Paragon Drive Backup+Recovery 10 Free - good full drive imaging tool

[MerleOne]

BTW, I tried Macrium Reflect 4 on the same Vista machine as the one I used Paragon B&R on.  I was impressed by the speed in full and differential mode (twice as fast in full mode).  I also noticed that the driver pssnap.sys is installed and runs all the time.  Last time I tried, when Macrium was offered by GAOTD in June 2008, this driver had some problems, but it was with last year version.  I will probably try it some more, to see if the problem has been solved.

[MilesAhead]

Just telling you what it says in the help afa Fat32 goes. Likely the docs need an update.

[MerleOne]

I think the FAT32 format for the image is for file-backup only : when you backup files and not partitions, the backup uses the same proprietary format as for partition images, it's just that they have chosen FAT32 as format for this kind of image.

For regular partition images, the mounted drives retains the filesystem type of the source.

[MilesAhead]

I can't seem to find it now. In any case I verified that the image is shown in Explorer as NTFS so you must be right.   Maybe I just noticed the image of the dialog box that showed a mounted image as FAT32.  As my lawyer advised me, I can't recall.

[4wd]

As my lawyer advised me, I can't recall.

-MilesAhead (November 07, 2009, 12:12 PM)

Ahhh, the Political Defense

[MilesAhead]

As my lawyer advised me, I can't recall.

-MilesAhead (November 07, 2009, 12:12 PM)

Ahhh, the Political Defense

-4wd (November 07, 2009, 05:06 PM)

Well, I could just admit that I messed up, but where's the fun in that? 

[MerleOne]

BTW, about Macrium, their support forum is only accessible to users that have a paid license.  When you are in the 30 days evaluation method, you cannot ask any question.  Not cool.  Especially since I have one : when I mount a virtual drive from an image, I cannot unmount it, it doesn't appear in the mounted drive window.  Am I the only one to see this ?

All these image software tend to show their limits when it comes to image mounting.  I recommend to all to verify this feature works well on their system, and not only the basic backup/restore.

[Curt]

I am sorry to have to ask you guys to explain to me what it is to mount an image? I really don't understand the expression. 

[MilesAhead]

BTW, about Macrium, their support forum is only accessible to users that have a paid license.  When you are in the 30 days evaluation method, you cannot ask any question.  Not cool.  Especially since I have one : when I mount a virtual drive from an image, I cannot unmount it, it doesn't appear in the mounted drive window.  Am I the only one to see this ?

-MerleOne (November 08, 2009, 02:56 PM)

On Windows 7 32 bit and Vista64 it works as advertised.  I can remove it from the Restore tab of the program or just leave it until I reboot.  It would be nice if they had an Unmount as well as Mount in the Explorer shell integration though.

edit: I just looked on the Macrium forum and they say an Explorer command to unmount a mounted image is on the ToDo list.

[MilesAhead]

I am sorry to have to ask you guys to explain to me what it is to mount an image? I really don't understand the expression.  

-Curt (November 08, 2009, 05:05 PM)

The image file Macrium creates when it does a backup can be mounted so that it shows as a read-only drive in Explorer.  Say you backup up to a folder on an external USB drive.  You can right click on the image file in that folder and mount it. It is assigned a new drive letter. If you want to copy a file out you just click through the directory structure as if it was a drive, down the folder chain to the file you want.

[4wd]

The easiest way to explain mounting an image is probably just to say it's virtually the same as mounting a CD/DVD image in any of the virtual CD/DVD drivers, (eg. DaemonTools, Alcohol, VirtualCD, etc).

About the only difference is that with mounting a backup image the drive letter is assigned on-the-fly.

[MerleOne]

I am sorry to have to ask you guys to explain to me what it is to mount an image? I really don't understand the expression. 

-Curt (November 08, 2009, 05:05 PM)

I'd like to add that it's extremely useful to :
- quick check that your backup is OK
- restore individual files

[MilesAhead]

Linux has a lot of frustrations for someone coming from Dos/Windows but one thing very cool is the mounting mechanism.  You could boot a floppy or CD, mount your HD partition on a mount point like /tmp to fiddle with it and when done mount the HD partition as root.  Assuming it's a working Linux partition you are now running off it without rebooting.

[xtabber]

Here's a useful comparison of several free image backup programs, including Paragon and Macrium:

http://dottech.org/headline/11628

[mouser]

Very nice  

ps. the author of that article, Ashraf, hangs out at DC 
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=17560

[Ashraf]

Very nice 

ps. the author of that article, Ashraf, hangs out at DC 
https://www.donation...ndex.php?topic=17560

-mouser (November 18, 2009, 10:18 PM)

In the flesh.

[sajman99]

Wow, excellent features comparison, Ashraf.

[Ashraf]

Wow, excellent features comparison, Ashraf.

-sajman99 (November 19, 2009, 12:10 AM)

Why thank you.

[4wd]

@Ashraf, just to round out your list:

As per Macrium Reflect, the commercial version of Paragon Backup & Restore, (either Drive Backup Pro 10, System Backup 2010 or Backup & Recovery Suite), include WinPE2.1 based recovery media - usually a separate download for licensed users.

Paragon Backup & Restore Free 10 will also restore to a different hard drive or partition providing:
a) for a partition, that the initial backup was not a complex backup, (ie. doesn't include the MBR and/or First Track data).  Otherwise it will, basically, complain there is no empty drive to restore to.
b) if it is a complex backup, (contains MBR and/or First Track), then the restore operation is to an empty drive.

Also, Acronis TIH will restore to a different drive/partition, (how I used to migrate my system to a bigger drive - completely forgot it had a clone feature).