Topic: Drive imaging

[Simon]

Now I have my new PC up and running, I'd quite like a backup of my C drive, which just contains the OS and programs.  Has anyone used the Drive Image tool in Nero, and does it do what's required to easily revert to a backup should the need arise?
 
Also, can the System Restore folder be moved to a different partition or drive, and would this be just as effective as a recovery tool, should disaster strike?

[gmax]

I use norton ghost to clone C drive to my external hard drive, i don't bother using system restore.
I never tried Nero Image Tool.

[Sandra]

I havent used the Nero one Simon, but I would think it would work in the same way as most imaging programs and should be easy to reinstall your C drive from the image.

I wouldnt rely on system restore, even if you could move it to another drive, for what you are wanting as its not 100% guaranteed to work every time.

[Simon]

So, how do these things work in general?  Presumably there would be some way to recover a drive image without being able to boot into Windows?  Would I have to commit a large portion of another drive for the backup image?

[Sandra]

The programs I have used make an image file to save somewhere, another drive or a DVD, and also an exe file that you can boot the pc off and which loads the program so it can see the image file and restore it.
This used to be always on a floppy but now can be on a CD or possibly even a flash drive if your pc will boot off USB.

The image file is highly compressed so an installation of XP and quite a few installed programs would fit on a DVD, usually theres a option to save to multiple DVDs if more space is required as it would be presumably if using Vista and a lot of programs.

[Simon]

OK, thanks Sandra.  I'll probably investigate this fairly soon, as I have heard a couple of reports of disasters after installing SP3 on XP.

[gmax]

It would be a lot easier and safer to clone to an external hard drive rather than DVD's, my image file is 20GB.
There is a guide here how to backup, http://www.cyberanswers.org/norton_ghost.php

[Rik]

Of the apps available for the job, Simon, my own preference is Acronis True Image.

[gmax]

Acronis True Image is a good program its more stable than the later versions of Norton Ghost.

[Simon]

Thanks guys.  Seeing as I have Nero, I'll try that first, before purchasing any other software.

[sam]

dont you mean "purchasing" 

[Simon]