Backup Software Recommendation

"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:32:07 -0500, "Anna" wrote:


We've been working with this Casper 4.0 disk cloning program for nearly a
year now. Based on our experience to date with this program (primarily in
an
XP environment) and after using it with a few score systems and performing
hundreds of disk-cloning operations, we have finally recommended this
program to users.

What affiliation / interest do you have with Future Systems?


Wally:
None whatsoever. See my response to Brian earlier today.

If you (and perhaps others who might think I'm "shilling" for some
commercial entity) would peruse these MS newsgroups dealing with XP issues
you would come across various postings of mine over the years in which I
recommended certain of Symantec's Ghost programs as well as the Acronis True
Image program. And in many cases, in so doing I provided detailed
step-by-step instructions for using those programs. I've done so, and will
continue to do so, where I believe my comments will be useful to a specific
query or to the group at large.

For a number of years I've been asked to speak before a number of local
computer clubs in our area on various PC topics including different backup
programs, including, of course, disk-cloning & disk-imaging programs. In so
doing I ordinarily prepare (as a handout to the attendees) a detailed
background statement as to why I prefer this or that program together with
detailed step-by-step instructions for using the program under discussion.
I've done this for the Symantec, Acronis, and various other backup-type
programs. I might add this material frequently is also published in a
computer club's newsletter.

So my posts relative to a particular disk-cloning and/or disk-imaging
program where I provide that detailed information is pretty much a "copy &
paste" job since I can use the material that I've previous prepared on this
or that program. The comments & statements I make in a post are solely my
own opinion based upon my experience with a particular program. I have no
affiliation - commercial or otherwise - with the developer or purveyor of
whatever program on which I'm commenting.

I trust the above explanation satisfies your curiosity.
Anna

Personally the only backup software I use is Acronis True Image.


--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

"PT" wrote in message
...
I'd like recommendations for WinXP backup software which meet all the
following criteria:

1. backs up files intact (without compression or encrypting)
2. can back up to any external drive
3. scheduling can be automated
4. easy to use
5. capable of incremental backup.
6. priced under ~ $50

--

PT

"PT" wrote in message
...
I'd like recommendations for WinXP backup software which meet all the
following criteria:

1. backs up files intact (without compression or encrypting)
2. can back up to any external drive
3. scheduling can be automated
4. easy to use
5. capable of incremental backup.
6. priced under ~ $50

--

PT


"Anna" wrote:
Here's some detailed information about a comprehensive backup program
that
we've grown very fond of over the year or so that we've been working with
it. So you may want to add it to the list of the other recommendations
you've received. Understand that the program I'll be describing is a
"disk-to-disk cloning" program. It is basically designed to back up the
*entire* contents of your day-to-day working HDD, including your XP
operating system, all programs & applications, and, of course, your
user-created data. So it's not entirely clear from the "criteria" you
indicated whether you're interested in a comprehensive backup program
along
the lines I've indicated or you're merely interested in backing up your
user-created data files. If it's the former, read on...

We've been working with this Casper 4.0 disk cloning program for nearly a
year now. Based on our experience to date with this program (primarily in
an
XP environment) and after using it with a few score systems and
performing
hundreds of disk-cloning operations, we have finally recommended this
program to users.

Of the few dozen users of whom we're aware who have been using the
program
with some regularity, all of them - without exception - have commented
favorably about the program. In every instance it has become their
disk-cloning program of choice. Many of these users had heretofore been
using the Acronis True Image and/or Symantec's Norton Ghost programs
(among
others) for their disk imaging/disk cloning needs, however, *all* of them
now prefer the Casper 4.0 program as their primary day-to-day
comprehensive
backup program.

The beauty of this program lies in its simplicity of use, speed of backup
operations, and overall effectiveness. While not totally flawless, it
certainly comes close in our experience.

Here are some details about the program for those of you who might be
interested...

First of all, potential users should note that this is a disk-cloning
program - not a disk-imaging program - in the sense that the program is
designed to create (for all practical purposes) a bit-for-bit copy of the
"source" HDD (presumably one's day-to-day boot drive) so that if the
recipient of the clone is an internal HDD, i.e., the "destination" drive,
that cloned HDD will be bootable and its data immediately accessible,
unlike
the situation where a disk image is created on the recipient HDD (or
other
media) and a recovery process is necessary to restore the image to a
bootable, data-accessible state.

Note, however, that should the recipient of the clone be a USB external
HDD - since that device is not ordinarily bootable in an XP environment -
its contents (although accessible from the boot HDD) would need to be
"cloned back" to an internal HDD should the recovery/restore process be
necessary to create a bootable HDD. On the other hand, should the HDD
encased in its USB enclosure be removable, it could possibly be installed
as
an internal HDD in the PC thus allowing the user to have a bootable
functioning HDD.

The Casper 4.0 program also has the happy capability of cloning
individual
partitions from one HDD to another HDD, not merely creating a "disk
image"
of the partition(s). (See details below).

In general, the chief advantage of a disk-imaging approach rather than a
disk-cloning one has been that following the initial creation of a disk
image, subsequent incremental (or differential) disk images can be
created
allowing for a significant (and desirable) increase in backup speed as
compared with the time it ordinarily takes for a user to create a disk
clone
every time the user backs up his or her system.

There's also a relatively minor (in our view) advantage of creating disk
images rather than disk clones in that the resultant disk image file can
be
compressed in size, thus saving some disk space. However, this advantage
generally disappears (or at least is substantially reduced) after a
number
of incremental backup disk image files are created following the initial
(original) backup file ("archive"). And given today's relatively
inexpensive
large-capacity hard drives we do not feel this advantage is of major
import
for most users. Additionally, disk imaging obviously lends itself better
to
using DVDs as the backup media, however given the rather large amount of
data usually being backed up by most users in today's systems most users
prefer to use hard drives (internal or external) as the recipient of the
disk image backup when employing that approach. In any event if for one
reason or another a user's primary or exclusive interest is in disk
imaging
rather than disk cloning, then one need not consider the Casper 4.0
program.

The significant advantage of the Casper 4.0 disk cloning program over
other
disk cloning programs that we're familiar with, e.g., Acronis True Image
or
Symantec's Norton Ghost, is its ability to create *incremental* disk
clones
following the creation of the original (first) disk clone. (We've
generally
found that the first original disk clone created by the Casper 4.0
program
takes about the same amount of time to create as one would find with
other
disk-cloning programs). However, and this is the crucial point, employing
what Casper calls its "SmartClone" technology the program can create
subsequent disk clones of the source HDD usually at a fraction of the
time
it takes other programs to create a "full" disk clone. This results in a
decided incentive for users to undertake frequent complete backups of
their
systems knowing that they can create "incremental" disk clones in a
relatively short period of time. Understand that these "incremental" disk
clones thus created are complete clones of the source HDD.

As we've indicated, the Casper 4.0 program's capability in creating these
incremental disk clones results in a significant savings of time as
compared
to the usual time it takes to create a cloned disk using other
disk-cloning
programs. Knowing that this incremental disk cloning process will take
only
a relatively short period of time provides the user with increased
motivation to back up their systems on a much more frequent & systematic
basis than they might otherwise do - a most desirable result as I think
most
all PC users would agree.

Another positive feature we've discovered with the Casper 4.0 program (at
least based upon our experience to date) is that unlike other disk
cloning
programs such as the Acronis & Ghost programs, when the recipient of the
clone - the destination HDD - is an *internal* HDD, we've found it
unnecessary for the user to disconnect the source HDD from the system and
make an *initial* boot following the disk cloning operation with only the
destination HDD connected. (We're referring here to a disk cloning
operation
where the recipient of the clone (the "destination" drive) has been an
*internal* HDD). We point this out since as many of us know, there has
been
a problem with disk cloning programs in general in that if *immediately*
following a disk cloning operation both the (internal) source &
destination
HDDs are connected and an *initial* boot is made to the source drive,
while
the newly-cloned HDD is connected, there can be a subsequent problem with
that newly-cloned destination drive in that it will fail to boot if at a
later time it is the only HDD connected in the system. Because of this
anomaly our advice - as well as from others including the developers of
these disk cloning programs - has heretofore always been to disconnect
the
source HDD from the system *immediately* following the disk cloning
operation and make that initial boot with *only* the newly-cloned
destination (internal) HDD connected. (And, of course, to determine that
the
clone has "took" - the cloned HDD is bootable & functional).

While this problem does not *always* happen along the lines described
above,
it does occur with sufficient frequency that we feel this cautionary note
is
required. Note that where the recipient of the cloned contents of the
source
HDD is an *external* HDD, such as a USB external HDD, this potential
problem
does not exist since the USB external HDD is not ordinarily a bootable
device. Again - based on our experience with the Casper 4.0 program to
date
using a fairly wide variety of systems together with both PATA & SATA
HDDs
in a variety of combinations, e.g., SATA-to-SATA, PATA-to-PATA,
SATA-to-PATA, etc., we haven't experienced a single problem (as described
above) relative to this area.

Using the Casper program is simplicity itself, another substantial
advantage
of this program. There's virtually no learning curve in undertaking the
disk
cloning process as one navigates through the few easy-to-understand
screens
with a final mouse-click on the button which will trigger the
disk-cloning
process. After undertaking one or two disk-cloning operations it should
take
the user no more than 20 seconds or so to get to that point. Simply
stated,
the program is a joy to use.

Here's a more-or-less typical example of using the program to clone the
contents of one HDD to another HDD (internal or external)...
1. Access the Casper 4.0 program.
2. Click on the opening screen's "Copy Drive" icon.
3. Click on the Next button on the "Welcome..." window.
4. Select the "Copy an entire hard disk" option, then the Next button.
5. The next window will reflect the HDD to be copied, presumably your
boot
drive. Click Next.
6. The next window will list the "destination" HDD, i.e., the drive that
will be the recipient of the cloned contents of the drive you're copying.
Highlight that drive listing and Click Next.
7. A warning screen will appear indicating the destination HDD is
"currently
in use" and that "all data on that disk may be lost if you continue".
It's
just a cautionary note so click Next.
8. Since you're cloning the entire contents of your source HDD to the
destination HDD, just click Next on the next screen to accomplish that.
9. Select the "Perform the copy now" option and click Next and then Next
again on the following screen.

The disk-cloning operation will proceed with a final screen indicating
its
successful conclusion.

BTW, the program is also capable of scheduling the disk-cloning process
on a
daily, weekly, or other time period selected by the user.

The program is not particularly inexpensive as disk cloning programs go.
Cost for a single-license is $49.95. AFAIK, the program is available for
download only from the developer at http://www.fssdev.com and this does
not
include the "Casper Startup Disk" which sells for an additional $9.95.
That
"Startup Disk" is a really essential piece of the program since in many
cases it would be the only way to effect a recovery of the system when
the
installed Casper program could not be accessed from the Windows
environment
because the program resides on a HDD that has failed or has become
unbootable. The usual scenario for using the Startup Disk is when the
recipient of the clone has been an external HDD - most likely a USB
external
HDD - and the original source disk has become defective or dysfunctional
(unbootable) so that there is no opportunity to access the installed
Casper
program. Since the USB external HDD containing the cloned contents of the
source drive is not bootable, one must use the Startup Disk in that
situation in order to clone the contents of the external HDD back to a
non-defective internal HDD in order to recover the system.

The developer does have a 30-day trial version available - see
http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/. The trial version is
somewhat
crippled in that the cloned partition on the destination drive will be
the
same
size as the partition on the source drive - they will not be expanded to
a
larger size or to fill up available space on the new hard drive. However,
the trial version should give one some reasonable insight as to how the
program works. Note, however, that the trial version does not include
the
program to create the "Startup Disk" described above. It must be
purchased
separately.

This Casper 4.0 program is advertised as being compatible with Vista,
however, except for some cursory experience we've had using Casper with
that
operating system, we feel we haven't had sufficient experience with that
OS
to form any absolute judgment as to its effectiveness (or lack of) in
that
environment. I will say the relatively few times we've used Casper in the
Vista OS with a number of different systems it has performed flawlessly.
And
we've received favorable reports from users who have been using the
program
in a Vista environment.


Using the Startup Disk...
The Startup Disk will ordinarily be employed in those recovery-type
situations where the user cannot gain access to the installed Casper
program
because the HDD to be restored (on which the Casper program resides) is
unbootable due to a corrupted operating system or has become
mechanically/electronically defective, and the drive that contains the
disk
clone is a USB or Firewire external HDD which is ordinarily unbootable
thus
preventing access to the installed Casper program from that device.

When using the Startup Disk remember to connect only the two HDDs that
will
be involved in the disk-cloning (recovery) process; disconnect any other
storage device(s) from the system. The booting-up process with the
Startup
Disk is usually quite lengthy - we've generally found that it takes
between
6 to 9 minutes before the program loads and the disk-cloning process can
begin. Thereafter the disk-cloning operation (recovery) should go
reasonably
quickly & smoothly.
Anna


(Addendum re potential problem with the recipient drive of the clone...)
Based on our experience to date with the Casper 4.0 program (about a year
now), we have yet to run into that potential problem as we did with every
disk cloning program we've used in the past. We've probably performed
more
than one hundred disk cloning operations over this time using the Casper
program with a variety of systems using a variety of PATA - SATA HDDs in
various configurations. In every case immediately following the
disk-cloning
operation, we booted the system with *both* drives (source & destination)
connected - something we ordinarily would not do with the other disk
cloning
programs because of the (potential) problem I've detailed. In every case
where we later booted to the newly-cloned solely-connected drive we did
not
encounter a boot problem as we sometimes experienced with other disk
cloning
programs when both the source & destination drives were still connected
immediately following the disk-cloning operation and a boot was made to
the
source HDD while those two drives were connected. I'm hopeful that this
unbroken string of successes will continue since this is a real advantage
to
this program as compared with other disk-cloning programs.


Cloning partitions with Casper 4.0

Using XP's Disk Management utility, set up desired partitions on the
destination hard drive (see example following these steps).

1. Access the Casper program and click on the "Copy Drive" icon.
2. Following the "Welcome to the Casper..." screen, select the option
"Copy
a specific drive". Click Next.
3. On the "Select Drive" window that opens, select (highlight) the source
hard drive containing the specific partition you want to copy. Click
Next.
4. On the "Select Copy Destination" window that opens, select the option
"Copy to an existing drive" and click Next.
5. On the "Select Destination Drive" window that opens, select
(highlight)
the destination hard drive containing the partition that will be the
recipient of the clone. Ensure that you've selected the correct
destination
drive and partition. Click Next.
6. On the next screen, click Next to confirm that you want to overwrite
the
data on the destination drive.
7. On the next screen, select the option "Perform the copy now" and click
Next and then Next again to start the cloning process.

As an example...
1. Let's say you want to clone the contents of your old 40 GB HDD to a
newly-purchased 200 GB HDD (roughly 170 GB in binary terms).
2. You plan to set up your 200 GB HDD with three partitions - one of 50
GB,
one of 55 GB, and the third of 65 GB.
3. After installing the 200 GB HDD in your current system in preparation
for
the disk (partition)-cloning operation, use the XP Disk Management
utility
to create the desired three partitions on that disk. Assign whatever
drive
letters are available to each of the three partitions and ensure that the
first partition (presumably the partition that will be the recipient of
the
cloned operating system) is designated "Active" during the process. You
needn't be concerned that you assign a drive letter other C: to that
first
partition. The disk-cloning process will assign the C: drive letter to
that
partition. Also, you can later change the drive letters of the other
partitions using the Disk Management utility on the newly-cloned HDD.
4. Then, using the above "Cloning partitions..." steps, clone the
contents
of your 40 GB HDD to the first partition of the destination HDD.


"beamish" wrote in message
...
Hello, Always appreciate the information and the way you dispense such
information, when you post.
Thank you.
take care.
beamish.


Thanks for gracious comment. I must admit it's been somewhat distressing to
me reading a number of posters' comments accusing me either directly or in
some snide manner of having a commercial interest in the program I'm
recommending. I'm beginning to wonder whether I should preface my posts - at
least those posts in which I recommend a particular product and provide
detailed instructions for using said product - with some "boilerplate" to
the effect that I have no commercial interest in the product I'm
recommending.
Anna

"beamish" wrote in message
...
Hello, Always appreciate the information and the way you dispense
such information, when you post.
Thank you.
take care.
beamish.


Thanks for gracious comment. I must admit it's been somewhat
distressing to me reading a number of posters' comments accusing me
either directly or in some snide manner of having a commercial
interest in the program I'm recommending. I'm beginning to wonder
whether I should preface my posts - at least those posts in which I
recommend a particular product and provide detailed instructions for
using said product - with some "boilerplate" to the effect that I
have no commercial interest in the product I'm recommending.
Anna

Anna, anytime I see your name on a post, I immediately read it even if the
topic isn't one I am focusing on because I know I will always learn
something. I can't say enough about the excellent quality of information
that I find in your posts. The same is true for Malke.
I think that maybe some folks haven't spent enough time here over the years
to recognize your work.

"beamish" wrote in message
...
Hello, Always appreciate the information and the way you dispense
such information, when you post.
Thank you.
take care.
beamish.


Thanks for gracious comment. I must admit it's been somewhat
distressing to me reading a number of posters' comments accusing me
either directly or in some snide manner of having a commercial
interest in the program I'm recommending. I'm beginning to wonder
whether I should preface my posts - at least those posts in which I
recommend a particular product and provide detailed instructions for
using said product - with some "boilerplate" to the effect that I
have no commercial interest in the product I'm recommending.
Anna



"RA" wrote in message
...
Anna, anytime I see your name on a post, I immediately read it even if the
topic isn't one I am focusing on because I know I will always learn
something. I can't say enough about the excellent quality of information
that I find in your posts. The same is true for Malke.
I think that maybe some folks haven't spent enough time here over the
years to recognize your work.


RA:
My thanks for your gracious comment as well. And I certainly agree with you
concerning the always-illuminating comments made by Malke.
Anna

"Anna" wrote in message
...
Brian:
Since you didn't refer to a specific posting I'm uncertain if you're referring to
my response to the OP in which I touted the Casper 4.0 disk-cloning program and
provided details concerning its use.


To keep our conversation in perspective for others, I commented:
quote
That's a sales pitch if I ever saw one, both of the latest versions of Ghost and
ATI do everything plus of what you mentioned.

Ghost 12
http://www.symantec.com/norton/produ...r&pvid=ghost12

Ghost 12 review
http://www.gcn.com/print/26_22/44927-1.html

Acronis True Image 11 Home
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/

/quote

In the event your comment re "a sales pitch" does *not* refer to my post, then
please ignore the following...

However, if you *are* referring to my comments re the Casper 4.0 program, then let
me state the following...

I have absolutely no connection with the developer of that program - commercial or
otherwise. My comments are based solely on the experience we have had using that
program (together with the experience of other Casper 4.0 users with whom I'm
familiar) over the past year or so.

I'll take your word on that, I have no reason not to. However even if it may seem
minor, the use of terms such as "we've, we're, we" meaning as a team/group to me,
put's in the wrong perspective as I see it the way it was written in context.


As you may possibly have noted from my past postings, we have had extensive
experience using a variety of disk cloning/disk imaging programs over a period of
many years, including various versions of Symantec's Ghost & Acronis True Image
programs. I do not denigrate those programs (with the possible exception of some
earlier versions of the Ghost program) and have, on a number of occasions
recommended those programs when responding to posters' queries re
disk-cloning/disk-imaging programs.

Yes, I have read a number of you're responses in the past and they were very well
written, but the one I responded to appeared to me as marketing in the complete
written context as I read it. I do apologize if it has offended you and will try to
humbly say, so as not to offend again: re-reading the response still appears to me
as a one sided biased marketing ploy in the context it's written.

That statement of mine can be read out of context as well, it's not meant in any
way to offend which I wish it won't. Wishing may be better than hoping for me at the
moment.


We have, however, found the Casper 4.0 a superior disk-cloning program for the
detailed reasons I've indicated in my previous post. We highly recommend this
program to users who are casting about for a comprehensive backup program related
to disk-to- disk cloning operations. We have, however, always encouraged potential
users to insofar as possible try out various disk-cloning or other backup-type
programs to determine if one or the other programs meets their particular interest.
Anna


Perhaps I'm missing any mention of trying out any various other applications.
Again, I do not have any intent to offend you in any way, but I just don't see it in
the response, maybe it's me having a senior moment.

Once more I apologize for any offense taken.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

I'm beginning to wonder whether I should preface my posts - at
least those posts in which I recommend a particular product and provide
detailed instructions for using said product - with some "boilerplate" to
the effect that I have no commercial interest in the product I'm
recommending.

Anna,

That's always good practice and is the best way that I know of removing any
doubt regarding the intention of your post.

--
Regards

John Waller

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)


"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:54:07 -0500, "Anna" wrote:

What affiliation / interest do you have with Future Systems?


Wally:
None whatsoever. See my response to Brian earlier today.

Anna, I was just curious, as one that types about 25 words a minute.

Thanks for the reply.

"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)


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

On Nov 30, 11:53 am, "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)

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

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....=1064401651619)

for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something with
much more memory?


Robert

"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....=1064401651619)

for the external hard drive or should I be looking at something with
much more memory?
Robert


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 at
http://www.directron.com/aud041.html should suffice. 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

On Nov 30, 6:39 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

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.htmlshould suffice. 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 -

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

"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.htmlshould suffice. 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

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 disk-cloning (or
disk copying) operations that way - avoiding the need of a USB external
enclosure. I don't know if that's practical for you with your Dell machine.
But it's something to consider.
Anna

On Dec 1, 6:58 am, "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

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 ...

read more - Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

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

"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