opinion on best backup software??

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by zfactor, Dec 13, 2007.

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  1. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Have you seen Mustangs post on removing snapman.sys. It may help. I noticed I still have a service in there but it doesn't start. May try removing that registry entry, and see what happens.

    If you've seen any of my posts on SP, I've beaten on it and done some tough things to my machine, and it has never failed me.

    Good luck.

    Pete
     
  2. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Thanks-but this gets worse and worse-Mustang infers that Snapman is also used by Disk Director-which of course I have installed.

    Yes,I can now see the great attraction of SP!
     
  3. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Hairy Coo

    I also have Disk Director, but I only have it on a Bartpe disk. I uninstalled it from the desktop. Works well that way and then you can once and for all clean your machine.

    Pete
     
  4. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    Doing partitioning just from the burned iso file on CD is strongly recommended by member Mudcrab the specialist on all Acronis stuff.
     
  5. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Great idea-I also have and will do.

    ps; this removal tip ,post 7-partially applies to my version 10. This afternoon will be dramatic.
     
  6. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Shadow Protect is now working perfectly.

    Have to agree with its users-its the best :thumb:

    Incredibly fast,backups at 70MBs!
     
  7. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Restores are equally good. Glad to hear you are liking it.

    Pete
     
  8. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Pete,

    Rather amazing really!

    Thanks for your help.
     
  9. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    My Pleasure. If you have any further SP questions, just give a yell.
     
  10. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Pete,

    Your kind offer is accepted!

    I cannot seem to be able to setup Image Manager-have reinstalled and each time the message is "the specified service already exists",but there is no recognisable IM GUI

    Does this mean IM is accessed from within SP?

    And how are the backup job options accessed? edit-found it under "advanced"

    Another question-do you feel that maybe there are sufficient users and interest for the product, to warrant its own section within the Forum,such as Acronis?

    The sector based imaging feature is rather amazing for its speed capabilities and the small size of the increments.!

    Thanks

    Hairy
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2007
  11. zfactor

    zfactor Registered Member

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    have to add i restored a system today for a freind who was running ati from his job. boy what a mess... we ran chkdsk after seeing tons of errors and it found a whole mess of stuff ... it repaired A LOT. his system seems ok now but im unsure as of now what ill effects it will have in the long run due to all the chkdsk fixes..
     
  12. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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  13. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    You access the IM from the start menu. You then select connect from I think it's the file tab, and then you have to enter the password you entered on install.

    The image manager only comes into play if you are going to use the continous incremental feature.

    As to it's own section on the forum, probably not.

    Have you done a restore yet?

    Pete
     
  14. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Pete,

    I'll hunt around for Im (still cant see ) it,as I'm using hourly incrementals ,which are carried out incredibly fast and light, because of that sector imaging,without any obvious drain at all on resources.

    Yes, have carried out a few successful restores- also very fast,I think about 70mb/s and of course completely trouble free.

    Must say its a pleasure to use-apart from the obvious advantages it's also a very interesting concept to work with.

    thanks for the help
     
  15. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    You access it from the start menu.
     
  16. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Yes but that tries to setup IM,which then tells me its running,which it isnt or at least I cant find any separate interface.

    The only way to access the collapse feature is through the Backup Image Tool,which succeeded the collapse after 22 minutes,but also left the original backups intact?.

    Looks like this could be the method for version 3.1.0.3,do you think?

    A query re the second incremental,which was much bigger and slower to backup.

    The base backup measured 17GB, the first incremental 11mb,then this second of 530mb was as slow as a full at about 8 minutes.

    Nothing had essentially changed as regards what had to be backed up

    Looks as if its carried out a differential rather than an incremental for the second.

    The third incremental seems back to normal at 36mb,however the fourth took 10 minutes to backup only 1 mb app.

    Also outside the scheduled time,which could be the time zone bug?

    Anyway,something isnt quite right.

    Thanks
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2007
  17. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    When you created the backup job did you select continous incrementals, and the select weekly to set the schedule up?
     
  18. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Hairy coo

    If when you go to the start menu and click on shadowprotect, if all you see is Shadowprotect and Imagemanger setup, then image manager wasn't installed. Pop in the CD and install just imagemanager. You don't need the key thing. When it installs it will ask for a password that you will use. Give it something simple you can remember.

    Pete
     
  19. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Hello Pete,

    re ImageManager-

    I have tried every possible method many times-reinstalling Im from the disk or the start menu and even completely reinstalling SP from the disk ,but nothing works for what should be a very simple operation .

    No IM interface is available.

    As I said the only collapse option that works but slowly, is through the Backup Image Tool

    Regarding the backup job I set the schedule to Continuous Incrementals exactly as shown in Help,except VSS wasnt used.

    The result was that every alternate incremental seemed to be a differential,as mentioned.

    This also meant no other task could be carried out whilst backing up these Incremental/differentials up,to get an acceptable speed without throttling.

    Thanks Hairy
     
  20. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Pete,

    I think all the problems are because of not being able to install ImageManager,which apparently is necessary for a full incremental schedule to work properly, as well as for collapsing.

    I'm presuming the previous Incremental/differential problems were due to this,as now I have scheduled -weekly with one day full backup and the rest incrementals.

    Everything is working as it should.

    The IM problem according to its log, is due to an MSI installer problem.

    Net Framework 2 is installed,so its not that.

    I'll contact SP about this.

    Once again,thanks for the help:thumb:

    Hairy
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2007
  21. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Wow - I was thinking of trying SP someday but think I say as I am.
    Opinion on the best backup software ?? answer has to be the one that works best for each individual.
     
  22. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Hope I'm not giving the wrong impression about SP.

    Except for the very minor ImageManager problem-its now working perfectly and is a revelation as regards operability, speed and the small size of the incremental backups.
    For example,the base backup of 16.5 gb took about 8 minutes,whilst the sector based hourly incrementals take about 15 seconds!

    Everything has restored perfectly in testing and restores are equally fast,about 7 minutes.

    I understand the IM was meant for commercial use and all it does is amalgamate all the incrementals into one file-not strictly necessary at all.

    The problem I'm having with the IM is some issue with the MS installer.
    Think its a local issue.

    My opinion on SP-best backup software I've used by a good margin!

    edit-one of the other unique features is Disk Map-a disk manager which has essential limited functions to hopefully get you out of trouble,so you can then restore.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2007
  23. nexstar

    nexstar Registered Member

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    Hairy Coo, did you find a solution to your SP ImageManager installation problem? I'm having the same issue trying to set it up on an XP system.

    Graham
     
  24. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    No, but I didnt pursue it because my weekly incrementals dont need it-every week I would delete the lot and start afresh-1-full plus incrementals.

    Have tried every possible way to install IM,but each time it announces"the specified service already exists",which of course it doesnt as it was never installed,then uninstalls itself.

    Suggest you post in the Shadow Protect Forum-Nate is very helpful and knowledgeable here.

    Another issue with SP occurs when a "dirty reboot' is done using the computer reset button.
    This disrupts the incremental backup schedule causing a full backup to be made immediately after.
    Use Windows when possible for rebooting.
     
  25. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    The installation thing has to be due to the MSI installer. I've installed Imagemanager on two machines.

    Two things:

    First in Regedit go to HKLM>software>classes>installer>Products Look at those keys and if you find any related to installers expand the key and see if there is a sub key Patches. If so rename Patches to Patchesold and see if that makes a difference. (backup is obvious) I've had to do this with several programs. Once the patch is there, the next time there are installer errors until I do this.

    Second check these out

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555175
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
    http://www.suggestafix.com/index.php?showtopic=23007

    Pete
     
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