable with various OSes and PC configurations.

I also use TBVIEW, COPYWIPE, BOOTNOW, and MBR.

 

Hi, can I ask what is mounting of images?

What TBIView? Is it an image file viewer/extractor? Also can mounting and TBI can be used with both BING and IFD?

Thanks.

 

One can mount the image file to check for corruption prior to restoring it to a partition.

TBVIEW allows the user to browse and extract individual file in WINDOWS from the BING/IFW/IFD image file. There is NO need to restore the image file.

BING/IFD does not support image mounting.

 

When using Acronis True Image, you can 'mount' the disk-image (ie., restore it to a virtual partition) in order to recover specific files/folders, rather than having to physically recover the entire backed-up partition or disk. Of course, the latter is the more common type of ATI restore.

 

Thanks but I am confused as there is byte per byte verification as well. So what is the difference between the two?