Backup Software Recommendation

On Dec 1, 8:10 pm, "Anna" wrote:
"Meebers" wrote in message
.. .

I have been using Casper for several versions now and am very
happy
with
it. I use removable HDD racks for my backups and in the event of a
main
HDD
failure or software glitches, its a matter of minutes before I am
back
up
and running. Data is exactly as it was when you last did a
backup.
( do
it
often) The smart clone feature updates only what has changed since
last
backup, and if done weekly takes 3-5 minutes typically. The only
negative
I have of Casper is the license will not allow it on more than one
computer. (I would like a desktop/laptop license or one that you
could
use
over your own home network to backup your laptop)
On Nov 30, 11:53 am, "Anna" wrote:
Meebers:
Your experience parallels ours in that the "SmartClone" feature of
Casper
4.0 is one of the primary reasons we highly recommend this
disk-to-disk
cloning program.

I would just like to emphasize that the program we're talking about
is
the
Casper 4.0 program, not the Casper XP program which I believe may
be
still
available. We were never thrilled with the Casper XP program
although
we're
aware of users who thought well of it.

I was also glad to see your comment concerning the value of
removable
hard
drives, i.e., mobile racks with removable trays in a PC desktop
environment.
We have been promoting the use of these devices for many years now.
While
not every desktop PC can be so equipped, we encourage the use of
removable
HDDs whenever possible. A pet statement of ours is "Once you've
worked
with
removable hard drives in your desktop PC, your only regret will be
that
you
did not previously equip your computer with this hardware
arrangement."
It's
that good.
Anna
"Robert" wrote in message
...
Hello Anna,
I read your information above and although I'm not yet ready to
proceed with my external hard drive and my Seagate hard drive hasn't
arrived as yet I'm still considering building a external hard drive
and indeed I may have to to transfer my files etc and them copy them
back to the new drive. I know I may be getting ahead of myself here
but I have been reading the replies given and trying to learn what I
can, and it seems so daunting to change a drive, given the BIOS,
RAID
and other terms which I'm just basically familar with. My question
is
that you mentioned of buying a PCI card to upgrade my system to USB
2.0 and was wondering if you could recommend any? I saw Zonet, but I
really don't know what specs I'm looking for. Also can I use the
same
kind of Seagate drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....t=seagate+inte...)
for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something with
much more memory?
Robert
On Nov 30, 6:39 pm, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
I take it that you've already ordered that 160 GB HDD Seagate and are
awaiting its arrival. Is that so?

I'm not sure I quite understand your objective at this particular
point
in
time. Are you planning to use the Seagate as a backup drive in a USB
external enclosure or are you planning to install it as your primary
internal HDD to replace your present HDD? Could you clarify your
intentions
at this time?

As far as disk capacity I would think 160 GB disk capacity should
suffice
in
your specific situation. I don't imagine (based on your previous
posts)
that
the total data you are and will be working with in the future will be
even
close to exceeding that disk capacity but you are the best judge of
that.
On
the other hand one would be hard-pressed to find someone complaining
over
the fact that they should have bought a smaller capacity HDD than the
larger
one they bought.

Anyway, assuming for a moment that you plan to use that Seagate (or
some
other HDD) as the drive in a USB external enclosure and would be
upgrading
your system from its present USB 1 (1.1) capability to USB 2.0
capability
by
purchasing a PCI card having USB 2.0 capability...

I really don't have any specific recommendation for any particular USB
2.0
PCI card. We really haven't noticed any significant differences in any
particular brand or model of card as it affects the card's
performance.
They
all seem to do the job. The one I believe I previously referred to you
athttp://www.directron.com/aud041.htmlshouldsuffice. It's certainly
cheap
enough and has four USB 2.0 ports. But take a look at the newegg.com
offerings re the different makes/models they carry and user comments.
Anna- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
"Robert" wrote in message

...

Hi Anna,
Sorry if I haven't been all that clear. Yes, I've already ordered the
Seagate and LG DVD/RW drives and I'm waiting for them to arrive. The
LG shouldn't be any problem to install. So I'm not worried about
that.

I'm planning on using the Seagate as my primary hard drive and from
what I've read so far installation is very involved e.g. BIOS, Raid,
partitioning, etc. There's no reason to keep the old drive (master/
slave) other than transferring the files over then disconnect it or
delete the drive, or? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have
in this regard.

After I install the Seagate as my primary hard drive I was thinking of
buying an enclosure (any suggestions?) with perhaps another Seagate
for an external hard drive and buying a PCI card to upgrade my
computer from USB 1.0 to 2.0 so that the transfer is more acceptable.
Am I heading in the right direction with all of this?

I hope I made a little more sense this time but you have to understand
its allot to deal with, at least for me it is. I'll be allot happier
once I've installed my internal hard drive.

Robert
On Dec 1, 6:58 am, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
1. Installing a new HDD to replace your present HDD isn't a particularly
involved operation. Assuming you've had no experience in these matters
it's
always best if you had a knowledgeable friend at your side to guide you
through the operation. But there's no reason why you couldn't undertake
the
process yourself. As I recall you have a Dell machine so it would be a
good
idea to access Dell's site and locate their technical guide re your
machine.
Generally speaking their diagrams & text are pretty good so it should
help
you understand the process. You needn't be concerned with any RAID issues
nor is there likely to be any complicated BIOS-setting issues.

But there is something to consider before going ahead with this
operation...
1. Are you planning to copy the *entire* contents of your present HDD
onto
the new Seagate HDD, including the XP OS, all your programs &
applications,
and your user-created data? In short, make a duplicate of your existing
HDD?
This process is commonly known as a "disk-cloning" operation. Assuming
the
Seagate you purchased is a retail, boxed version of the HDD it will
include
a disk-to-disk cloning utility (Seagate has been using a version of the
Acronis True Image program and I believe it's still included with their
retail versions). But if not included because you purchased an OEM
version
of the HDD you can still obtain the disk-cloning utility from Seagate's
site. (You also mentioned something about purchasing the ATI program in
one
of your earlier posts as I recall. So that program would do the job as
well).

Anyway, if you go that route probably the most practical way in your
situation would be to first install the Seagate in a USB external
enclosure
(I don't have any specific recommendation re that device - we've worked
with
many different makes & models and they all seem to do the job, but again,
peruse newegg.com for their extensive offerings). Then you would use the
disk-cloning program to undertake that disk-to-disk cloning operation;
after
which you would remove the Seagate from the enclosure and install it as
your
Primary Master in your machine. You could then install your older HDD in
the
USB enclosure and use that device as your routine backup device (using
the
disk cloning program) assuming your old HDD remains functional.

2. On the other hand if you want to make a fresh install of the XP OS
onto
the new Seagate HDD after it is installed as Primary Master, then you
would
need the XP installation CD. (I don't know if you have this CD or merely
some "recovery" CD provided by Dell). But assuming you were able to
install
a fresh copy of the XP OS onto your new HDD you would then need, of
course,
to install whatever programs you desire on the new drive together with
any
user-created data that you want from your old HDD. So you would probably
want to install the old HDD in the USB external enclosure after the new
HDD
had been internally installed and at least have access to your
user-created
data that way. But understand that you would need to have the
installation
media for whatever programs you wanted to install on the new HDD. By &
large you could *not* "copy" them over from the old onto the new HDD.

It's possible in many cases to install both HDDs - the old & the new - as
internal HDDs in your desktop machine and carry out the ...
(SNIPPED)
Anna
"Robert" wrote in message

...

Hi Anna,
Yes I'm planning to clone the entire hdd to the new Seagate hdd. I did
check and Seagate does include their disk to disk cloning cd with the
hdd. I've also been reading up on the process:http://
seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?
p_faqid=3914&p_created=1178218024&p_sid=GMQ9vRRi&p _accessibility=0&p_redire-ct=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZH NvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xNDc-5LDE0NzkmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX 3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcn-Muc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1
and
http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...user/std_adp.p...

Although I don't have anyone who can help me with this it doesn't seem
that difficult after all. What I plan to do is attach the Seagate as
the slave (making sure that the jumpers are set to Cable-Select) and
then after I've copied the entire drive and assured everything is
working I'll make the Seagate the master and disconnect the old hdd.
Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

Regarding an external hard drive; I would use my old hdd as my
external hdd but I'm sort of leery about its condition and usefulness
given its age so I think I'll just purchase another identical Seagate
hdd and enclosure along with a PCI card and CasperXp. Does this sound
like a reasonable way to go to you? I was going to use Norton Ghost
but given my experience with Norton and even though I've heard good
things about their Ghost program I would rather not deal with them
anymore. I like how Casper does a mirror image back-up which is
exactly what I want.

Robert

Robert:
Your plan, in general, sounds just fine. Just a point or two...

After you use the Seagate disk-cloning utility (which I assume is a version
of Acronis True Image) and successfully use that program to clone the
contents of your present HDD to your new Seagate - you may feel comfortable
enough with that program to continue to use it on a routine basis as your
disk-cloning backup program to your USB external HDD.

If, at some time, you decide you would prefer a different disk-cloning
program, I would strongly recommend the Casper 4.0 program in lieu of the
Casper XP program. You might have come across my recent posts concerning my
preference for the Casper 4.0 program in which I provided detailed
step-by-step instructions for using that program.

While we were heavy users of Symantec's Ghost 2003 program for a good number
of years in an XP environment our experience with their versions 9 & 10 was
rather negative and we gave up using or recommending those later versions of
the Ghost program. However, we haven't worked with later versions of
Symantec's Ghost program (I believe the latest version is 12) so I cannot
speak to them.

In any event, we're very satisfied with the Casper 4.0 program and highly
recommend that disk-cloning program.
Anna

Hi Anna,
Thank you so much for all the time you've taken to help me and answer
my questions, I appreciate it. I will let you know how the
installation and disk to disk transfer comes out. I'll leave it under
this post.


Robert

"Anna" wrote in message
...


"Meebers" wrote in message
.. .

I have been using Casper for several versions now and am very
happy
with
it. I use removable HDD racks for my backups and in the event of
a
main
HDD
failure or software glitches, its a matter of minutes before I am
back
up
and running. Data is exactly as it was when you last did a
backup.
( do
it
often) The smart clone feature updates only what has changed
since
last
backup, and if done weekly takes 3-5 minutes typically. The only
negative
I have of Casper is the license will not allow it on more than
one
computer. (I would like a desktop/laptop license or one that you
could
use
over your own home network to backup your laptop)
On Nov 30, 11:53 am, "Anna" wrote:
Meebers:
Your experience parallels ours in that the "SmartClone" feature of
Casper
4.0 is one of the primary reasons we highly recommend this
disk-to-disk
cloning program.

I would just like to emphasize that the program we're talking
about is
the
Casper 4.0 program, not the Casper XP program which I believe may
be
still
available. We were never thrilled with the Casper XP program
although
we're
aware of users who thought well of it.

I was also glad to see your comment concerning the value of
removable
hard
drives, i.e., mobile racks with removable trays in a PC desktop
environment.
We have been promoting the use of these devices for many years
now.
While
not every desktop PC can be so equipped, we encourage the use of
removable
HDDs whenever possible. A pet statement of ours is "Once you've
worked
with
removable hard drives in your desktop PC, your only regret will be
that
you
did not previously equip your computer with this hardware
arrangement."
It's
that good.
Anna
"Robert" wrote in message
...
Hello Anna,
I read your information above and although I'm not yet ready to
proceed with my external hard drive and my Seagate hard drive
hasn't
arrived as yet I'm still considering building a external hard drive
and indeed I may have to to transfer my files etc and them copy
them
back to the new drive. I know I may be getting ahead of myself here
but I have been reading the replies given and trying to learn what
I
can, and it seems so daunting to change a drive, given the BIOS,
RAID
and other terms which I'm just basically familar with. My question
is
that you mentioned of buying a PCI card to upgrade my system to USB
2.0 and was wondering if you could recommend any? I saw Zonet, but
I
really don't know what specs I'm looking for. Also can I use the
same
kind of Seagate drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....t=seagate+inte...)
for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something
with
much more memory?
Robert
On Nov 30, 6:39 pm, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
I take it that you've already ordered that 160 GB HDD Seagate and are
awaiting its arrival. Is that so?

I'm not sure I quite understand your objective at this particular
point
in
time. Are you planning to use the Seagate as a backup drive in a USB
external enclosure or are you planning to install it as your primary
internal HDD to replace your present HDD? Could you clarify your
intentions
at this time?

As far as disk capacity I would think 160 GB disk capacity should
suffice
in
your specific situation. I don't imagine (based on your previous
posts)
that
the total data you are and will be working with in the future will be
even
close to exceeding that disk capacity but you are the best judge of
that.
On
the other hand one would be hard-pressed to find someone complaining
over
the fact that they should have bought a smaller capacity HDD than the
larger
one they bought.

Anyway, assuming for a moment that you plan to use that Seagate (or
some
other HDD) as the drive in a USB external enclosure and would be
upgrading
your system from its present USB 1 (1.1) capability to USB 2.0
capability
by
purchasing a PCI card having USB 2.0 capability...

I really don't have any specific recommendation for any particular
USB
2.0
PCI card. We really haven't noticed any significant differences in
any
particular brand or model of card as it affects the card's
performance.
They
all seem to do the job. The one I believe I previously referred to
you
athttp://www.directron.com/aud041.htmlshouldsuffice. It's certainly
cheap
enough and has four USB 2.0 ports. But take a look at the newegg.com
offerings re the different makes/models they carry and user comments.
Anna- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
"Robert" wrote in message

...





Hi Anna,
Sorry if I haven't been all that clear. Yes, I've already ordered the
Seagate and LG DVD/RW drives and I'm waiting for them to arrive. The
LG shouldn't be any problem to install. So I'm not worried about
that.

I'm planning on using the Seagate as my primary hard drive and from
what I've read so far installation is very involved e.g. BIOS, Raid,
partitioning, etc. There's no reason to keep the old drive (master/
slave) other than transferring the files over then disconnect it or
delete the drive, or? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have
in this regard.

After I install the Seagate as my primary hard drive I was thinking of
buying an enclosure (any suggestions?) with perhaps another Seagate
for an external hard drive and buying a PCI card to upgrade my
computer from USB 1.0 to 2.0 so that the transfer is more acceptable.
Am I heading in the right direction with all of this?

I hope I made a little more sense this time but you have to understand
its allot to deal with, at least for me it is. I'll be allot happier
once I've installed my internal hard drive.

Robert


On Dec 1, 6:58 am, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
1. Installing a new HDD to replace your present HDD isn't a particularly
involved operation. Assuming you've had no experience in these matters
it's
always best if you had a knowledgeable friend at your side to guide you
through the operation. But there's no reason why you couldn't undertake
the
process yourself. As I recall you have a Dell machine so it would be a
good
idea to access Dell's site and locate their technical guide re your
machine.
Generally speaking their diagrams & text are pretty good so it should
help
you understand the process. You needn't be concerned with any RAID
issues
nor is there likely to be any complicated BIOS-setting issues.

But there is something to consider before going ahead with this
operation...
1. Are you planning to copy the *entire* contents of your present HDD
onto
the new Seagate HDD, including the XP OS, all your programs &
applications,
and your user-created data? In short, make a duplicate of your existing
HDD?
This process is commonly known as a "disk-cloning" operation. Assuming
the
Seagate you purchased is a retail, boxed version of the HDD it will
include
a disk-to-disk cloning utility (Seagate has been using a version of the
Acronis True Image program and I believe it's still included with their
retail versions). But if not included because you purchased an OEM
version
of the HDD you can still obtain the disk-cloning utility from Seagate's
site. (You also mentioned something about purchasing the ATI program in
one
of your earlier posts as I recall. So that program would do the job as
well).

Anyway, if you go that route probably the most practical way in your
situation would be to first install the Seagate in a USB external
enclosure
(I don't have any specific recommendation re that device - we've worked
with
many different makes & models and they all seem to do the job, but
again,
peruse newegg.com for their extensive offerings). Then you would use the
disk-cloning program to undertake that disk-to-disk cloning operation;
after
which you would remove the Seagate from the enclosure and install it as
your
Primary Master in your machine. You could then install your older HDD in
the
USB enclosure and use that device as your routine backup device (using
the
disk cloning program) assuming your old HDD remains functional.

2. On the other hand if you want to make a fresh install of the XP OS
onto
the new Seagate HDD after it is installed as Primary Master, then you
would
need the XP installation CD. (I don't know if you have this CD or merely
some "recovery" CD provided by Dell). But assuming you were able to
install
a fresh copy of the XP OS onto your new HDD you would then need, of
course,
to install whatever programs you desire on the new drive together with
any
user-created data that you want from your old HDD. So you would probably
want to install the old HDD in the USB external enclosure after the new
HDD
had been internally installed and at least have access to your
user-created
data that way. But understand that you would need to have the
installation
media for whatever programs you wanted to install on the new HDD. By &
large you could *not* "copy" them over from the old onto the new HDD.

It's possible in many cases to install both HDDs - the old & the new -
as
internal HDDs in your desktop machine and carry out the ...
(SNIPPED)
Anna

"Robert" wrote in message
...
Hi Anna,
Yes I'm planning to clone the entire hdd to the new Seagate hdd. I did
check and Seagate does include their disk to disk cloning cd with the
hdd. I've also been reading up on the process:http://
seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?
p_faqid=3914&p_created=1178218024&p_sid=GMQ9vRRi&p _accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoP SZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xNDc 5LDE0NzkmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX 3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0 x&p_li=&p_topview=1
and
http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...FnZT0x&p_l i=

Although I don't have anyone who can help me with this it doesn't seem
that difficult after all. What I plan to do is attach the Seagate as
the slave (making sure that the jumpers are set to Cable-Select) and
then after I've copied the entire drive and assured everything is
working I'll make the Seagate the master and disconnect the old hdd.
Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

Regarding an external hard drive; I would use my old hdd as my
external hdd but I'm sort of leery about its condition and usefulness
given its age so I think I'll just purchase another identical Seagate
hdd and enclosure along with a PCI card and CasperXp. Does this sound
like a reasonable way to go to you? I was going to use Norton Ghost
but given my experience with Norton and even though I've heard good
things about their Ghost program I would rather not deal with them
anymore. I like how Casper does a mirror image back-up which is
exactly what I want.

Robert


Robert:
Your plan, in general, sounds just fine. Just a point or two...

After you use the Seagate disk-cloning utility (which I assume is a
version of Acronis True Image) and successfully use that program to clone
the contents of your present HDD to your new Seagate - you may feel
comfortable enough with that program to continue to use it on a routine
basis as your disk-cloning backup program to your USB external HDD.

If, at some time, you decide you would prefer a different disk-cloning
program, I would strongly recommend the Casper 4.0 program in lieu of the
Casper XP program. You might have come across my recent posts concerning
my preference for the Casper 4.0 program in which I provided detailed
step-by-step instructions for using that program.

While we were heavy users of Symantec's Ghost 2003 program for a good
number of years in an XP environment our experience with their versions 9
& 10 was rather negative and we gave up using or recommending those later
versions of the Ghost program. However, we haven't worked with later
versions of Symantec's Ghost program (I believe the latest version is 12)
so I cannot speak to them.

In any event, we're very satisfied with the Casper 4.0 program and highly
recommend that disk-cloning program.
Anna


SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

Olórin wrote:
"Anna" wrote in message
...


"Meebers" wrote in message
...

I have been using Casper for several versions now and am very
happy
with
it. I use removable HDD racks for my backups and in the event
of a
main
HDD
failure or software glitches, its a matter of minutes before
I am back
up
and running. Data is exactly as it was when you last did a
backup.
( do
it
often) The smart clone feature updates only what has changed
since
last
backup, and if done weekly takes 3-5 minutes typically. The
only negative
I have of Casper is the license will not allow it on more than
one
computer. (I would like a desktop/laptop license or one that
you could
use
over your own home network to backup your laptop)
On Nov 30, 11:53 am, "Anna" wrote:
Meebers:
Your experience parallels ours in that the "SmartClone"
feature of Casper
4.0 is one of the primary reasons we highly recommend this
disk-to-disk
cloning program.

I would just like to emphasize that the program we're talking
about is
the
Casper 4.0 program, not the Casper XP program which I believe
may be
still
available. We were never thrilled with the Casper XP program
although
we're
aware of users who thought well of it.

I was also glad to see your comment concerning the value of
removable
hard
drives, i.e., mobile racks with removable trays in a PC desktop
environment.
We have been promoting the use of these devices for many years
now.
While
not every desktop PC can be so equipped, we encourage the use
of removable
HDDs whenever possible. A pet statement of ours is "Once you've
worked
with
removable hard drives in your desktop PC, your only regret
will be that
you
did not previously equip your computer with this hardware
arrangement."
It's
that good.
Anna
"Robert" wrote in message
...
Hello Anna,
I read your information above and although I'm not yet ready to
proceed with my external hard drive and my Seagate hard drive
hasn't
arrived as yet I'm still considering building a external hard
drive and indeed I may have to to transfer my files etc and
them copy them
back to the new drive. I know I may be getting ahead of myself
here but I have been reading the replies given and trying to
learn what I
can, and it seems so daunting to change a drive, given the BIOS,
RAID
and other terms which I'm just basically familar with. My
question is
that you mentioned of buying a PCI card to upgrade my system to
USB 2.0 and was wondering if you could recommend any? I saw Zonet,
but I
really don't know what specs I'm looking for. Also can I use the
same
kind of Seagate drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....t=seagate+inte...)
for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something
with
much more memory?
Robert
On Nov 30, 6:39 pm, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
I take it that you've already ordered that 160 GB HDD Seagate
and are awaiting its arrival. Is that so?

I'm not sure I quite understand your objective at this particular
point
in
time. Are you planning to use the Seagate as a backup drive in a
USB external enclosure or are you planning to install it as your
primary internal HDD to replace your present HDD? Could you
clarify your intentions
at this time?

As far as disk capacity I would think 160 GB disk capacity should
suffice
in
your specific situation. I don't imagine (based on your previous
posts)
that
the total data you are and will be working with in the future
will be even
close to exceeding that disk capacity but you are the best judge
of that.
On
the other hand one would be hard-pressed to find someone
complaining over
the fact that they should have bought a smaller capacity HDD
than the larger
one they bought.

Anyway, assuming for a moment that you plan to use that Seagate
(or some
other HDD) as the drive in a USB external enclosure and would be
upgrading
your system from its present USB 1 (1.1) capability to USB 2.0
capability
by
purchasing a PCI card having USB 2.0 capability...

I really don't have any specific recommendation for any
particular USB
2.0
PCI card. We really haven't noticed any significant differences
in any
particular brand or model of card as it affects the card's
performance.
They
all seem to do the job. The one I believe I previously referred
to you
athttp://www.directron.com/aud041.htmlshouldsuffice. It's
certainly cheap
enough and has four USB 2.0 ports. But take a look at the
newegg.com offerings re the different makes/models they carry
and user comments. Anna- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
"Robert" wrote in message

...





Hi Anna,
Sorry if I haven't been all that clear. Yes, I've already ordered
the Seagate and LG DVD/RW drives and I'm waiting for them to
arrive. The LG shouldn't be any problem to install. So I'm not
worried about that.

I'm planning on using the Seagate as my primary hard drive and
from what I've read so far installation is very involved e.g.
BIOS, Raid, partitioning, etc. There's no reason to keep the old
drive (master/ slave) other than transferring the files over then
disconnect it or delete the drive, or? I would appreciate any
suggestions you may have in this regard.

After I install the Seagate as my primary hard drive I was
thinking of buying an enclosure (any suggestions?) with perhaps
another Seagate for an external hard drive and buying a PCI card
to upgrade my computer from USB 1.0 to 2.0 so that the transfer
is more acceptable. Am I heading in the right direction with all
of this?

I hope I made a little more sense this time but you have to
understand its allot to deal with, at least for me it is. I'll be
allot happier once I've installed my internal hard drive.

Robert


On Dec 1, 6:58 am, "Anna" wrote:
Robert:
1. Installing a new HDD to replace your present HDD isn't a
particularly involved operation. Assuming you've had no experience
in these matters it's
always best if you had a knowledgeable friend at your side to
guide you through the operation. But there's no reason why you
couldn't undertake the
process yourself. As I recall you have a Dell machine so it would
be a good
idea to access Dell's site and locate their technical guide re your
machine.
Generally speaking their diagrams & text are pretty good so it
should help
you understand the process. You needn't be concerned with any RAID
issues
nor is there likely to be any complicated BIOS-setting issues.

But there is something to consider before going ahead with this
operation...
1. Are you planning to copy the *entire* contents of your present
HDD onto
the new Seagate HDD, including the XP OS, all your programs &
applications,
and your user-created data? In short, make a duplicate of your
existing HDD?
This process is commonly known as a "disk-cloning" operation.
Assuming the
Seagate you purchased is a retail, boxed version of the HDD it will
include
a disk-to-disk cloning utility (Seagate has been using a version
of the Acronis True Image program and I believe it's still
included with their retail versions). But if not included because
you purchased an OEM version
of the HDD you can still obtain the disk-cloning utility from
Seagate's site. (You also mentioned something about purchasing the
ATI program in one
of your earlier posts as I recall. So that program would do the
job as well).

Anyway, if you go that route probably the most practical way in
your situation would be to first install the Seagate in a USB
external enclosure
(I don't have any specific recommendation re that device - we've
worked with
many different makes & models and they all seem to do the job, but
again,
peruse newegg.com for their extensive offerings). Then you would
use the disk-cloning program to undertake that disk-to-disk
cloning operation; after
which you would remove the Seagate from the enclosure and install
it as your
Primary Master in your machine. You could then install your older
HDD in the
USB enclosure and use that device as your routine backup device
(using the
disk cloning program) assuming your old HDD remains functional.

2. On the other hand if you want to make a fresh install of the XP
OS onto
the new Seagate HDD after it is installed as Primary Master, then
you would
need the XP installation CD. (I don't know if you have this CD or
merely some "recovery" CD provided by Dell). But assuming you were
able to install
a fresh copy of the XP OS onto your new HDD you would then need, of
course,
to install whatever programs you desire on the new drive together
with any
user-created data that you want from your old HDD. So you would
probably want to install the old HDD in the USB external enclosure
after the new HDD
had been internally installed and at least have access to your
user-created
data that way. But understand that you would need to have the
installation
media for whatever programs you wanted to install on the new HDD.
By & large you could *not* "copy" them over from the old onto the
new HDD. It's possible in many cases to install both HDDs - the old &
the
new - as
internal HDDs in your desktop machine and carry out the ...
(SNIPPED)
Anna

"Robert" wrote in message
...
Hi Anna,
Yes I'm planning to clone the entire hdd to the new Seagate hdd. I
did check and Seagate does include their disk to disk cloning cd
with the hdd. I've also been reading up on the process:http://
seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/seagate.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?
p_faqid=3914&p_created=1178218024&p_sid=GMQ9vRRi&p _accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoP SZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xNDc 5LDE0NzkmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX 3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0 x&p_li=&p_topview=1
and
http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...FnZT0x&p_l i=

Although I don't have anyone who can help me with this it doesn't
seem that difficult after all. What I plan to do is attach the
Seagate as the slave (making sure that the jumpers are set to
Cable-Select) and then after I've copied the entire drive and
assured everything is working I'll make the Seagate the master and
disconnect the old hdd. Hopefully it will all go smoothly.

Regarding an external hard drive; I would use my old hdd as my
external hdd but I'm sort of leery about its condition and
usefulness given its age so I think I'll just purchase another
identical Seagate hdd and enclosure along with a PCI card and
CasperXp. Does this sound like a reasonable way to go to you? I was
going to use Norton Ghost but given my experience with Norton and
even though I've heard good things about their Ghost program I
would rather not deal with them anymore. I like how Casper does a
mirror image back-up which is exactly what I want.

Robert


Robert:
Your plan, in general, sounds just fine. Just a point or two...

After you use the Seagate disk-cloning utility (which I assume is a
version of Acronis True Image) and successfully use that program to
clone the contents of your present HDD to your new Seagate - you may
feel comfortable enough with that program to continue to use it on a
routine basis as your disk-cloning backup program to your USB
external HDD. If, at some time, you decide you would prefer a different
disk-cloning program, I would strongly recommend the Casper 4.0
program in lieu of the Casper XP program. You might have come across
my recent posts concerning my preference for the Casper 4.0 program
in which I provided detailed step-by-step instructions for using
that program. While we were heavy users of Symantec's Ghost 2003 program
for a good
number of years in an XP environment our experience with their
versions 9 & 10 was rather negative and we gave up using or
recommending those later versions of the Ghost program. However, we
haven't worked with later versions of Symantec's Ghost program (I
believe the latest version is 12) so I cannot speak to them.

In any event, we're very satisfied with the Casper 4.0 program and
highly recommend that disk-cloning program.
Anna


SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

You first.

"RA" wrote in message
...

SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

You first.

No, me first! I did it!

big snip

SOMEBODY SNIP, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!!!!

You first.


It would have lessened the impact of my point to the principal protagonists,
methinks. Unlike now.