computer backup question

[gchappel]

Need some guidance for computer backup.
Windows xp pro, home system, no network
I have "faithfully" been using an external maxtor external harddrive and the supplied Retrospect Express software for my backups over the last 8 months or so. I recently had a hardware failure, and my C drive basically went away, unbootable, local guys could not recover. BTW my data is all on a seperate drive, so no data loss here. I thought no problem, I have my backup. What a pain. At least with this software you first must reload windows and a couple of the service upgrades. Then you reload the restore program and go from there to recovery. The recovery was error prone, with multiple steps involved. I did recover the majority of the programs on C. I lost several links, had to reregister several programs, like adobe cs2, etc. Things are basically running, but I still have some final clean up to do. It took 2 days on and off after they installed a new harddrive. There has to be an easier way?
I am looking for a backup system that will back up my entire computer, including operating system probalby to an external harddrive. I don't have anything that vital on this machine but I could see a full backup once a month and an incremental backup weekly. It would be nice if that were automated, but manual would not be a big deal. BUT when the bad stuff happens I would like to be able to boot from a recovery CD, push a couple of buttons, come back the next morning and have my machine back- exactly like it was. Is that too much to ask from software? I used Norton Ghost 10+ years ago, it was pretty cumbersome at that time but I think it did complete recoveries. What are you guys using?
Thanks
Gary

[widebody911]

Not sure I can help you much, but I have felt your pain. Another reason why Windoze isn't ready for prime-time in the IT world.

At work, I use Altiris and Ghost for capturing and restoring images, but I'm not sure how well that would scale down to the home user. It's possible to use these tools to store an system image on an unused disk partition or an extra disk, but for onsey-twosey file restores, your out of luck.

[rcecale]

Thom, I'm not sure individual file restoration was possible in previous versions of Ghost (cuz I never had to do it) but the latest version, Ghost 9, definitely performs this task.

You can also make images while still in Windows, something not previously possible.

At a little over $100.00, I would receomend this program with no reservations.

Randy

[id10t]

ghost explorer allows you to browse a ghost image to pull out individual files. We use it here at work for deploying hundreds of lab machines at once.

At home, I use linux, so ghost won't work for me (it doesn't compress ext[2|3] filesystems), but I can just copy all the importatnt stuff over to a different drive, or use dd or netcat or...

[SpeedracerIndy]

I've been contemplating this for a while. I run a web server with LOTS of important data, and the backup method I use now is pretty crappy. Can Ghost be set up to image a drive on a schedule? I would like to be able to mirror a drive twice a week in the middle of the night.

[gchappel]

I have been talking to symantec- for the home user it does seem that ghost 9 can do these backups- of coarse I will not know until I crash and test it. It can be scheduled to do unattended backups. Symantec also has a similar product called livestate, on the commercial site- not for home use. It seems to be the same as ghost 9, with similar pricing for a single desktop license- but it can backup networks and servers. I am going to try ghost this weekend, thanks for your help
gary

[930addict]

Another great program for backups is True Image from Acronis. It won PC Magazines editors Choice and is very easy to use. I've used this on servers and desktops. I prefer this over Ghost. Plus the home version is $50. Good luck!

BTW...There are two versions: Enterprise and home edition.

The enterprise is $999. THe home edition is $49.99.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/