opinion on best backup software??

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

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  1. Hugger

    Hugger Registered Member

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    I had some problems last week that gave me even more grey hair.
    Tried to correct install problems by repairing the MBR twice.
    Also downloaded Windows Uninstall utility to remove any program fragments that might be giving me trouble.
    Also used Dial-A-Fix. It's a free little app. that seems to be pretty good.
    It repaired/replaced my Windows Installer.

    Now of course you should know that none of the above helped in the least bit.
    But a well placed phone call steered me towards a clean install of XP to get rid of any number of minor corrupt problems that were adding up tp a nightmare.

    And everything is now running smoothly as is SP etc.
    Good luck.
    Hugger
     
  2. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Pete

    With me none of the patches refer to installers-also tried most of the MS remedies-no luck.
    In my previous posts I also felt it must be an installer problem-but as there are no MSI problems with other software,feel its something StorageCraft will have to resolve.

    Edit; In fact there is a Storage Craft Image Manager Service which I disabled but it needs removing.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2008
  3. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Hugger,
    Powerful little app. which regrettably didnt fix the IM problem.
    Did however find 3 restrictive policies which I deleted-must admit I didnt have a clue what they were,but I trusted DAF.
    Am trying to steer away from the Ultimate Cure,but good your machine is running better than new!
     
  4. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Success!

    If you cant install Image Manager and the message says "the specified service already exists", that in fact means exactly what it says - there is an existing service under the name Storage Craft Image Manager blocking any new installation of the app and service package

    Probably the installer didnt install the app but only the service originally.

    To remedy- remove this service and reinstall IM.

    To remove the service go to hkey/local machine/system/current control set/services/StorageCraft Image Manager and delete the complete entry.

    Then reboot and the service will be deleted.Just disabling it is not sufficient.

    Then reinstall Image Manager.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2008
  5. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Excellent.
     
  6. nexstar

    nexstar Registered Member

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    Well done that man!! Thanks for all the input here. Unfortunately, I seem to have taken two paces forward and one back. It seems that, on my system, the ImageManager installation was failing (and still is) with the error:

    I've run sfc and that completed ok. I'm running it on XP with just one user who is an administrator. I've found one or two references to this at the SP forum but I've not found a solution as yet.

    Of course, what was happening with the previous error was that the service was being set up but then the install failed leaving the service still running. This could be tidied up a bit better I guess.

    I'll try a ticket to StorageCraft and see what they suggest.

    Graham
     
  7. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    HI Graham

    May be a dumb question, but you don't have some security program running that might be blocking the install script by chance?

    Pete
     
  8. nexstar

    nexstar Registered Member

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    Hi Pete, no, it is a fairly minimal system for test purposes. There's just the Windows firewall and AVG antivirus free running. I've also tried with both of those disabled but with no joy. I've since carried out a repair install of XP but still no good. I've submitted a ticket to SC and will see what they can suggest.

    Graham
     
  9. RobertB

    RobertB Registered Member

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    It sounds like you're saying that a sector-by-sector backup is quicker than a normal used-data-only backup. But I've seen several posts in various threads that say the sector-by-sector backup takes significantly longer than a normal used-data-only backup.

    Have I misunderstood what you're saying ?

    Robert
     
  10. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Robert

    In practice this can mean an incremental backup may only take seconds and is carried out unnoticed in the background.
     
  11. RobertB

    RobertB Registered Member

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    I've just realized that the reason for my confusion (I think) is that SP uses the term "sector-by-sector" for what the ATI11 manual (which I had read previously) calls "only the hard disk sectors that contain data," and SP uses the term "Include Free Space" for what the ATI11 manual "sector-by-sector" (!)

    Pete (I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to find your post, that I read earlier today, where you said the following, but I couldn't; so I'm entering this here in the hopes you'll see it): In another post you said that in order to preserve the snapshots in RB/EF with SP, you need to run SP from the CD; and if you run it from within Windows, you lose the snapshots.

    Does that mean that when you run it from within Windows, the Backup Advanced Options does not let you select "Include Free Space"?

    Robert
     
  12. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Robert,

    SP wont backup seperate sectors such as data -only ALL the sectors as a complete backup image.

    However,a complete backup is carried out so quickly,that it probably is faster
    than trying to backup the data seperately (even with a good app like PersonalBackup here).

    To restore the data seperately from an SP backup-all that has to be done is copy the files from the SP mounted image.

    To preserve the RB/EF snapshots with SP-firstly you rollback all the snaps into the RB baseline-then carry out a normal backup from the desktop or the CD.

    The CD doesnt have to be used for this-it DOES have to be used to restore an image back into your active Windows system ,the one in use- also for installing drivers using the F6 install command (dont use the Vista environment for this)- and for Hardware Independent Restore.

    The desktop SP has to be used for scheduling and incremental backups and when using ImageManager.

    edit; starting from post 89 is discussion about backing up RB here,including Petes post.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2008
  13. RobertB

    RobertB Registered Member

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    The post I'm recalling (but couldn't find again) is not the one from Pete that you pointed to, and perhaps is not even from Pete. :)

    To the best of my recollection, it reported how to preserve the RB/EF snapshots such that they will be individually accessible after the restore -- i.e., you wouldn't have to rollback all the snaps into the RB baseline. I think the poster was talking about doing this in the context of using Acronis TI 11, which (unlike TI 10) provides a "sector-by-sector" backup (which is what SP calls a backup with "Include Free Space" checked [see my post #111 above] and DS calls a backup with "Maintenance mode" checked).

    S/he reported that a restore from a backup in that mode results in having all the earlier snapshots still separately available, and also does not require reinstalling RB/EF; while a backup using the normal mode results in having just the latest snapshot (i.e., the one that was current when the backup was taken), and would require reinstalling RB/EF.

    Assuming that my recollection is correct -- and that what was stated in the post(s) I'm recalling was correct -- that info seems inconsistent with what you've stated above.

    NOTE: I'm trying to clarify, not obfuscate (and certainly not to criticize). If I could find the post(s) I'm recalling, I could make my point much more clearly; unfortunately, I've found it virtually impossible to find them because the forum software's search facility can't search using two- or three-letter acronyms, which is what we all use to refer to the software we're talking about (e.g., SP, TI, RB, etc.)

    Robert
     
  14. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Unfortunately,it is difficult to understand what the crux of your questions are.
    The impression was you had queries about SP,but now it turns out that essentially you seem concerned about backing up Rx.

    A suggestion-define what the critical query is and then post as a thread in the Acronis Forum
     
  15. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Robert

    I just stumbled across this. Yes you can select the "include free space" option when you run in windows. For me it's not at all a viable option. I have 26gig on a 640gig drive so I don't know how big the image would be, but the time difference 3 or so hours opposed to 6 minutes was a killer. If I remember they may have been some other reason I did it from the CD, but it was so long ago, I honestly don't remember.

    The FDISR, SP combo works so well for me I wrote the other off, and put it out of mind.

    Pete

    PS Robert the next time you need me to respond to a post, if I don't do it shortly, just PM me and let me know it's there. That way I can get back to you sooner.
     
  16. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    As the title of this thread is "opinion on the best backup software" I thought it might be helpful to point out that I have been having problems with Karen's Replicator and Ultimate Defrag. To be fair the problem might well occur with any
    backup system that copies files as opposed to imaging solutions. I have been using ultimate defrag with a data drive with High performance set to 14days past days data was used and Archive set to 15 days. when I tried out KR the dates on all files were reset and the past days data was used method made useless. The only solution is to wait 2 weeks. Another reason to prefer imaging in my view.
     
  17. Hairy Coo

    Hairy Coo Registered Member

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    Anyone who is having problems with KR ,even though I understand Longviews problem isnt really related to KR-might try the free PersonalBackup herel.
    A bit more complex but worth mastering.
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2008
  18. RobertB

    RobertB Registered Member

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    Yes, my post was rather inscrutable. :)

    Fortunately, I have found a couple of the posts I had seen before that seemed inconsistent with what you said:

    This gave (at least to me) the impression that the individual snapshots would be preserved and individually accessible after a restore of the backup. Unless I'm still confused, what I think it would actually do is to ensure that all the data distributed among the snapshots is preserved; and (after the restore) you wouldn't see individual snapshots in RB/EF.

    Sucessfully preserving the individual snapshots and having them accessible after the restore was reported by Jo Ann here. To understand how she did it, I suggest you start with post #7 in that thread.

    Robert
     
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