Backing-up the primary drive (C:) as an image file

[Nielo TM]

Hey guys

I’m sure this gets asked several times, but it’s best to get specific answers from the experts than to randomly search and interpolate the information.

I know fully recovering a PC is an absolute pain. For me however, it takes around ~10 hours to install the OS, drivers, updates and the applications. And there’s always a possibility of failed recovery. I had my share of them, (several times).

So is there a way to make an image file of the C: drive, and reloaded it in event of OS failure?


PS: I know Gigabyte has an Xpress Recovery utility embedded into their latest main-boards, which will come in handy if it works.

[Nielo TM]

Forgot to mention, I currently have two partitions on a single drive. One contains the OS and applications while the other contains personal files.

So how would this work? If I have to guess, during the installation of the OS, 30GB must be left unpartitioned/unallocated, which will be then used to create the image of the primary partition.

But this brings up another question. How would I restore the imaged files? Will it simply replace the existing OS without deleting the files on the secondary partition? And is it possible to delete both partitions containing the OS and the personal date in case of an virus attack?

[gud4u]

I frequently backup my C:\System partition, currently using Acronis TI10. Takes about 3 minutes to backup to another partition on the same drive, or 12 minutes to backup to DVD media using standard compression. Recovery takes a couple minutes longer. Successful full recoveries from either media.

I keep my System partition light (XP + security apps) at about 8GB. Non-critical apps and games on other partions. This speeds up both backup and recovery time.

I highly recommend Acronis TI10, but I read a lot of posted complaints about the latest version, TI11. I'd search for TI10 (discontinued, but supported), if you can still find it

Prior to Acronis TI10, I used Terabyte Image for Windows/Image for DOS for reliable backup and recovery. Cheaper than TI, very reliable, but without the slick GUI of the Acronis product. Backup and recovery times equal to Acronis.

These comments apply to my XP installation, not Vista.

Hope this helps!

[ToX]

could use Automated System Recovery that is built in to Windows XP. you need to have an external USB drive and a floppy drive for the process.

[Blue Falcon]

If you have a Seagate or Maxtor drive, download their disk management tool. It's a custom version of Acronis Trueimage and will do exactly what you want.

[marley1]

another vote for Acronis. great software. I am using version 9 I believe and it works fine. Universal restore makes it easy to move that image to different hardware