WaIIy wrote:
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:28:09 -0600, The Max
wrote:

After much spirited debate, I think a summary is called for.
Keep in mind that I own both Casper and Acronis True Image
and use both on a daily basis.

/Anna Mode ON - with apologies

There is much interest in making a backup of one's system disk.
The two most frequently used methods involve making a clone of
the disk, or making an image of the disk.

CLONING
Cloning makes an exact copy of your system disk on another
disk. IT REQUIRES FULL USE OF THE SECOND DISK, either
internal or external.

That disk is then bootable, the same as the system disk. If the
original disk physically fails, it can be replaced with the
cloned disk. If the cloned disk is an internal disk and the
BIOS permits, then one merely needs to set it first in the boot
order and run with it. Windows will load normally and all the
settings/programs will be the same as on the original disk as if
nothing had happened.

If the cloned disk is used as a backup in case the system disk
gets fried (Windows gets badly messed up and won't boot, or
boots with everything screwed up), the clone can be used to
"reverse clone" to the system disk, restoring it to operation.
A bootable CD with the cloning software will be needed to
accomplish that restoration.

If one only wants to restore selected portions of the system
disk - as when data gets accidentally deleted - that data can be
copied from the clone and pasted to the system disk.

IMAGING
Imaging your system disk makes a file - usually a compressed
and proprietary file, only usable by the imaging program. It
should be made/stored on a second disk - either internal or
external.

IMAGING DOES NOT REQUIRE FULL USE OF THE SECOND DISK.

You can make as many images (or incremental images to the
original) as there is space available on that second disk. A
full image is normally smaller than the data that is contained
on the source disk. An incremental (update of a full image) is
much smaller than the full image.

If the system disk physically fails, a new disk must be
installed. One then uses the imaging program to restore
everything to the new disk.

If the system disk gets "fried" - as in Windows won't load,
etc. - restoration is performed to that disk.

A bootable CD with the imaging program on it will be required
to make the restoration

CASPER 5.0
Casper makes the clone from within Windows, and it can make
incremental clones - updates to that clone - saving a lot of
time for those who make frequent clones. How long the original
clone takes - or how long the incremental clone takes - depends
on the amount of data on the source disk.

Casper makes DIFERENTIAL clones....


Incremental

A "normal" incremental backup will only back up files that have
been changed since the last backup of any type. This provides the
quickest means of backup, since it only makes copies of files
that have not yet been backed up. For instance, following a full
backup on Friday, Monday's tape will contain only those files
changed since Friday. Tuesday's tape contains only those files
changed since Monday, and so on. The downside to this is that in
order to perform a full restore, one needs to restore the last
full backup first, followed by each of the subsequent incremental
backups to the present day in the correct order. Should any one
of these backup copies be damaged (particularly the full backup),
the restore will be incomplete.

An example of a typical incremental backup command in MS-DOS
would be: xcopy c:\source\*.* d:\destination\*.* /s /m

Differential

A cumulative backup of all changes made since the last full or
normal backup, i.e., the differences since the last full backup.
The advantage to this is the quicker recovery time, requiring
only a full backup and the latest differential backup to restore
the system. The disadvantage is that for each day elapsed since
the last full backup, more data needs to be backed up, especially
if a significant proportion of the data has been changed.



NOTE 1: CASPER CAN ONLY MAKE CLONES. It cannot make
images.

Casper can also make differential copies and doesn't need the
whole destination disk to do it.

NOTE 2: CASPER REQUIRES FULL USE OF THE SECOND DISK.

NOTE 3: If the clone has been made to an external disk, the
restoration process will require having a bootable CD with
Casper on it. That will cost and additional $10 as it is not
provided when one spends the $50 to purchase the Casper program.

I back up via USB to a drive in an enclosure and it's fully bootable
if I pop it in my computer. Is that an "external disk"?
I can't boot my usb drive.

It's an external HD until you take it out of the enclosure and put it
inside, at which point it becomes an internal HD.

ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 2009
Acronis True Image 2009 (and previous versions) can also make a
clone but after setting up the cloning process, a reboot is
required and the cloning is completed outside of Windows. It
cannot make "incremental clones", so one will need to make an
entirely NEW clone to keep the clone updated.

Major disadvantage.

For clone operations, yes. (But ATI does something similar with images)

The cloning is a bit faster than Casper's full clone, but
updates - since they are also a full clone - take a lot more time
than Casper's incremental cloning.

HOWEVER... Acronis True Image CAN ALSO MAKE IMAGES - complete
and incremental, manually or on a schedule - and it makes them
from within Windows. Remember that one can make as many images
over time as one wants to make, limited only by the space on the
receiving disk.

IMAGING DOES NOT REQUIRE FULL USE OF A SECOND DISK.

Acronis True Image can also make images of selected
data/files/directories - at your choosing - either manually or
on a schedule.

AND... one doesn't have to copy and paste to restore selected
files/directories: one can browse those images with ATI and
selectively restore from them as needed.

That's no advantage, it's a disadvantage.

Not necessarily! In fact for me it's an advantage.

Acronis does it all - and a lot MORE. It has a lot of other
utilities that one might find useful.

Nothins does it "all" , not even your mom.

It can even create a hidden partition on your system disk and
fill it with all that is needed to restore the system partition
at startup - as long as there is enough room to create a hidden
partition that will hold it all.

It does all that can be expected from a full-featured backup
program - and more - at a lower cost than Casper, which can only
make clones.

and copies and it's easier and it works in the background and
it's way faster than Acronis and you have a full and intact copy
of your system easily available at all times.

Acronis True Image costs the same as Casper if bought from the
company site: $50, and there is no need to spend another $10 to
get the bootable CD or ISO file to make one. However, the
latest version and the previous version can be purchased at
discount from Newegg.com

/Anna Mode OFF - WHEW!

Richie Hardwick