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Easiest replacement for windows system restore?

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Armando:
About acronis ive seen the infinite numbers of posts of unsatisfied customers on wilders so i dare not go near it for now. Besides i think ill need a burner for that. Tools such as fd-isr and rollback rx are much to expensive for me.
-F.A. (April 03, 2008, 05:07 AM)
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If you're affraid of acronis, there are other great imaging software, like the VERY reliable Image for Windows (39$) or BootIt NG (same company). Some members here (like Zaine) used to swear by it.

Im looking into syncback free right now. I might just install that at my next reinstall. If for some reason or an other i won't turn out positive i might get into shadowing software. I just hope SBF will be easy enough to handle and reliable in the end.
-F.A. (April 03, 2008, 05:07 AM)
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For full system backup (and eventually incremental), I wouldn't use something like syncback. It will be a lenghty process, and I'm pretty sure you'll run into problems trying to copy in used system files.

EDIT : but if you're using XP, I'd probably try to grab a cheap copy of Acronis True Image 9 (ebay). That's what I'm using and I NEVER encountered a single problem, and I've used it many many times. my 2c.

Carol Haynes:
Another vote for Acronis TrueImage BUT .... I have given up using their consumer level versions and now only use the business products (Acronis True Image Echo Workstation). They are stable and work brilliantly (much better than the experiences I have with PowerQuests V2i - which died with the Symanetc buy out, Norton Ghost which I never found easy to use in any of its incarnations and is now basically PowerQuests Drive Image which was bought by Symantec ... theme here).

OK Acronis business products are a bit pricier but their annual maintenance is cheap and you then get all versions as they are released. The speed of development of the business/enterprise range of poducts is much slower and properly tested unlike the permanent public beta system that seems to plague the home user range.

Having said that I do think that support forums is the wrong place to go to look for postive comment. By definition Wilders forums are pretty full of disgruntled users for one reason or another. They are good forums but remember most people only go there when they have problems to solve.

Armando:
They are good forums but remember most people only go there when they have problems to solve.
-Carol Haynes (April 03, 2008, 08:47 PM)
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So true!

Darwin:
+1 for the business edition of Acronis TrueImage (TrueImage Echo Workstation). I've not had a single problem with it and the maintenance contract is cheaper than upgrading the consumer version every year. Anyway, it's been rock solid for the two years I've been using it... had no real complaints about the consumer version, either, but haven't used it (consumer version) since v.9.

mikiem:
Paragon's back-up (& other apps) deserve mention IMHO. Work's great & doesn't have the compatibility prob I've experienced with Acronis. I think their only weak point is marketing -- I lot of folks have never heard of nor mentioned them.

When a disk image is overkill -- & there are quite a few times that's true -- a simple zip (or other compressed archive format) file of windows & Documents & Settings will do. If you've got a multi-boot PC it's easy, & if not, there are many bootable OS options using discs or memory sticks.

RE: Restore: In XP it creates a partial shadow copy, & is designed to preserve current work, assuming I guess that many (most?) users aren't competent enough to use a truly powerful "WayBack" machine. It's usually workable to do an Erunt backup, then set Restore Point, then do whatever it is like installing an app... Using that example, to go backwards uninstall the app,, restore Windows, then restore the Erunt backup.

In Vista Restore is much better, keeping a copy of the drive(s), though in a format few other OS understands -- simply firing up XP will destroy any Vista shadow copies the moment the hdd containing them is read. It is possible to manipulate shadow copies in limited fashions, but in my past experience documentation is scarce. Like Restore in XP however, it is designed to preserve current work -- it will not get rid of changes it thinks you might want to keep. Unfortunately the combo use of Erunt is not always a good thing -- I have had Erunt mess up in Vista, to the point where Vista wouldn't boot.

After using Restore in either version of Windows, immediately look for renamed files & folders -- XP has the edge here: will plainly tell you it tried to screw up your system, & it's detection of changes isn't as good as Vista's, so you can get away with putting things back before a restore. *IF* Restore renamed program folders, so you've got basically 2 versions on hdd, you might have some reg hacking to do, or in Vista, re-install or repair for those apps involved.

Myself: I use Paragon's backup software to keep a few disc images on a non-system hdd, I keep a zipped copy of the Windows & D&S folders (XP) (Users & Program Data in Vista), & I use Erunt & System Restore... Often I can yank a file out of the zipped archive, & then there's restore... If restore fails, there's Erunt, & if that fails there's backup. Disc space is cheap enough (1 terabyte for $200 recently) there's no problem keeping a few disc images handy, so if a problem was introduced a few months back, not a catastrophe.

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