backup and restore without cd-rom or floppy?

Hi, i was just wondering, is it possible to create/restore a partition image on a laptop with no cd-rom or floppy drive.
basically i cant re-install windows if anything goes wrong, so i really need to somehow make an image of the hdd.


thanks

 

You can only restore partitions that aren't system partitions, without a floppy or CDROM since you would have to be in Windows to do it.
If you had to restore your Windows boot partition, you would need something to boot to, usually an Acronis boot disk or something else like a bartPE/TI disk.

The other option would be to boot from a USB flash drive if your bios lets you.
Menorcaman knows how to do it.

 

Hello iHZ,

You could certainly try booting Acronis from a USB pen drive. Format it as FAT not FAT32 and then create the bootable rescue media on it. Be aware that you may have to try different USB boot device settings in your laptop's BIOS. All this assumes your laptop has a USB port and that it supports booting from a pen/flash drive (not all computers do).

If you have an external USB hard drive then use this to create your backup images on. If you don't, you will need to create an Acronis Secure Zone (SZ) large enough to hold the amount of used space on your hard drive and create the image into that. As you are able to boot from the rescue media on USB pen drive, I recommend you do NOT accept the default option to also activate the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (SRM).

However, if you can't get your laptop to boot via the USB pen drive then you really have no alternative but to create a SZ and activate the SRM. The SRM will enable you to enter the Linux based rescue environment by pressing the F11 key whilst your laptop is booting up. Using this method may provide you with two options:

1. Your laptop has a USB connection and you own an external USB Hard Drive

Create a minimum size SZ in order that you can activate the SRM and then backup and restore to/from the USB drive. You can backup your system partition from within Windows but will need to restore it by booting via the SRM.

2. You have neither a USB connection or an external USB Hard Drive

Create a SZ large enough to hold the amount of used space on your hard drive and activate the SRM. You can then backup and restore your system to/from the SZ, with the same proviso regarding Windows and the SRM as in option 1.

NOTE: Whichever of the above methods you end up using, if you have to rely on the SRM and/or the SZ for your backup and recovery then you will come unstuck if your laptop's hard drive breaks down. Firstly you won't be able to boot from the SRM and secondly, not only will you be unable to boot via the SRM, but you will also not be able to access the SZ on the failed hard drive.

Regards

 

thanks for the help.

just some info, Im using TI8, the laptop is a portege 3480, and the hdd is partitioned.

Now i dont think i can boot from usb flash, i'll just have to double check that, but if i cant, can i use SRM without SZ, as the hdd is partitioned in two?

 

I'm afraid not. Whilst TI will allow you to create a SZ without also activating the SRM, you can't activate the SRM without it first creating an associated SZ.

Regards

 

oh damn, the hdd is only 12g, c: being 7.3g(4gig used) and d: 3.9g.
i dont think i can fit the SZ in there somehow........
Im going to have to think about this one abit more.