What imaging software do you use?

[katana]

What imaging software, preferably free, do people use to backup their Windows installation (Win XP), so you can quickly restore Windows when it becomes corrupted?

I used to use an old copy of Norton Ghost from 2003 but it's a bit out of date now.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[FlorC]

I have winXP for 9 years now , never had the OS corrupted.

How do you get your OS corrupted?

Just make backups to extenal drives for the DATA you don't want to lose.

If your HDD is ok , and you have enough security , you don't need imaging. Worst case is a clean install.

[DogNo1]

I recently lost an Installation of Win 8.1 due to a problem with an auto-starting online backup program. It needed to do an update but couldn't do it while the program was running but there was no way to stop the program. I removed it from start on boot up but when the machine restarted, it was trashed. Couldn't bring it back using the system repair disk and returning to a restore point. All but the most recent one had disappeared. Nightmare. I ended up installing Win 10 Technical Preview and then laboriously installing all of my applications. I recommend using True Image 2015 along with their online backup option. I wish that I had backed up the computer that I lost but I had absentmindedly backed it up to Windows Home Server back in Japan and forgot to backup with True Image because I only use the computer here in Bangkok.

You will find a lot of free imaging applications on the web if you Google for backup software. The easiest to use and most complete always cost something. Ghost and Backup Exec are very expensive. Probably the best solution for the money is True Image. Also, believe it or not, I once lost everything on three separate disks due to clumsiness and mistakes. Now I use multiple USB drives, an NAS, a home server and online backup.

This might be a good time to upgrade to Win 10 and to save your important files to multiple targets. There was very recently a post by a TV member who lost some irreplaceable files when trying to copy them from an external drive to his computer and then to another external drive. If he had put a copy of his files on One Drive or Google Drive, they wouldn't be lost. It pays to be very careful with irreplaceable files. Good luck.

[katana]

Thanks.
Freeware i've found so far but haven't tried are
Easeus ToDo Backup
Macrium Reflect Free
+ several other free ones here:
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-free-backup-software-11-programs-we-recommend-1137924
I think the free versions are limited in features and try to get you to upgrade to the respective paid versions.
Norton Ghost 2003 worked fine and was easy to use when backing up an image to the same disk (albeit a separate partition) as the operating system was installed on.
However, recently when I tried to backup an image to a disk that the operating system wasn't installed to, the process failed with some error involving the 'partition table'.

[firefox999uk]

Acronis True Image....not free but does the job exceptionaly well with many many features.

http://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/pc-backup/

i see there is a free trail available.

Have a Nice Day.

[WhizBang]

Acronis. Been using Acronis for years and never a problem with Win XP, 7 or 8.1.

[Tywais]

And also an Acronis user for a few years now.

[NanLaew]

Easeus ToDo Backup is part of my road warrior, must-have software. I discovered it a few years back when my Acronis couldn't deliver what I wanted on an emergency laptop resuscitation in the bush.

[innerspace]

Rsync for backing up data and clonezilla for full reinstallable system images. Both linux based and the former wont help windows users (easily) although clonezilla can be put on a usb drive to backup a windows machine.

[phazey]

Macrium Reflect Free +1

Used it a lot to image and move my system partition over to different drives. Recommended.

[lostinisaan]

Acronis True Image....not free but does the job exceptionaly well with many many features.

http://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/pc-backup/

i see there is a free trail available.

Have a Nice Day.

+ 1 I'm using Acronis for quite a long time had the 2011 version which worked well and now using True Image 2014. A fantastic program.

You can do back ups, restore programs and you can clone a hard drive, exactly how you had it before. ( Just in case you see a warning that your HD has a problem.

Then you just buy a new HD, put it in a box, clone your HD, change the drives and all is back to normal. You won't lose a file and all is where it was before.

I'm sitting here now and have to put all programs on a machine, i had backed up with Acronis, but accidentally deleted it, because I have 5 computers backed up on one drive.

But when you're stupid, you'll have to pay the price. Got to put all that stuff on the school computer, because I was not careful enough to read what i had deleted.

Sorry to say that, but programs are only as good as the people who're using them.

If I have a problem I switch Acronis on, the restore takes not longer than 30 minutes, even if you've got bigger files on your drive c.

Cheers-

[DogNo1]

Ghost 2003 is a little bit long in the tooth. The older imaging programs sometimes had problems imaging to external drives.

To get around that problem, I started putting a secondary drive in my machines. I always have a separate drive for data. I used to image to that secondary drive but now use external targets. As many others have observed, True Image is reliable and easy to use. The free programs that you found are OK but charge for their advanced features. For example, with Easus you have to pay for the version that will allow you to create a boot CD. You might just as well pay for True Image to start with.

[taotoo]

If I have a problem I switch Acronis on, the restore takes not longer than 30 minutes, even if you've got bigger files on your drive c.

I use Macrium V6 - for me restores average about 3 minutes from first click to desktop (delta restore).

[somchaismith]

Windows 8 has its own stock cloning software, http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/12/using-windows-8s-hidden-backup-to-clone-and-recover-your-whole-pc/ .

Before this I would use DriveClone Pro.

[bendejo]

+1 Acronis TI

A smart investment.

[Chicog]

I have winXP for 9 years now , never had the OS corrupted.

How do you get your OS corrupted?

Just make backups to extenal drives for the DATA you don't want to lose.

If your HDD is ok , and you have enough security , you don't need imaging. Worst case is a clean install.

If you have any connection to the internet on that, right now you are just begging for a ransomware attack.

Just saying'