Recommend a good free Ghost program.

[lotus2035]

I had a good ghost program on a disc I got with some PC mag a while back but like an idiot I threw it out..(I always seem to need something right after I get rid of it!)..

Anyway, I did a search but my head is spinning as the world of disk back-up progs seems as confusing as the world of video encoders...

If you can help me cut through the crud and pick out a good one I would very grateful..

[manytone]

...and dont say "Casper the Ghost" smartass..

I had a good ghost program on a disc I got with some PC mag a while back but like an idiot I threw it out..(I always seem to need something right after I get rid of it!)..

Anyway, I done a search but my head is spinning as the world of disk back-up progs seems as confusing as the world of video encoders...

If you can help me cut through the crud and pick out a good one I would very grateful..

A good free one if you have a seagate or maxtor hard drive is the the new software they offer. It has a great ghost/image program that will do a full restore of a system from an image.

I'll be back in a sec with the links. You have to have a seagate or maxtor internal or usb hard drive though to use it.

Still... this may help some.... I love it.

Paul

[manytone]

Okay


The page with the links to the software is here:

EDIT - Old link stopped working, here is a new one:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/suppor ... discwizard

Check Maxtors site for their version.

Great stuff for Seagate and Maxtor users. (It will image any brand drive though onto any other brand drive, as long as you have 1 maxtor or seagate drive on the system ...even usb) I image onto a USB drive.
You also can make a boot disk (cd) to use when your system won't boot and then you restore your image from the boot disk and navigating to the drive your image is on.

It's made by Acronis, one of the best in the field.

Paul

[speccyteccy]

DriveImageXML - even allows you to create an image from inside Windows.

[PTV]

Yes, heard good things about DriveImageXML. Heaven't tried it (yet) thought.
Here is a nice review about it:
http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/ ... 326086.php

[lotus2035]

Guys thanks a lot for those links..

Manytone, I'm not sure what make my harddrive is, I think its seagate but I suppose I'll have to pull open my PC to find out..
Or is there a way to do it in windows?...It's been a while since Ive played PC technician..

[manytone]

Guys thanks a lot for those links..

Manytone, I'm not sure what make my harddrive is, I think its seagate but I suppose I'll have to pull open my PC to find out..
Or is there a way to do it in windows?...It's been a while since Ive played PC technician..

Should be right click the drive in my computer. then properties.
go to hardware page and it should tell your drive model.
Paul

[lotus2035]

Guys thanks a lot for those links..

Manytone, I'm not sure what make my harddrive is, I think its seagate but I suppose I'll have to pull open my PC to find out..
Or is there a way to do it in windows?...It's been a while since Ive played PC technician..

Should be right click the drive in my computer. then properties.
go to hardware page and it should tell your drive model.
Paul

Thanks for the tip but no joy... Its listed as "Standard disk drives" and just has ST and some numbers after it....My harddrive is partitioned, I wonder if that alters the way the PC reads the details..

anyway, not to worry, I'll sort it out tomorrow...

[manytone]

Guys thanks a lot for those links..

Manytone, I'm not sure what make my harddrive is, I think its seagate but I suppose I'll have to pull open my PC to find out..
Or is there a way to do it in windows?...It's been a while since Ive played PC technician..

Should be right click the drive in my computer. then properties.
go to hardware page and it should tell your drive model.
Paul

Thanks for the tip but no joy... Its listed as "Standard disk drives" and just has ST and some numbers after it....My harddrive is partitioned, I wonder if that alters the way the PC reads the details..

anyway, not to worry, I'll sort it out tomorrow...

ST should be a Seagate Technologies drive. (so there is joy perhaps )
Download the seagate version of the software. I bet it will work

I can give more tips later if needed. I do highly recommend this over any other Free Image software I have used. If you have the drive this is the ticket.
Paul

[manytone]

BTW

What are you going to be imaging on to?

You will surely want to do this to a second drive and not on the 1 hard drive you have. The reason for this is if that original hard drive fails, which is when you will need the image, you won't be able to get to it on the failed drive. So surely get a second drive for images. Preferably USB, then you can shut the drive off and disconnect it for safety from Virus and longevity in the drives lifespan.
Paul

[lotus2035]

ST should be a Seagate Technologies drive. (so there is joy perhaps )
Download the seagate version of the software. I bet it will work

Really?..excellent!, I suppose I should have guessed.. I will give it a whirl!..

[lotus2035]

BTW

What are you going to be imaging on to?

You will surely want to do this to a second drive and not on the 1 hard drive you have. The reason for this is if that original hard drive fails, which is when you will need the image, you won't be able to get to it on the failed drive. So surely get a second drive for images. Preferably USB, then you can shut the drive off and disconnect it for safety from Virus and longevity in the drives lifespan.
Paul

I was planning on creating an image on my "data" partition and/or backing up to DVDs...
I've just done a clean install of my OS with my major music apps intstalled and wanted to back that up...
I havent had a harddrive fail on me yet so it never crossed my mind...

[manytone]

BTW

What are you going to be imaging on to?

You will surely want to do this to a second drive and not on the 1 hard drive you have. The reason for this is if that original hard drive fails, which is when you will need the image, you won't be able to get to it on the failed drive. So surely get a second drive for images. Preferably USB, then you can shut the drive off and disconnect it for safety from Virus and longevity in the drives lifespan.
Paul

I was planning on creating an image on my "data" partition and/or backing up to DVDs...
I've just done a clean install of my OS with my major music apps intstalled and wanted to back that up...
I havent had a harddrive fail on me yet so it never crossed my mind...

Well, I have had over 5 hard drive failures myself and just last week helped my best bud through one. (He now uses the seagate image on an external drive.)

Four of my 5 hard drive failures allowed me to still access the data when I hooked it up to a new system as a second drive. One of my failures was severe though and showed nothing at all. There are ways to ""sometimes"" get this data but you are getting in deep at that point. Especially if you were trying to recover an image. Hopefully one never has to go that route

My friend above, who had the failure last week also had a severe failure. The drive was cooked hard. There is no way you will easily be able to recover an image from a severely failed drive.

Hence the 2nd drive is needed. I would not be safe any other way nor would I ever trust an image that is on the same drive as original data.
Paul

[lotus2035]

BTW

What are you going to be imaging on to?

You will surely want to do this to a second drive and not on the 1 hard drive you have. The reason for this is if that original hard drive fails, which is when you will need the image, you won't be able to get to it on the failed drive. So surely get a second drive for images. Preferably USB, then you can shut the drive off and disconnect it for safety from Virus and longevity in the drives lifespan.
Paul

I was planning on creating an image on my "data" partition and/or backing up to DVDs...
I've just done a clean install of my OS with my major music apps intstalled and wanted to back that up...
I havent had a harddrive fail on me yet so it never crossed my mind...

Well, I have had over 5 hard drive failures myself and just last week helped my best bud through one. (He now uses the seagate image on an external drive.)

Four of my 5 hard drive failures allowed me to still access the data when I hooked it up to a new system as a second drive. One of my failures was severe though and showed nothing at all. There are ways to ""sometimes"" get this data but you are getting in deep at that point. Especially if you were trying to recover an image. Hopefully one never has to go that route Wink

My friend above, who had the failure last week also had a severe failure. The drive was cooked hard. There is no way you will easily be able to recover an image from a severely failed drive.

Hence the 2nd drive is needed. I would not be safe any other way nor would I ever trust an image that is on the same drive as original data.
Paul

hmm, I regularly format, reinstall and defragment, I wonder if that would have any effect on harddrive lifespan?..I've had my present hardrive about 3 years now and my PC was used when I bought it!...maybe I should give it some more thought before its too late..
I'm due a new PC anyway..

[manytone]

Hmmmm... no common factor. I have had drives that were new (months old) fail, as well as drives that were a few years old. The only thing I have learned is to backup. I even try to double back up at this point (Image - for restore, and a full regular file and folder copy, just in case...)
I have been hit too many times here with HD failures. I will Win next time
(fingers crossed).

And, I am glad to pass what I have learned onto others! Hopefully it helps someone.
Paul