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Recommend disk imaging software?

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4wd:
Quote from 4wd
I prefer doing offline disc/partition imaging.
--- End quote ---

What does that mean 'offline'?
-CleverCat (June 29, 2010, 01:44 AM)
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The image software either sets itself to do the backup when the primary OS isn't running, (after the next restart), or you physically boot into another OS to do it yourself.
A boot CD/Flash drive, (eg. Paragon's Restoration CD - which will also do backups and a few other things), a separate OS on another drive/partition, etc from where you can run your backup software.

Anything that minimises the chance of the primary OS SNAFU'ing the backup, (maybe because of any programs doing other things at the time).

Why do I prefer it?  While it's my primary machine, it's no real hardship for me if the OS bites the dust - I don't use it for anything work related, (because I don't work), it's just a perpetual hobby albeit a pricey one sometimes.  A backup image makes it quick/easy but not having one will only slow me down about 3-4 hours - just gives me something to do during the day :)

mrainey:
BootIt NG can be installed into its own 8MB partition, which you can choose to boot from by holding a key down after you turn on the computer.  Windows never runs, no problems.  This is nice for my netbook.

You can also boot from a CD (again, no Windows), or make an image while Windows is running (never tried it).

brahman:
Which is why I will always prefer a boot CD as opposed to other backup/restoration mechanisms
-NigelH (June 28, 2010, 06:34 PM)
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There are times when this is not practical. My Toshiba tablet computer cannot boot from CD. Also there are certain special cases if one uses encrypted partitions. That is why everyone needs to make a profile what are necessary requirements and then select the appropriate software.

Acronis, Shadow Protect, Drive Snapshot, Terabyte (just looked at v2, speed/size seem better, but folders/files cannot be excluded), O&O ... are all solid choice IMHO. It is just a matter of what is my killer feature.

cmpm:
I just tested Macrium's free version and it worked to restore the backup.

The boot cd didn't work for some reason.
But I have a dual boot system with XP and 7.
Installed the free version on both systems.

I couldn't restore the W7 backup from within W7,
without the cd that did not work,
but I could from within XP.

So booting into XP I was able to Restore my W7 system fully.
To be sure I got the full restore and that it worked,
I formatted (erased all data) in the W7 partition first from within XP,
then restored the image using XP,
from my usb drive to that original partition for W7.

MilesAhead:
The boot cd didn't work for some reason.
-cmpm (June 30, 2010, 05:02 PM)
--- End quote ---

I'm just curious what type of disk controller you have.  Anything unusual? The reason I went from Paragon to Macrium is Paragon didn't handle my Raid controller. One of the advantages of the paid version is you get a licensed copy of WinPE.  If you need to use the Windows driver to see the HD controller because the other boot CDs don't have the right driver, you can embed it in the boot image of the CD.  When the CD boots it autoloads the driver and you can see your Windows HD.

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