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Other => General Topics => Topic started by: se224141 on September 21, 2008, 02:28:39 PM
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At http://www.techsupportalert.com/partitioning-hard-drives-1.htm, author explains how you can create an image of your Windows installation. His explanation is based on WinXP.
Is that applicable to Vista Home Premium as well? Any comments or advice!
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Provided your drive never goes bad, it's a nice idea in the event of a system crash.
I still prefer to create my image on a different drive ( not a partition on the main drive ). If the main drive goes bad, I can then restore
it from the alternate source.
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Sir, was thinking the same thing after my power supply went south, and I had to replace it. (Was dead in the water too), What alternate source are you using for a Crashed disk ??. I am open for suggestions ! Thanks ;D
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Is that applicable to Vista Home Premium as well? Any comments or advice!
Yes it is.
I have 4 partitions: one for Windows, one for programs, other for setup/installers/movies/etc. and the last one, encrypted, for data and documents ;)
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What alternate source are you using for a Crashed disk ??
Do you have a partition backup?
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Sir, was thinking the same thing after my power supply went south, and I had to replace it. (Was dead in the water too), What alternate source are you using for a Crashed disk ??. I am open for suggestions ! Thanks ;D
I store my backup image on a usb external hard drive.
MySharedFiles (http://mysharedfiles.no-ip.org/) is also stored and run from an external usb hard drive.
If the main computer goes down, I simply move it over to another system till the problem is resolved. :)
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Is that applicable to Vista Home Premium as well? Any comments or advice!
Yes it is.
I have 4 partitions: one for Windows, one for programs, other for setup/installers/movies/etc. and the last one, encrypted, for data and documents ;)
On my old system I used to separate my Programs from my windows partition.
This however, is an unnecessary step and one which I haven't done on my new system.
Why unnecessary, I can hear you ask. Well your registry is on the windows partition and some program settings on the C:\Documents and Settings\UserNameFolder\Application Data\ folder these are the links to your programs, on the second partition. So if you had a problem you would still have to restore the primary windows and secondary program partitions so they are effectively in synch.
So if you have installed, updated or tweaked any program settings in the period between the last back-up image and the crash, etc., these may not be reflected in the restoration of an image for just your primary windows partition.
I now just have the Windows primary partition, a Data partition to back-up to either 2nd HDD or external storage. If I had a lot of media files, then I would have them on their own partition, but for the small amount I have they get stored in a Media folder on the Data partition.
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So if you have installed, updated or tweaked any program settings in the period between the last back-up image and the crash, etc., these may not be reflected in the restoration of an image for just your primary windows partition.
Sometimes, I want just the system back, and let the programs in the latest installed version (not reflected in registry, but in files).
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The problem is a lot of info is stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\UserNameFolder\Application Data\ folder so you could have some program related issues because of the possibility of being out of synch, whilst it is likely to be a limited/low risk it is still a possibility.
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The possibility of being out of synch
For that things I use Mozy (on-line backup) ;)
But you're right... without it, a lot of personal settings are lost...
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Sir, was thinking the same thing after my power supply went south, and I had to replace it. (Was dead in the water too), What alternate source are you using for a Crashed disk ??. I am open for suggestions ! Thanks ;D
I store my backup image on a usb external hard drive.
MySharedFiles (http://mysharedfiles.no-ip.org/) is also stored and run from an external usb hard drive.
If the main computer goes down, I simply move it over to another system till the problem is resolved. :)
Sounds good !. I am looking at a USB CD Burner (hp). May do the job !!. Thanks
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I am looking at a USB CD Burner (hp).
I strongly suggest you use an USB HDD and not a CD Burner... more reliable, more space.
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I am looking at a USB CD Burner (hp). May do the job !!. Thanks
A usb CD drive would never accoplish what I described.
I utilize 3 external USB drives 2 at 250 Gig each and the latest addition is 500 Gig. :)
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OK !! Will check out some more USB HHD's. The ones i looked (Tiger direct) all had bad to unacceptable reviews. (any other place on line to look ?) I believe Bob gave a sight back when, But can not find it now. Thanks again all.
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OK !! Will check out some more USB HHD's. The ones i looked (Tiger direct) all had bad to unacceptable reviews. (any other place on line to look ?) I believe Bob gave a sight back when, But can not find it now. Thanks again all.
Hi, I don't know where you live, but I just bought a I/O Magic usb 320gb external hard drive off the clearance rack at Target for $49 us. 8) It works just fine.I personally wouldn't worry about reviews.Hope this helps, tim
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The ones I bought came from a sales alert from the following forum:
http://www.resellerratings.com/forum/ (http://www.resellerratings.com/forum/)
Like Tim, I also don't listen to every review. :)
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Thank You Gentelman. Will check it out !!! :)
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Well most of the bad reviews of external drives come from the fact that they tend to fail more often than internal drives due to heat. Thats why I look for external enclosures that have a fan and good ventilation ports on them.
Also While they tend to cost a little more, I usually recommend Firewire (IEEE 1394) based external drives. Most computers today have at least one Firewire port. Firewire devices keep a constant speed during operation rather than the fluctuations in speed that USB drives have. This makes them better for accessing large files at a constant rate (like video files).
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Well most of the bad reviews of external drives come from the fact that they tend to fail more often than internal drives due to heat. Thats why I look for external enclosures that have a fan and good ventilation ports on them.
Also While they tend to cost a little more, I usually recommend Firewire (IEEE 1394) based external drives. Most computers today have at least one Firewire port. Firewire devices keep a constant speed during operation rather than the fluctuations in speed that USB drives have. This makes them better for accessing large files at a constant rate (like video files).
Learning a lot. Thanks Mac for the info. ;D
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Well most of the bad reviews of external drives come from the fact that they tend to fail more often than internal drives due to heat. Thats why I look for external enclosures that have a fan and good ventilation ports on them.
Also While they tend to cost a little more, I usually recommend Firewire (IEEE 1394) based external drives. Most computers today have at least one Firewire port. Firewire devices keep a constant speed during operation rather than the fluctuations in speed that USB drives have. This makes them better for accessing large files at a constant rate (like video files).
Mac, will this drive work with Windows ME ? I know if I ask them, they will say YES just to sell It. Thanks Hard Disk Drives > External USB/Firewire > 3.5" Externals > USB
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This will work provided you have either of the two ports mentioned.
Be sure you have the latest driver updates.
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Thanks Bob. :)
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Like Bob said it should work fine in Windows ME, Microsoft even released a update for Windows 98 to add Firewire support so its supported in almost every Microsoft OS.
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Great, Thanks Mac !!
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I just downloaded Easeus Partition Manager. I was reading the help file and noticed that it said I would lose all my information on my hard disk to do it. Is that true? I just reinstalled Windows a little while ago and don't want to have to do that again so soon.
As recommended in this thread, I also have considered buying an external hard drive, and found one that is both USB and Firewire. Since I have one XP computer with USB and another newer Vista computer with Firewire, this looking interesting.
Does anyone know anything about it. If so, what do you think?
BTW it was on sale at Buy.com.
It doesn't mention Windows Vista operating system in the Tech Specs either.
Ro Ro
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Hi roro,
Maybe the picture I just took will answer your question. :) ;D :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/bob3160/Avast%20Forum/roro.png)
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Hi Bob
I see you have one. Does it work on Vista?
How does it compare with the Maxtor STM305004OTA3E5-RK OneTouch 4 Plus 500GB External Hard Drive mentioned in the post by Hines 232?
The price for each is about the same when you factor in S & H at Tiger Direct, and free shipping at Buy.com.
RoRo
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roro,
It's a hard drive and works on all operating systems. I've had it connected the my laptop (vista) but am now using it
on this XP SP3 system.
I can't compare it to another model since I don't have the other model. :)
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That sounds great Bob as I have both those OS systems to use it on. I really don't like all the negative reports on the Maxtor so will probably go with the Fantom.
thanks for your feedback. 8) 8)
Ro Ro
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Hi Bob
I see you have one. Does it work on Vista?
How does it compare with the Maxtor STM305004OTA3E5-RK OneTouch 4 Plus 500GB External Hard Drive mentioned in the post by Hines 232?
The price for each is about the same when you factor in S & H at Tiger Direct, and free shipping at Buy.com.
RoRo
Vista actually has the best support for Firewire devices of any Windows OS. Its the only windows OS to support Firewire 800 devices without a patch or registry tweak :).
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I got my Fantom 500 GB firewire/USB hard drive today. I assume since it is FAT32 ready, that it will install flawlessly on my Vista home premium machine. Am I correct? Also does switching from XP to Vista require any adjustments? Can I have it attached to both a firewire port and a USB port at the same time, so I can use it on both machines simultaneously?
Ro Ro 8) 8)
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BTW, since I added this twice by mistake, can I delete it from the topic? :o :o
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I got my Fantom 500 GB firewire/USB hard drive today. I assume since it is FAT32 ready, that it will install flawlessly on my Vista home premium machine. Am I correct? Also does switching from XP to Vista require any adjustments? Can I have it attached to both a firewire port and a USB port at the same time, so I can use it on both machines simultaneously?
Hi Roro...
It should work flawlessly with both of your systems, it may not even require the driver CD. :) However, I don't think you will be able to use it on both systems simultaneously.
Best Regards...
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I'm using PING for ages. With some trimming you can burn Windows XP image on single 700MB CD. Haven't tried Vista since i'm not sure it would fit on single layer DVD. Maybe dual layer one. But i just have it stored on my second drive. Restoration takes 5 minutes lol...
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roro,
Your connection options are one or the other. Not Both
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Thank you Bob and Ardvark,
I just connected the hard drive up and am copying files. I couldn't use the Firewire connection as I have 4 pin Firewire on my PC and the connecting cable is 6 pin. I have to get an 6 pin to 4 pin adapter, and when I do I will try the Firewire as it is supposed to be much faster. Right now my 7 Gig is taking 15 minutes to copy. Everything went well so far. Thanks for the information. I will be sure to disconnect from one machine and then reconnect on another.
Ro Ro 8) 8)
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Firewire like USB (1 and 2) has two incarnations, firewire 400 and 800 I believe.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire) for full info.
Comparison to USB
Although high-speed USB 2.0 nominally runs at a higher signaling rate (480 Mbit/s) than FireWire 400, typical USB PC-hosts rarely exceed sustained transfers of 280 Mbit/s, with 240 Mbit/s being more typical. This is likely due to USB's reliance on the host-processor to manage low-level USB protocol, whereas FireWire delegates the same tasks to the interface hardware. For example, the FireWire host interface supports memory-mapped devices, which allows high-level protocols to run without loading the host CPU with interrupts and buffer-copy operations.[18]
FireWire 800 is substantially faster than Hi-Speed USB.[19]
So depending on the firewire on your system, if it is 400 then it wouldn't be that much difference from USB 2.
Looks like this is your version of firewire:
Enhancements (IEEE 1394a-2000)
An amendment IEEE 1394a was released in 2000, which both clarified and enhanced the original specification. It added in support for asynchronous streaming, quicker bus reconfiguration, packet concatenation, and a power saving suspend mode.
1394a also standardized the 4-pin connector already widely in use. The 4-pin version is used on many consumer devices such as camcorders, laptops, and other small FireWire devices. Though fully data compatible with 6-pin interfaces, it lacks power connectors.]Enhancements (IEEE 1394a-2000)
An amendment IEEE 1394a was released in 2000, which both clarified and enhanced the original specification. It added in support for asynchronous streaming, quicker bus reconfiguration, packet concatenation, and a power saving suspend mode.
1394a also standardized the 4-pin connector already widely in use. The 4-pin version is used on many consumer devices such as camcorders, laptops, and other small FireWire devices. Though fully data compatible with 6-pin interfaces, it lacks power connectors.
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Even if its Firewire 400, it will still outpace USB. Firewire keeps a constant transfer rate very near its 400Mbps max, where USB fluctuates and does not usually transfer anywhere near its max speed (as Davids quote said USB rarely transfers above 280Mbit).
Also, I Windows Vista has better support for firewire devices than Windows XP, something to keep in mind.
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Hi Roro...
You're welcome, glad to help! :)
Best regards...
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Hi roro,
Hope you get a lot of good use out of your new toy. :)
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THANKS AGAIN.
I did back up 15 gigs of files using USB 2.0 today. When I get my 6 to 4 pin Firewire adapter, I will be able to compare speeds. It will be interesting to see what difference it makes. It is nice to have everything on one HD.
Ro Ro
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http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp (http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp)
Here is a FREE disc imaging program that I've been using for a few weeks now. Very nice gui and fast (at least for me). Works well on vista 64 bit ,paragon let me down on this one . The free version does require you to use the boot cd to restore an image. Can backup to external drives or dvd so really there's no reason for people not to have a full backup solution in place. :) Hope this helps,tim
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http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp (http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp)
Here is a FREE disc imaging program that I've been using for a few weeks now. Very nice gui and fast (at least for me). Works well on vista 64 bit ,paragon let me down on this one . The free version does require you to use the boot cd to restore an image. Can backup to external drives or dvd so really there's no reason for people not to have a full backup solution in place. :) Hope this helps,tim
Did you test it? Does it really works on a running Windows, i.e., backup the whole partition while it's in use? Wow! Seems promising...
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Did you test it? Does it really works on a running Windows, i.e., backup the whole partition while it's in use? Wow! Seems promising...
Hi,yes it does. I may be wrong but I believe most imaging programs will create an image while running windows. For sure paragon and acronisTI do.
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I have had good luck with both the USB connection and the Firewire 400 connection. I realized that I already had a 6 to 4 pin adapter cable that I had used for a camcorder. The Firewire is faster. After backing up both my laptop and desktop computers, I still have 400 gigs left. Buy.com was selling it for $109.99 with free shipping last time I looked if anyone is interested.
http://www.buy.com/cat/firewire_hard_drives/450.html?dcaid=17873
RoRo
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http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp (http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp)
Here is a FREE disc imaging program that I've been using for a few weeks now. Very nice gui and fast (at least for me). Works well on vista 64 bit ,paragon let me down on this one . The free version does require you to use the boot cd to restore an image. Can backup to external drives or dvd so really there's no reason for people not to have a full backup solution in place. :) Hope this helps,tim
Did you test it? Does it really works on a running Windows, i.e., backup the whole partition while it's in use? Wow! Seems promising...
Yes it does, you can also schedule backups but the free version doesn't have incremental/differential backups. Tried it a few months ago on Vista 32bit, worked well for me. Very fast at creating a full system image.