Recommendations for Disk Imaging Software?

No problem. I was not aware that IFW could restore without a bootable media ? How do you perform this ?

 

just run a DOS prompt at boot and go to where imagew.exe is located and run it.
in Windows 7 that is easily done from the Windows Recovery Environment (F8 at boot, then Repair Your Computer/Open a Command Prompt)

you can actually put imagew.exe wherever you want.
it is indeed portable.

i got to credit Brian K here at Wilders for showing me the way.

 

OK, I see, but in case your OS has no Recovery Environment, then you need an external bootable media with any image software. I also suspect A@disk would also work from a Win7 Recovery Environment, but it should be confirmed of course.

 

Hi all! I just have been cancelled Acronis TI 2011. It is really unbelievable how buggy that software is! Hopefully in the next few months I will join to Storagecraft users, but currently do not have so much to spend...Is there any coupons floating around?? Also does somebody can tell me does Novabackup is reliable enough to use in the meantime? I need it for backing up home comp. / files on external hdd. Also would like that software have option as system back up restore on different mobo or with different config. Any suggestions? Is it some free back up software good enough for such things? (W7 back up excluded). Thanks!

 

id love a storage craft discount as well but from what i have seen they are rare.

 

I just purchased a new DELL xps pc with WIN7 x64, and see their "Backup and Restore" imaging app. Can you elaborate as to how you like using it, and how straight forward is it to use? I intend to buy a 2TB external HD for backing up my 1.5TB C drive. Using the external HD, will Backup and Restore be a good choice? Thanks in advance. I'm sure the original poster might be interested too.

 

it is so easy to use it could be called "Imaging for Dummies".
you can do incremental with it by saving to the same drive you saved you base image.
one caveat is that you can not delete just the incremental afterwards.

i found using a secondary internal HD was faster than using an external USB drive.
but it works very well either way.

really, it's so easy to use there isn't much to say about it.
i have used it since the RC was released.
it NEVER failed in well over 100 backups and restores.

if you ever feel a need for more options down the road IFW will serves you very well too.

one thing that is not widely known is that you don't need a disk to restore.
just enter 'Repair Mode' ( F8 at boot).

 

Great! That sounds perfect for me.

 

I have found Macrium Reflect very reliable and not too expensive

 

Using Macrium Reflect FREE here, think it's an upgrade to the non-free Acronis which I paid for, but caused issues and kept asking for $$$ for yearly upgrades. (Not sure if it still has the same policy and yes, you can pass on upgrades as long as it works.) After having to deal with their tech support, which didn't seem to have a clue on issues that are not in their knowledge base nor had much interest in solving the problems, I would stay away from this product.

Acronis has more bells and whistles (and probably spent more on advertising) through. It seems better at selling the product than making a good product.

Don't have any experience with Macrium's tech support because I have yet to have a use of it...

Just my 2 cents.

P.S. Does anybody know of discount/coupons for Macrium full edition...? They don't seem to offer them very often, do they...?

 

sometimes you can find macrium a bit cheaper from tiger direct (and other owned sites like compusa etc) otherwise it seems rare. or if you can use 4 lic's they have a great deal for i think 80$ for all 4... depends what you need. i bought a couple single lic's from tiger direct as a downloadable version and i saved around 10$ or so.. they were fully legit coming from a large company like tiger direct (otherwise not really a tiger direct fan)

 

Any thoughts about Novabackup? Nobody answered on my previous post regarding this one

 

it's not a program you see mentioned too often here at Wilders.

there's only 3-4 post about it here in the last 3 years.

 

@moontan: thanks! I was just wondering because PC Magazine gave them best rating...do not believe to those reviews, but anyway....

 

The 4 lic's on their site is for 80$ too. However, it doesn't included the Redeploy, which is another 20$ for 4 lic's.

Best regards.

 

Still a good deal though if you like it. That's always been my issue with Storagecraft...that you pay close to ~$90 dollars for one license on one machine. For that price with Macrium you get 4 licenses...and IFW/IFL/IFD you can get a license for use on three machines for ~$40 or so.

 

@zfactor, @King of Rapture: Thanks for the info. Not in the US through...

May get the household deal since 2 out of 3 boxes are running Win7 Home Premium and cannot backup to NAS.

Prefer to do a clean install on new machines so skim on the cost of Redeploy. Still, can I purchase the addon at a later time at the cost of $20...?

BTW, what's Macrium's upgrade policy...?

Cheers.

 

Not sure on the Macrium upgrade policy, but I do know that you can buy the Redeploy module separately at any time. Thanks.

 

Hi there,

Here is the prices link:

http://www.macrium.com/purchase.asp

Single PC
Macrium Reflect Standard License: $39.99 USD
Macrium Reflect Additions: $19.99 USD
Macrium Reflect Plus Additions Bundle: $49.98 USD

4 PC License:
Macrium Reflect Plus Additions Household 4 Pack License: $99.96 USD
Macrium Reflect Household 4 Pack License: $79.98 USD

 

i found Macrium restore times to be painfully slow compared to Drive Snapshot, IFW and Windows 7's own.
maybe the paid version is faster. i don't know...
beside the slow times, i found Macrium to be a very good product.

test drive a few of these puppies before making a purchase.

 

Agreed, test 3 or so...there are dozens out there and you will drive yourself nuts testing them all. Macrium, Drive Snapshot, and IFW is a good trio...let us know how it pans out.

 

i was specifically speaking of the single lic's a lot of times they are on sale for like 29$ at tiger direct, i have not ever seen the 4 lic pack at tiger direct

 

i was just surfing to the IFW site and it appears you can install IFW on up to 3 computers, for personal or home use.

 

IFW/IFL/IFD for ~$30 if bought through Bitsdujor.com by itself. Or for ~$30 at the TeraByte.com site if bought in combination with BootIT Bare Metal.

 

The IFW Bitsdujor deal is expired, right...?

IFW mentions PHYLock as the mechanism of backing up files in used. Aren't completely sure but Macrium seems to use the built-in VSS, how do they compare to each other...?

Cheers.