Backup Strategy Advice Needed

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by ronbo613, Dec 22, 2005.

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  1. ronbo613

    ronbo613 Registered Member

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    Hello everyone-I just purchased True Image 9 and am looking for advice on the best strategy for backing up my computer boot drives and data.
    I have two computers that I would like to back up the boot drives in case of a hard drive failure. I planned to use TI9 for this. After reading many posts here and the software instructions, I'm thinking a disc image(instead of a clone) would be the way to go. I would like to use an external USB2.0 drive to store the backup images. I have a drive in a Nextar enclosure, but I understand there may be some issues there. I'm hoping to put two disc images on a single external drive, but I'd get two external drives if needed.
    For data, I currently use Nero BackItUp. I have thousands of digital photos, it's very important to me that these images are safe. Nero does a pretty good job, I guess a little slow, but not bad overall. I've read posts that suggest Nero for data backup and TI9 for boot disc safety is a good way to go.
    I know the folks here know far more about this than I do, I would appreciate any advice or information anyone might have.
    Thanks in advance-Ron B
     
  2. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Last edited: Dec 22, 2005
  3. ronbo613

    ronbo613 Registered Member

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    In the offline computer I use for photo and video editing, I have three hard drives in addition to the boot drive, which has two partitions. I keep my OS and programs on one boot drive partition and a few files on the other. A second SATA hard drive is for working, capturing video and such. Two PATA drives, about 400G, have backups and backups for the backups. Pretty serious about preserving those digital photos. My other computer is an internet crusier and I only want to preserve the boot drive so if(when) it runs into an internet landmine, I can get it up and running quickly without having to redo all the email, internet and security settings again.
    I have a 200G external drive that has data backed up with NeroBackItUp. Now I'm looking for the best way to use True Image 9 for boot disc preservation and data backup if it will do a better job than what I'm doing.
     
  4. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    If it were me, I'd continue the same data backups. I'd image the OS partition to another HD in the same computer (the frequency depends on your choice) and weekly or so I'd copy the most recent image to the external HD. That way you have an image on the same computer to be used for OS corruption, viruses, OS HD failure etc. It's a convenient place for an image in case a restore is needed. Also you have an image kept separate from the computer in case all internal HD's are "lost".

    I wouldn't bother with writing an image directly to the external HD unless it's a computer with only one internal HD.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2005
  5. ronbo613

    ronbo613 Registered Member

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    Thanks for responding Brian-I definitely want a backup of my boot drives on an external drive. If there is a HD crash or other issue, I want to plug it in, reload and get back to work. I don't know what kind of catastrophe can happen, but I'm sure it will, so like the Boy Scouts, I want to be prepared.
    By the way, I'm in the surfing business and have a lot of friends around Sydney and the NSW area, so a special thanks for helping me out.
     
  6. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    I'm from Lennox Head which is a one hour drive south of the Qld border. I'm looking at the ocean at present. 20 knots afternoon sea breeze and waves chopped up. Not a surfer on the beach but six kite sailers are having fun.
     
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