Best PC repair practice - from Really Really Bad News

Discussion in 'Software' started by jf38081, Aug 1, 2005.

  1. jf38081

    jf38081 Private E-2

    Hey

    I was working on a pc for a client recently and bad went to worse and then really really bad. i think that if i had imaged the harddrive before doing anything.. maybe i could have prevent all of this headache.

    Is anyone here in the practice of making an image prior to doing work? Is there an easy way to do it? I was thinking about buying a usb harddrive and then imaging over to that before doing any work.

    pro's
    a perfect backup image in case things tank.

    con's
    can ghost 2003 clone to a usb drive? i'm sure ghost 9 can, but it only works with xp. or would a network harddrive work better? but i don't think ghost 2003 works with one of those, either...

    what are everyone's thoughts on this? also what are your thoughts on a dedicated usb harddrive versus firewire versus a usb enclosure for an ide hd?

    has this issue already been tackeled in another thread?

    regards,
    Jim
     
    jf38081, Aug 1, 2005
    #1
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Yes Jim I do Image the HD before I do either any work on a PC or any major installing of new programs or updates, as you never know... I keep a rolling 3 images on a spare HD and one on DVD.

    I use Acronis True Image http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2236 as I find this very easy to use and works a treat as I have had to use it to restore my PC a few times.... tweaking not messing ;)

    A USB HD is a good idea and the Maxtor Onetouch range seem good, I personally just use a spare 40gb HD that I plug in when needed on a PC thats not mine and have a HD in my own PC dedicated to backups.

    As for Norton Ghost 9 and USB drives it does support them....

    http://www.symantec.com/ghost/ghost_personal/features.html


    USB or Firewire woudl be a good choice, one con to firewire tho is if your working on a pc that doesnt have a firewire connection you cannot image the drive but most PCs these days do have USB.

    hope my rambelings help a little.
     
    DavidGP, Aug 1, 2005
    #2
  3. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member


    ah now theirs a thought, I personally have it on MY PC and have a slave drive to save images to, but your question is a goodun ;)

    I would think it would be ok to only have Acronis on one PC at a time so if you were working on one you could install it and backup the drive, then uninstall after use? ( some input would be good as to what the rest of you think )

    or as you say take the customers/friend etc HD out of their PC and hook it upto yours then Image the drive.. that would be OK.
     
    DavidGP, Aug 1, 2005
    #3
  4. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    No that would be correct.


    I personally these days only help friends and reletives out with PC isssues, but my PC has 4 HDs in it at present 2x Raid0 ~ 1xDownloads/Drivers/Personal stuff/Work stuff etc ~ 1xClone/Images ( Acronis )

    But in the context of a business as the original poster wants, you would have to only have 1 PC with it installed on so the slave route would be best... or the install on 1 PC at a time BUT dont know how legal that would be, if only on one PC at a time then thats what the licence allows so should be fine.
     
    DavidGP, Aug 1, 2005
    #4
  5. jf38081

    jf38081 Private E-2

    I picked up a western digital hd, to try a back up image. it saw the usb fine right off the boot (good news,) but the image making process is sloooow (bad news!)

    I've noticed when i make an image partition to partition, it only takes 10-15 minutes tops. To image over to the usb drive, it says its going to take 4 hours! Does this sound right? Is there a way to speed it up? My PC's HD is 80 Gb, with 20 Gb being used. The external USB is a Western Digital Essentials 2.0 series 120 Gb w/ 2MB Buffer. Only thing I can think of it to exchange it for a unit with a bigger buffer. (8 MB)

    What is your take?
     
    jf38081, Aug 2, 2005
    #5
  6. jf38081

    jf38081 Private E-2

    Correction. Now, after cloning for 30 minutes, its telling me that it will take another 10 hours!
     
    jf38081, Aug 2, 2005
    #6
  7. jf38081

    jf38081 Private E-2

    OK heres an update - maybe it will help someone else.

    Ghost 2003 has only usb 1.1 drivers! That is why its so slow to clone to a usb drive. There is a excellent workaround that uses a Universal Panasonic USB 2 driver for "mass storage."

    It worked for me on the first try (and cut the clone time from 10 hours back to 1 1/2 hours!)

    I am going to get a better harddrive and see if I can get it work any faster.
    Jim
     
    jf38081, Aug 3, 2005
    #7
  8. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Great workaround Jim, cheers for updating us on your progress.
     
    DavidGP, Aug 3, 2005
    #8

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