Backup system?

My buddy want to do a backup for his whole system like this.
He wants to get an external hard drive and make a duplicate of his C drive.
Then as he works on C, have it backup to the external so if C crashes he can immediately start working on the external. (quicken, office etc.)
How and what program would be best for this?
Are external USB drives ok?
Any other help?

 

Not sure what program.
But another option is on that c drive create another partition, you can back up all to you new partition, the program I have that I think is system commander 2000 on another pc that I dont use very much, I'll have to check to make sure

 

We thought about that but if the drive goes bad we would loose both partitions.

 

Perfect answer?

Hi,
I wanted to do same, so bought Maxtor OneTouch 120GB USB2.0 Drive (UK Model A14B120), which comes complete with Dantz Backup 6.0 software. However, I don't use Dantz, but use PowerQuest Drive Image 7 to duplicate my C:\ onto my new F:\, ie the Maxtor, and it works brilliantly. Drive Image copies complete Windows OS, all apps, system state, docs settings etc and verifies some 14.5Gigs in 21 mins.I can run my system from either drive. If you don't want to buy Drive Image, use the freebie Dantz that comes with Maxtor, but that doesn't back up your OS as such, you'll need your original Windows CD for that. The Maxtor cost £108.63 incl VAT from E-buyer, and Drive Image retails at about £40. Best bit of kit I've bought-- makes backups a doddle!
Cheers, Omigosh.

 

PC backup

Hi, I was going to reply to ljcoop suggesting Drive Image but reading the post more carefully I assume his buddy wants a simultaneous backup to another drive, not just a periodic backup. Someone with network and RAID experience should reply as I don't think Drive Image can do simultaneous backup. It has to reboot each time it commences a backup (Drive Image 2002 version) so that would stuff up your computer operations. Baz

=========

 

Agreed. If he really wants that level of protection RAID is the solution, with mirroring (RAID 1) being the way to have one disk as an exact duplicate of the other. Any data stored on a RAID 1 array is completely and automatically backed up, and in the event of the failure of one drive, the other can be substituted without a hitch.

ljcoop, if you're up for some reading, there's a good introduction to RAID technology HERE.

I'm no expert on setting up RAID, someone else will have to tackle that question, and I don't know if an external USB drive could be included in a RAID array.

 

Drive Image 7 doesn't need a reboot. Simply select 'Copy one drive to another' on first page of the wizard screen and off you go. Do it at lunchtime--you do stop for lunch, don't you--and teatime, and again before you go to bed, and the most you're adrift if C:\ vaporises is a couple of hours; even less if you save every sentence or so to a DVD in D:\. True, it's not quite a simultaneous backup, but it's as close as you're likely to get without a RAID setup, and probably easier, if not cheaper, to purchase.
Personally, if I had the dosh, I'd have an internal RAID setup, AND an external USB HDD like LACIE 500GB Big Disk--that alone costs about £700!
In the final analysis, it's all down to personal preferences, and how much you're prepared to pay for the privilege of an easy life.
Cheers, Omigosh.

 

RAID and mirroring

Halo, A question that has lain dormant in my mind for ages. If someone was to set up a system to instantly mirror their main system to another drive, wouldn't problems/crashed/viruses, etc be instantly transferred to the other system?
Thus stuffing up what you were trying to achieve.
Do all systems have a one or two minute built in delay, or what, to overcome that problem? Baz

===========

 

Thanks everyone!
Maybe Raid and True Image both would be a solution.

 

Thanks Halo for the answer. Always wanted to know what might happen Baz

============