Create Image and Clone of Hard Drive

Discussion in 'Software' started by rxl, Apr 6, 2010.

  1. rxl

    rxl Private E-2

    I recently purchased a new laptop (Sony Vaio EB11) and want to be able to create both a backup image and a clone of the hard drive (They may be, but I'm going with the impression that they are not one-and-the-same thing?) using DVDs and an external usb-driven hard drive -- separate backups.

    What are some suggested free or low-cost easy-to-use software programs that will allow me to do this for the C-drive (as well as possibly the hidden recovery partition?), in the event the hard drive eventually fails? My new machine is running Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit.

    This may seem obvious, but would the program(s) allow me to restore directly back onto the [new] hard drive or would it have to be done via some sort of external method?

    In the past, I had used Norton Ghost 2003 to create Windows XP images. But since this is a new computer that I'm still trying to figure out, I haven't yet found where to change the boot order [which Function key] so that it looks for an external usb floppy drive first. Another thing is that I'm not sure if Ghost 2003 can create an image on an external usb hard drive?

    Thanks for your help!
     
    rxl, Apr 6, 2010
    #1
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Yes they are called both Image and Clone same thing.

    Software I would suggest is either Acronis True Image (retail paid software, but one I use on my main PC) or EASEUS Todo (which is free and I use on my laptops) both are feature rich and will backup to DVD and ext HDD, you can also schedule etc

    Both applications work with Windows 7 x64

    Guide to using EASEUS ToDo is under Resources in Orange HERE


    Yes, all you need is the bootup CD that both applications need in the event of a full software issue, the bootup CD allows you to boot to the application and thus allows you to start the recovery process off, this will recover the Image/clone off whatever media you have used and will once finished be jsut like you never had an issue with the PC, all Windows, updates and applicatiosn back to normal (caveate to this is the Image/Clone is only as good as your backup regime as to the date of the backup so if you backup once a month you will only have Image files of your full HDD that are 1 month old, so weekly backups are good so you are not too out of date)

    Ghost I cannot help you with as I dont use that app, sorry.
     
    DavidGP, Apr 6, 2010
    #2
  3. Earthling

    Earthling Interplanetary Geek

    Sorry Halo, they are not the same thing at all. An image is a compressed file that contains all the information necessary to restore a disk or partition in its entirety. This file can be stored on an external or internal hard drive, or on DVDs, along with any other files you want to keep there. A clone however is an exact byte-for-byte clone of the original, unused sectors and all, and can only be stored on a hard disk of the same or greater capacity than the original. No other files can be stored on this disk.

    To the OP - you can create a clone only to another hard disk, and for this to confer any practical benefit this disk needs to be mounted in a caddy from which, in the event of HD failure, it can easily be removed and installed in place of your existing hard disk. You can however create images and store them on, and retrieve them from any hard disk or DVDs.
     
    Earthling, Apr 6, 2010
    #3

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