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HowTo EASILY create image backup?
Curt:
I don't dare to use Drive Snapshot to backup the entire PC to my USB Harddrive:
Snapshot will cut the disk image file after a preset size (default=650MB), and create several files with extensions SNA, .SN1,.Sn2,..,.SN9,.S10...S99,.100...999,.1000 etc
By default the limit is 1500 MB, so 3 image pieces fit on a DVD.
--- End quote ---
You may expect an average image size of 50% of the used disk space, since Drive Snapshot automatically compresses the image file.
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Can other programs read these .SNA files? I don't think they can.
And what compression system are they using? The site doesn't tell.
However, the homepage deserves a big time reward for the "Introduction" - this is a world-class reference introduction to any program! Every coder can take lesson from this Tom Ehlert, he certainly is an excellent pedagogic instructor!
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/intro.htm
edited for typo
BrokenNails:
I use Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronis_True_Image) after a fresh Windows install so I can quickly revert to a clean system at some later date rather than going through the install process again.
It's wizard-based so it's not particularly difficult to use. Pretty much just run it, select the drive/partition you want to image, point it to the storage device (can be local or across a network), give the backup a name, select any compression/encryption options you want, and then hit Go.
Recovery is most easily done using a bootable CD that the program can create for you.
Edit - oops, just noticed the 'gratis' requirement. :-[ Obviously True Image doesn't fall into that category! You can occasionally pick up cheap/discounted older versions however...
MerleOne:
I don't dare to use Drive Snapshot to backup the entire PC to my USB Harddrive:
Snapshot will cut the disk image file after a preset size (default=650MB), and create several files with extensions SNA, .SN1,.Sn2,..,.SN9,.S10...S99,.100...999,.1000 etc
By default the limit is 1500 MB, so 3 image pieces fit on a DVD.
--- End quote ---
You may expect an average image size of 50% of the used disk space, since Drive Snapshot automatically compresses the image file.
--- End quote ---
Can other programs read these .SNA files? I don't think they can.
And what compression system are they using? The site doesn't tell.
However, the homepage deserves a big time reward for the "Introduction" - this is a world-class reference introduction to any program! Every coder can take lesson from this Tom Ehlert, he certainly is an excellent pedagogic instructor!
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/intro.htm
edited for typo
-Curt (April 13, 2008, 05:27 PM)
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I don't know of any program outside snapshot that can read .sna (except an old ZX spectrum emulator, but that's another story...), and the compression is proprietary but no big deal since only snapshot can read it.
I have restored several times my XP partition from an USB external disk, with no problem whatsoever. Moreover, snapshot can handle HDD with faulty sectors. So it's up to you. You don't risk that much since snapshot doesn't install any driver on your system and can run from a single executable without any installation.
Curt:
Yes, Acronis has been recommended on our forum many times - and when I read about it at their homepage I really wanted just to hit the download button! - so I can easily understand why you are advocating it. But, as you said, it obviously does not fall into the gratis category... $50 is an awful lot of money to me.
This backup buisness is as confusing as I was fearing it would be. My main reason for not having done the backup yet, is the extreme amount of time it takes to create the first image. I want my PC to be fully available to me all of the time, and it is placed next to my bed, so I don't want it running all night - leaving no time to perform the darn backup! Yeah, I know, totally bad excuse! Also, I have been a smoker for 35 years, with absolutely no intelligent reason for still being so, so maybe all this is a pattern of some personality disorder! Sorry; around here it is early Monday morning! :-[
Curt:
Thanks for the advice, Merle1, but €40 is an even more awful lot of money to me! 30 days trial simply won't do it - my budget says the asking price should give some 365 days trial...
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