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XP hard drive cloning recommendations sought

Discussion in 'Technology' started by Fast_ian, Mar 22, 2009.

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  1. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    Ian Anderson
    #1 Fast_ian, Mar 22, 2009
    Hey,

    I've just installed a 32GB FAT32 partition on my (internal, dual boot) hard drive. Nice "clean" (and up to date) XP SP3 install.

    I want to back it up (to an external 100GB USB drive) and reckon cloning the sucker is the way to go (?) I searched around and was overwhelmed by the options available - Many of which didn't seem to be very well reviewed.

    I'm a little out of touch with this stuff in PC land - Any recommendations? [Preferably free of course, although that's certainly not mandatory.]

    Any other ideas?

    TIA, cheers,
    Ian
     
  2. Asian1118

    Asian1118 F1 Rookie

    Mar 23, 2005
    3,834
    Shelby twp
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    James
    #2 Asian1118, Mar 22, 2009
  3. silk32

    silk32 Formula Junior

    Jul 16, 2005
    543
    ASS MASS N.Attleboro
    Full Name:
    matt
    #3 silk32, Mar 22, 2009
    acronis all the way. we use it to image all our server/workstations
     
  4. the_stig

    the_stig F1 Rookie

    Sep 19, 2005
    3,497
    #4 the_stig, Mar 22, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2009
    There was a free version of Acronis offered some time ago - perhaps you could still find it.
    Otherwise the 2 biggies in the free arena are Clonezilla and DriveImage XML. I've found DriveImage XML to be a bit finicky but never invested the time and effort to find out why.
    Of course the 800lb gorilla in disk imaging is Symantec's Norton Ghost Corporate.

    PS: Seagate and Maxtor used to use OEM-branded versions of Acronis which came bundled with their drives. If you have one of their drives look and see if you got DiscWizard or MaxBlast with it.
     
  5. yoda

    yoda F1 Rookie

    Sep 27, 2004
    2,598
    UT
    #5 yoda, Mar 23, 2009
    Acronis is what we used at my old work. At my new place of work we use Norton Ghost, yes it's old, very old, but it seems to get the job done.
     
  6. powerpig

    powerpig F1 World Champ

    Oct 12, 2008
    11,078
    Huntsville, AL
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    Kevin
    #6 powerpig, Mar 23, 2009
    I've used a lot of backup and cloning software including Acronis and Ghost. I really like Ghost and have used it quite a bit. Lately, I've been using the free edition of Macrium Reflect and it works well. You might want to give it a try. Link below.
    http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
     
  7. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    Ian Anderson
    #7 Fast_ian, Mar 23, 2009
    Hey,

    Very many thanks to all who responded - Appreciated!

    I was just about to bite the bullet with Acronis, but Macrium looks really promising.

    Thanks again,
    Cheers,
    Ian
     

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