Backup Software

I've read various threads on this and intend to bite the bullet and buy Acronis 9 as that seems to be most recommended on here.

One thing though... I understand that backing up in case of hardware failure or system file corruption is easy with this 'snapshot' image software, but what if I need to re-install windows to clean up the installation?

I like to do this every 6 months or so and obviously backup the image is no use for that purpose.

I guess I can make a second, 'clean' image of a reformatted windows installation with most general programs installed and restore that, but how do I restore all my current docs including application data, registry etc.

Is it really as simple as backing up the 'documents and settings' folder first and copying it back in after the image restore?
Will that restore my system and registry to the same state as it was before I reformatted?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

 

Acronis simply takes a snapshot of your entire drive at a point in time. Restore that snapshot (image) and you will be taken back to that point in time in every respect - Windows, your installed software, and any personal stuff on the same drive, such as My Documents, your emails etc, will all be restored to precisely how they were when you took the image. For this reason most users of imaging software keep all their personal files on a separate partition and back that up separately, and not with Acronis usually. It is not possible to mix restores in the way you suggest and get a clean Windows plus your previously installed software. That just can't be done.

It is a good idea to keep one image of a fairly clean install with just the most-used software installed, as restoring that is far quicker than reinstalling Windows, and it won't use up an activation either.

 

Thanks.
For the moment though, as all my files are currently in the same partition, to save all my documents separately should I back up the 'my documents' folder or 'documents and settings'?

I think it has to be mydocs but is there anything outside of this directory (apart from my outlook pst file) that I will need to backup?

Cheers.

 

If all of your personal files are stored in the default location for most software - Documents and Settings - then that should be backed up as often as necessary. Also, as you say, find and backup your .pst file and archive.pst if you have one. Backing up all of Documents and Settings may result in a very big backup file, as all your music, videos, downloads etc, etc will be included. So study the contents of Documents and Settings to decide what your various backups should include.

Only you would know whether you store anything in any other place than Documents and Settings. My Documents is a sub-folder of Documents and Settings.

 

ok thats fine I do save all documents in mydocs.

I'm fairly knowledgable in most areas, however docs and settings contains local settings, application data etc and other stuff I know little about so I was unsure if I should restore this directory after a clean Windows install (a restore from my clean image) since it may contain files relating to programs that I have not re-installed.

Thank you again but would you please just confirm this procedure is ok and in the right order...

1.Backup docs&settings folder
2.restore saved clean disk image
3.re-install any software I have installed since I made the clean image
4.restore docs&settings folder (or should this be no.3?)

Presumably stuff like program settings, saved Firefox passwords and formdata etc will also now be restored because that info is stored in app data and local settings folders etc?

Earthling thanks so much for taking the time to help me!
I usually manage to research most things myself but it's hard to find info this specific.

 

I'm not going to give the nod to that, simply because I have never tried it. However I can't see any reason at all why you shouldn't, because if restoring all of Docs and Settings creates any unwelcome side effects you can simply restore your image again and be a bit more selective about what to restore the next time, the bare minimum being My Documents.

Would be interested to hear how this goes if you choose to try it.

 

Might be a while before I get around to doing it but I'll do that. Cheers.

 

DejayT,

I don't know what OS you are using, but here is a blog by someone who uses some effective backup strategies with Acronis, and I believe he sets it up in a way that would allow you to do what it is you want to do. You might want to give it a read and see if it would work for you:

Windows Vista Backup Strategies

Windows XP Backup Strategies

BTW - I use Acronis True Image 11 with Windows Vista and I have all of my docs and files set up on a separate partition from my OS and Programs. I use Acronis to make images of my OS drive, and another program (Second Copy/Sync Toy) to back up my files, pictures, music, email, etc. that's all on the other drive.

 

Good info, thanks. I'm using XP Pro.

I didn't know that you could install programs in a different partition or drive to the OS.
Is that recommended? All programs outside of Windows?

 

Most definitely not. All installed programs should be in the Windows partition, and all personal files and email stores should be kept in a separate partition or HDD. This greatly simplifies the whole backup security process.

 

Thanks for the warning, the backup strategies link below states:

2 - Separate your data from your operating system.

In this context, data refers to anything not part of XP itself. This may include; pictures, music, documents, downloaded programs. Separating your data from the operating system keeps your data safer, allows for varying backup methods, speeds up the backup/restore process, and can increase drive performance (by reducing fragmentation).

So this is not very good advice I presume!

 

It is perfectly sound advice. Downloaded programs refers to the installation files you download from websites. These files are simply data until you run them and install the software. Then they are programs and should be installed to the Windows partition.

 

Slight mis-interpretation there... I figured that sounded wrong, should have realised lol.
Cheers guys.

 

Earthling is absolutely right DejayT. You should always keep your installed programs on the same partition as your OS. Downloaded programs are also exactly what he says they are.

Following a strategy like this really makes backups and restorations very easy. One time I had to restore my OS drive and it literally took 40 minutes, with another half an hour or so to re-install the latest Windows Updates and update all of the other anti-virus programs, settings, etc. that had changed since the last backup. I never had to touch the partition that had my data on it (even though I do have separate backups of that too!).

 

ok I'm all backed up and ready to reformat, re-install and create a clean image.

However, I'm unsure of what size partition to set for the OS.

My drive is 320GB, my documents contents amounts to 140GB and I have 70GB free space.
I figured from this that my OS partition will need to be 320-140-70=110GB

However... I'm reading comments about this subject saying you only need 15-20GB for the system partition which has thrown me a bit....

since all programs should be installed in the system partition, how can this be enough?

 

For XP Pro alone, no other installed software or personal files, it actually is enough. But being practical about it, and allowing plenty of elbow room for more software and efficient defragging I would set it at about 50GB, and 80 for a Vista installation.

 

Thanks. The numbers didnt seem to add up then I realised I have a couple of bluray images on the desktop meaning only about 40gb was taken by the system and program directories etc, not the 110 I had thought!

 

I agree. I have my Vista OS partition set at 70GB.