Casper 5 - One for Anna

Hi Anna,
You've got me interested in Casper 5. I'm on a pension so it's pretty
pricey for me in Australian dollars. Anyway I think you suggested offering
some assitance re Casper 5.
So I'll and take you up on it if you don't mind. I've downloaded but not
yet installed the trial version. Is there anything you can tell me about
it?
Does it backup a partitioned system drive? By that I mean if my drive is
partitioned C: and D:
will it backup my C:system drive together with the registry or only the
installed files? What does it backup exactly? I am interested in your advice
and what you might have to say.

Mickey

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:35:13 GMT, "Mickey Mouse"
wrote:

Hi Anna,
You've got me interested in Casper 5. I'm on a pension so it's pretty
pricey for me in Australian dollars. Anyway I think you suggested offering
some assitance re Casper 5.
So I'll and take you up on it if you don't mind. I've downloaded but not
yet installed the trial version. Is there anything you can tell me about
it?
Does it backup a partitioned system drive? By that I mean if my drive is
partitioned C: and D:
will it backup my C:system drive together with the registry or only the
installed files? What does it backup exactly? I am interested in your advice
and what you might have to say.

Mickey

Let me jump in here. I own and use Casper on a daily basis, but I
also own and use Acronis True Image on a daily basis... I think the
latter is by far a better choice for most home users.

There are several ways to make backups. The two most frequently used
are to make IMAGES or CLONES of one's system.

An IMAGE is a compressed form of the system that can be stored on a
separate drive and kept for use in emergencies to restore a whole
system or part of it... even as small a part as a single file. It is
normally kept on a different hard drive than the system drive, and is
often kept on an external drive. The drive it is kept on can be used
for storage of many things in addition to the image - limited only by
the size of the drive.

A CLONE is an exact, bootable copy of one's system. It too is kept on
another drive, but usually an internal one, because you can't boot
from an external drive, unless it's an eSATA drive. That drive can
only be used to store the cloned image, nothing else.

Casper makes clones from within Windows, and it can make incremental
clones, saving a lot of time for those who make frequent clones. I
love that and it's the main reason I bought it. I keep a clone of my
system drive ready to take over in case my system drive fails. The
clone is second in the boot order behind the system drive. If the
system drive fails, a reboot will start up using the clone.

But MOST PC users are not interested in cloning - much less frequent
cloning - and they only want backups of their entire drives or just
their data.

They might also like to browse those backups from within Windows and
be able to restore a single file, a directory, a group of files or
whatever they might need when restoring an entire disk isn't called
for.

Casper can't do that. It only makes clones.

Acronis True Image does everything Casper does (not quite as simply -
but just as well) and more. You can backup your entire system, make
incremental updates to that backup, backup your choice of data, etc.
The latest version is quite nice... and very simple to use.

Ask if you need more info.

Richie Hardwick

"Mickey Mouse" wrote in message
...
Hi Anna,
You've got me interested in Casper 5. I'm on a pension so it's pretty
pricey for me in Australian dollars. Anyway I think you suggested
offering some assitance re Casper 5.
So I'll and take you up on it if you don't mind. I've downloaded but not
yet installed the trial version. Is there anything you can tell me about
it?
Does it backup a partitioned system drive? By that I mean if my drive is
partitioned C: and D:
will it backup my C:system drive together with the registry or only the
installed files? What does it backup exactly? I am interested in your
advice and what you might have to say.

Mickey


Mickey:
First of all, the demo version of Casper 5 is slightly crippled but it
should give you a reasonably good idea as to how the program works and
whether it's suitable for your needs. Here's some information on the program
which I trust will be of some help to you as well as others who might be
contemplating purchasing a disk-cloning type of program for purposes of
establishing & maintaining a comprehensive backup program...

(The following is material that I've posted in the past- in one form or
another - and also provided to computer club members who requested this
info)...

For many, if not most, PC users it's important, perhaps even crucial, that
they establish & maintaining on a routine basis a comprehensive backup
system whereby *all* the data on their day-to-day working HDD would, in
effect, be copied to another HDD so as to create a precise copy of that
"source" HDD at a particular point in time.

To that end our preference is for a user to employ a disk-to-disk cloning
program or disk-imaging program and use such as a systematic backup tool.

What better backup system can a PC user have than having at hand a HDD that
is a precise copy of his or her day-to-day working HDD and, as such,
contains the complete contents of that latter HDD including the operating
system, all programs and applications, and all user-created data? So that
should the time come when the user has to resurrect his/her system because
their working HDD has failed or the system has become dysfunctional because
of a corrupted OS or other software problem, the user will have the means to
do so relatively simply & quickly.

The disk-to-disk cloning program we greatly prefer is the Casper 5 program -
see http://www.fssdev.com

The Casper program is extremely simple to use even for an inexperienced
user, reasonably quick in operation, and quite effective. 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 on the screen which will trigger the disk-cloning process. After
undertaking one or two disk-cloning operations it should take the user no
more than 15 - 20 seconds or so to get to that point.

But the truly significant advantage of the Casper 5.0 disk cloning program
compared with other disk cloning programs that we're familiar with, e.g.,
Acronis True Image, is its ability to create *incremental* disk clones
following the creation of the original (first) disk clone. 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 to
create a "full" disk clone. This results in a decided incentive for the user
to undertake frequent complete backups of his or her system knowing that
they can create "incremental" disk clones in a relatively short period of
time. Understand that this "incremental disk clone" is a *complete* clone
(copy) of the "source" HDD.

Bear in mind that the recipient of the clone - the "destination" HDD
(internal or external) - would contain the *complete* contents of one's
internal HDD (presumably the boot drive). Since that destination drive would
be a precise copy of the source HDD, its contents would be immediately
accessible to the user and potentially bootable. Naturally its contents
could be cloned back to a internal HDD should a restoration of the system be
necessary. Again, what better backup system can one have? And again -
because the Casper disk-cloning operation takes a relatively short period of
time to complete its disk-cloning operations there's a strong incentive for
the user to more frequently keep their backups up-to-date than they might
otherwise do. As an example, last night I backed up one of my HDDs that
contained nearly 50 GB of data to another internal HDD in the system. That
"source" HDD has been previously backed up, i.e., cloned five days ago.
Naturally during that 5-day period changes had been made to the system -
programs & data added, deleted, modified, etc., etc., more or less the
typical type of changes one makes to their systems over a period of time. It
took me (or rather it took Casper!) just about four minutes to complete the
disk-cloning operation. And now I have a precise copy of my source disk, my
day-to-day working HDD. Completely bootable & functional in all respects.

Again, I want to emphasize that the main advantage of the Casper 5 program
in comparison with other disk-cloning programs is its rather remarkable
ability to *routinely* clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD
(following the initial disk-cloning process) in a fraction of the time it
generally takes for other disk-cloning (as well as disk-imaging) programs to
complete the process. In my experience this is a strong incentive for the
user to back up their systems on a frequent basis - perhaps even once a day
or two or three times a week - knowing that the disk-cloning operation will
take only a few short minutes to complete the process. And at the end of
that process the user will have at hand a "perfect copy" of their day-to-day
working HDD. Again, what better backup system can one have?

The Casper 5.0 program is also capable of scheduling the disk-cloning
process on a daily, weekly, or other time period selected by the user so
that should the user prefer he or she could arrange for automatic backups at
pre-determined times.

There's a trial version available
at...http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/ and although it's somewhat
crippled it should give one a good idea as to how the program works.

Here's a more-or-less typical example of using the program to clone the
entire contents of one HDD to another HDD (internal or external)...
1. First of all, it always a wise idea to close all open programs, including
your anti-malware programs, before undertaking the disk-cloning operation.
If it's practical to do so it's also a good idea that except for the two
HDDs that will be involved in the disk-cloning operation, i.e., the "source"
and "destination" disks, all other storage devices, e.g., flash drives,
external USB HDDs that are not involved in the disk-cloning operation, etc.,
should be disconnected from the system.
2. Access the Casper 5.0 program.
3. Click on the opening screen's "Copy Drive" icon.
4. The next screen will have two options...
a. "Perform this copy again"
b. "Perform a different copy"
In most cases the user will select the "Perform this copy again" option
presuming he or she routinely uses the same hard drives as the source &
destination disks. Should the user be working with a different source and/or
destination HDD (as it involves the current disk-cloning operation) then
he/she would choose the "Perform a different copy" option.
5. On the next screen click the "Copy an entire hard disk" option. (There's
another option on that screen that allows the user to copy individual
partitions should he or she desire that capability).
6. The next screen will reflect the HDD to be copied, i.e., the "source"
HDD, presumably the user's boot drive in most cases. Click Next.
7. The next screen will list the "destination" HDD, i.e., the drive that
will be the recipient of the cloned contents of the drive you're copying.
Click Next. listing and Click Next.
8. A warning screen will appear indicating the destination HDD contains data
and that "all data on that disk may be lost" should you continue with the
disk cloning operation. It's just a cautionary note so click Next.
9. 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.
10. On the final screen requiring user input, click on the "Perform the copy
now" option.

The disk-cloning operation will proceed with the last screen indicating its
successful conclusion.

The downside to the Casper 5 program as compared with the Acronis and most
other disk-cloning programs is the cost of the program which comes to $49.95
for the program + $9.95 for the "Casper Startup Disk" (the program to create
the bootable CD containing the Casper program - needed to access the program
in the event of a failed HDD when the user is unable to access the installed
Casper program). This "Startup Disk" is really an essential piece of the
program; I can't imagine a Casper user not having this media. It's a pity
that this "Startup Disk" is an added-cost option; in our view it should be
provided as part of the overall program and included in the program's $49.95
cost. We have complained to the developer about this but alas that
additional cost for the "Startup Disk" is still present.

So the cost of the program is more expensive than the others. Be that as it
may, in our view it's still well worth the additional cost considering its
overall effectiveness and the fact that one will be using the program many,
many times over the weeks, months, and years ahead. We've introduced the
program to many users (including former ATI users) and I can't recall a
single person who regretted his/her purchase. AFAIK, the program is
available only through download from the developer.

Another possible downside to the Casper 5 program (depending upon one's
interests) is that it's really not designed to create "generational" copies
of one's system although it is possible to use the program that way
depending upon the size of one's data and the disk size of the "destination"
HDD (the recipient of the clones). Some users like to maintain complete
copies of their system as it existed at various points in time. In other
words, for example, a user might want to retain (for one reason or another)
a complete copy of his or her system as it existed on Jan 1 and another copy
as of Jan 3 and another copy as of Jan 5, etc., etc. To that end a
disk-imaging program (such as the Acronis one) is more practical, since to
accomplish that objective using a disk-cloning program such as Casper 5 the
user would obviously need either a fair number of HDDs to serve as the
recipients of the clones at those various points in time, or a very
large-capacity destination HDD to contain the individual clones (on a
partition-by-partition basis). But based on our experience I would say that
the vast number of users are simply interested in maintaining only a current
up-to-date copy of their system and have little or no interest in
maintaining "generational" copies of such. But that capability may be a
consideration for some users.

So I would recommend that you or any user who is interested in a
comprehensive backup program should try the Casper 5 program to determine if
that program meets their needs.

Let me say again as I have repeatedly stated in the past when referring to
my choice of the Casper 5 disk-cloning program in comparison with other
disk-cloning programs - that users of the Acronis True Image program (as
well as other disk-cloning/disk-imaging programs) may find the ATI program
or whatever other backup type program they're working with perfectly
suitable for their needs and see no reason to change. I've *always*
encouraged users to experiment with different types of comprehensive backup
programs especially when trial versions are available to determine for
themselves which one best serves their objectives.

I fully realize that many PC users prefer the disk-imaging approach for
maintaining a comprehensive backup system in preference to a disk-to-disk
(or partition-to-partition) cloning program such as the Casper program.
Should that be the case I have no problem with that approach.

However, based upon my experience with working with a few thousand PC users
over the years, it's my opinion that the vast majority of those users would
be better served by using a disk/partition-cloning program rather than a
disk imaging program in order to establish & maintain a comprehensive backup
system.

We have worked with a fair number of disk-cloning (and disk-imaging)
programs over the years and we find this Casper 5 program to be the best of
the bunch for a variety of reasons...
1. It has a simple & straightforward user interface. There's virtually no
"learning curve" for the user. From the time the user accesses the program
to begin the disk-cloning operation to the final mouse-click to start the
actual process, it takes about 15 to 20 seconds, if that.
2. The program is virtually problem-free. While not flawless, it does what
it's supposed to do, i.e., clone the contents of one disk (or partition) to
another disk (or partition), and does so effectively.
3. And because of what Casper refers to as its "SmartClone" technology, when
the program is used on a frequent basis (as it should be) to maintain a
current backup of one's system, the backup operation is extremely fast. The
importance of this cannot be overemphasized since the user is thus
encouraged to frequently backup his/her system knowing that the operation
will take a very short time and the result
will be the maintenance of a reasonably up-to-date system.

As previously indicated through the use of a disk-cloning program such as
the Casper 5 program, the user can easily create a precise copy of their
day-to-day working HDD. All the data on the "destination" HDD, i.e., the
recipient of the cloned contents of the "source" HDD, is immediately
accessible. Should the destination HDD be another internal HDD, that drive
is immediately bootable without further ado. There is no "restore" or
"recovery" operation that needs to be undertaken with the destination drive.
A clone is a clone is a clone. Should the destination drive be a USB
external HDD, then the contents of the latter can be cloned back to the
internal HDD and the system will be bootable & functional once again. And
should the externally-connected destination HDD be a SATA HDD (one having
SATA-to-SATA connectivity between the external enclosure and the PC) that
device would be *bootable* even while externally connected.

Over the 15 years or so that I've been associated with the PC industry and
dealt with thousands of PC users it's become abundantly clear to me that one
of the first priorities most PC users should confront is establishing &
maintaining a *comprehensive* backup strategy. One that allows the user to
restore his or her system easily & quickly when their system fails because
of a defective HDD or the system has become unbootable & dysfunctional
because of data corruption from malware, unwise configurations, or other
causes. All one has to do is to peruse this and similar newsgroups for an
hour or a day dealing with users' problems. Do we not continually see these
type of plaintive complaints and pleas for help?...

"Helllllp! My hard drive apparently died. How do I get my data back?", or,
"I just installed SP3 and now my computer doesn't even boot", or,
"I made that registry change XYZ suggested and now I'm getting weird
messages from Windows", or,
"I installed the latest update from Microsoft and now my anti-spyware
program has been trashed", or,
"I installed that new Super-Duper Anti-Malware program and now all I get a
black screen", or,
"All of a sudden I'm getting that dreaded BSOD. How can I save my precious
photos?", or...

The list goes on & on, does it not?

In so many cases the problem would have been a non-problem had the user made
a precise copy of his or her functional system *prior* to installing a
major program on their machine or making some major configuration change in
their otherwise perfectly-working system. This can be relatively easily
achieved through the use of a disk-cloning program such as the Casper 5
program which we prefer. So that in the event of a catastrophe - minor or
major - the system can be easily & quickly restored to its previous
functional state.

So work with the demo version of the Casper 5 program for a while and see
how you like it. At the same time try out other programs such as the Acronis
one which also has a trial version.
Anna

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:10:40 -0500, "Anna" wrote:

[only excerpts shown]

To that end our preference is for a user to employ a disk-to-disk cloning
program or disk-imaging program and use such as a systematic backup tool.

Notice it's a "cloning" program, not a "backup" program.

What better backup system can a PC user have than having at hand a HDD that
is a precise copy of his or her day-to-day working HDD and, as such,
contains the complete contents of that latter HDD including the operating
system, all programs and applications, and all user-created data?

"precise copy": it takes the whole drive it uses.

The disk-to-disk cloning program we greatly prefer is the Casper 5 program -
see http://www.fssdev.com

Again: "cloning", not backup. She uses "cloning" multiple times
throughout the post.


But the truly significant advantage of the Casper 5.0 disk cloning program
compared with other disk cloning programs that we're familiar with, e.g.,
Acronis True Image, is its ability to create *incremental* disk clones

Notice she is only comparing "cloning" abilities between programs and
mentions nothing about the other abilities of the competing programs.

Bear in mind that the recipient of the clone - the "destination" HDD
(internal or external) - would contain the *complete* contents of one's
internal HDD (presumably the boot drive). Since that destination drive would
be a precise copy of the source HDD, its contents would be immediately
accessible to the user and potentially bootable. Naturally its contents
could be cloned back to a internal HDD should a restoration of the system be
necessary. Again, what better backup system can one have?

One that wouldn't consume the entire drive. One that allowed one to
browse and restore directories/files and restore at will to the
original location or to another. Just to name a couple.


The downside to the Casper 5 program as compared with the Acronis and most
other disk-cloning programs is the cost of the program which comes to $49.95
for the program + $9.95 for the "Casper Startup Disk" (the program to create
the bootable CD containing the Casper program - needed to access the program
in the event of a failed HDD when the user is unable to access the installed
Casper program).

Quite true. ATI creates such a disk for free if you download the
program, and if you buy the boxed version, the install disc is already
bootable.

Notice again that she is only talking about Casper as a "cloning"
program. She says nothing about its lack of ability to make data-only
backups, or the ability to restore selected items at will.

Finally, she says:

Another possible downside to the Casper 5 program (depending upon one's
interests) is that it's really not designed to create "generational" copies
of one's system although it is possible to use the program that way
depending upon the size of one's data and the disk size of the "destination"
HDD (the recipient of the clones). Some users like to maintain complete
copies of their system as it existed at various points in time. In other
words, for example, a user might want to retain (for one reason or another)
a complete copy of his or her system as it existed on Jan 1 and another copy
as of Jan 3 and another copy as of Jan 5, etc., etc. To that end a
disk-imaging program (such as the Acronis one) is more practical, since to
accomplish that objective using a disk-cloning program such as Casper 5 the
user would obviously need either a fair number of HDDs to serve as the
recipients of the clones at those various points in time, or a very
large-capacity destination HDD to contain the individual clones (on a
partition-by-partition basis). But based on our experience I would say that
the vast number of users are simply interested in maintaining only a current
up-to-date copy of their system and have little or no interest in
maintaining "generational" copies of such. But that capability may be a
consideration for some users.

Once again, she overlooks ATI's ability to browse the backup(s) and to
restore selected items at will.

So I would recommend that you or any user who is interested in a
comprehensive backup program should try the Casper 5 program to determine if
that program meets their needs.

"Comprehensive"???? Definition: covering completely or broadly. I'd
say it is rather restricted.

I think Anna works for the company. It's the only explanation I can
think of that would explain her lopsided discussion of Casper and ATI.

I am a daily user of both Casper AND Acronis True Image.

If I had to choose only ONE of them, I'd choose AT! and never look
back.

I fully realize that many PC users prefer the disk-imaging approach for
maintaining a comprehensive backup system in preference to a disk-to-disk
(or partition-to-partition) cloning program such as the Casper program.
Should that be the case I have no problem with that approach.

How sweet of her.

However, based upon my experience with working with a few thousand PC users
over the years, it's my opinion that the vast majority of those users would
be better served by using a disk/partition-cloning program rather than a
disk imaging program in order to establish & maintain a comprehensive backup
system.

I think Anna's sample of PC users must've been unbelievably skewed.

In the hundreds of thousands of posts in these and the Vista groups
over the years, you will find very few references to Casper, and
thousands of references AND recommendations of Acronis True Image.

Apparently, Anna's PC user contacts don't participate in these groups.

Richie Hardwick

Ritchie, I don't mean to sound rude but I must ask, have you and Anna ever
been married to each other at some time?
You sound a little aggressive towards her. Anna's replies are a little
longwinded making it a little difficult for me keeping up
with her but she is trying to help. Anna, comes across as intelligent and
knowledgable about this Casper program and appears to want
to assist in my much needed help. You suggest she may work for that company
and she may be pushing Casper. All I can say about
that is..... "all the better for me". Acronis in my limited knowledge is
probably a much better featured program but more to the point I'm
looking for ease of use. I'm not interested in incremental backups, all I
want is to install a initial fresh system and my applications, then
make a backup copy using say, casper and at some later time when/if my
system gets somewhat corrupted just reinstall the backup.

Notice it's a "cloning" program, not a "backup" program.

And the point is...... considering my needs?


Again: "cloning", not backup. She uses "cloning" multiple times
throughout the post.

Again, the point is.... considering my needs?

As a person with a medical condition which inhibits my shortterm learning
capacity I need Anna and her aparent willingness to help me
of which I'm very grateful.
My friends jokingly refer to me as grumpy, but I'm not really, I just come
across that way at times. In fact I consider myself a very nice
guy willing to go that extra bit for a friend, infact even for a stranger.
I say this because your attitude to Anna is a little less than friendly
and I'm sure you are probably a nice guy too. So give that a little thought
my friend and remember that my correspondance with Anna IS
Casper specific.

Kindest Regards,
Mickey





"Richie Hardwick" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:10:40 -0500, "Anna" wrote:

[only excerpts shown]

Notice it's a "cloning" program, not a "backup" program.



What better backup system can a PC user have than having at hand a HDD
that
is a precise copy of his or her day-to-day working HDD and, as such,
contains the complete contents of that latter HDD including the operating
system, all programs and applications, and all user-created data?

"precise copy": it takes the whole drive it uses.

The disk-to-disk cloning program we greatly prefer is the Casper 5
program -
see http://www.fssdev.com

Again: "cloning", not backup. She uses "cloning" multiple times
throughout the post.


But the truly significant advantage of the Casper 5.0 disk cloning program
compared with other disk cloning programs that we're familiar with, e.g.,
Acronis True Image, is its ability to create *incremental* disk clones

Notice she is only comparing "cloning" abilities between programs and
mentions nothing about the other abilities of the competing programs.

Bear in mind that the recipient of the clone - the "destination" HDD
(internal or external) - would contain the *complete* contents of one's
internal HDD (presumably the boot drive). Since that destination drive
would
be a precise copy of the source HDD, its contents would be immediately
accessible to the user and potentially bootable. Naturally its contents
could be cloned back to a internal HDD should a restoration of the system
be
necessary. Again, what better backup system can one have?

One that wouldn't consume the entire drive. One that allowed one to
browse and restore directories/files and restore at will to the
original location or to another. Just to name a couple.


The downside to the Casper 5 program as compared with the Acronis and
most
other disk-cloning programs is the cost of the program which comes to
$49.95
for the program + $9.95 for the "Casper Startup Disk" (the program to
create
the bootable CD containing the Casper program - needed to access the
program
in the event of a failed HDD when the user is unable to access the
installed
Casper program).

Quite true. ATI creates such a disk for free if you download the
program, and if you buy the boxed version, the install disc is already
bootable.

Notice again that she is only talking about Casper as a "cloning"
program. She says nothing about its lack of ability to make data-only
backups, or the ability to restore selected items at will.

Finally, she says:

Another possible downside to the Casper 5 program (depending upon one's
interests) is that it's really not designed to create "generational"
copies
of one's system although it is possible to use the program that way
depending upon the size of one's data and the disk size of the
"destination"
HDD (the recipient of the clones). Some users like to maintain complete
copies of their system as it existed at various points in time. In other
words, for example, a user might want to retain (for one reason or
another)
a complete copy of his or her system as it existed on Jan 1 and another
copy
as of Jan 3 and another copy as of Jan 5, etc., etc. To that end a
disk-imaging program (such as the Acronis one) is more practical, since to
accomplish that objective using a disk-cloning program such as Casper 5
the
user would obviously need either a fair number of HDDs to serve as the
recipients of the clones at those various points in time, or a very
large-capacity destination HDD to contain the individual clones (on a
partition-by-partition basis). But based on our experience I would say
that
the vast number of users are simply interested in maintaining only a
current
up-to-date copy of their system and have little or no interest in
maintaining "generational" copies of such. But that capability may be a
consideration for some users.

Once again, she overlooks ATI's ability to browse the backup(s) and to
restore selected items at will.

So I would recommend that you or any user who is interested in a
comprehensive backup program should try the Casper 5 program to determine
if
that program meets their needs.

"Comprehensive"???? Definition: covering completely or broadly. I'd
say it is rather restricted.

I think Anna works for the company. It's the only explanation I can
think of that would explain her lopsided discussion of Casper and ATI.

I am a daily user of both Casper AND Acronis True Image.

If I had to choose only ONE of them, I'd choose AT! and never look
back.

I fully realize that many PC users prefer the disk-imaging approach for
maintaining a comprehensive backup system in preference to a disk-to-disk
(or partition-to-partition) cloning program such as the Casper program.
Should that be the case I have no problem with that approach.

How sweet of her.

However, based upon my experience with working with a few thousand PC
users
over the years, it's my opinion that the vast majority of those users
would
be better served by using a disk/partition-cloning program rather than a
disk imaging program in order to establish & maintain a comprehensive
backup
system.

I think Anna's sample of PC users must've been unbelievably skewed.

In the hundreds of thousands of posts in these and the Vista groups
over the years, you will find very few references to Casper, and
thousands of references AND recommendations of Acronis True Image.

Apparently, Anna's PC user contacts don't participate in these groups.

Richie Hardwick

Hey Anna,thanks for the reply

First of all may I ask you to keep your replies short and to the point. I'm
asking in the nicest possibly way.
I have have a slight handicap which inhibits my learning capacity
(shortterm) when given too much information. I hope you understand.
Also please excuse my spelling, I'm using Outlook Express and just
discovered the spell check facility is in French.. lol
so I'm going to need to try to spell correctly the first time... aslo lol!

I'm about to install Casper5 (trial) and from your writing I have a couple
of concerns also I need to snip some of what you've written.

First of all, the demo version of Casper 5 is slightly crippled

*** I read that the trial version was fully functional.
Crippled in what way?

$9.95 for the "Casper Startup Disk

*** Also, I'm surprised that I would need to purchase a $9.95 "Casper
Startup Disk.
Is this the disk needed to access and reinstall the backup?
Seems a bit silly having to purchase a startup disk to access the backup
Casper has created.

*** Will I need to create an unpartitioned space for casper to use?

*** I have data on my C: system drive and my D: drive, will I loose any of
this data when I use Casper for the first time?
My HHD is one physical drive partitioned C: & D:

As you see from the above, my questions are simple and basic, of which I'm
going to have many, are you going to have the patience?
Hope your like me, I don't care how many times a person asks the same
question. It's bound to get through sooner or later lol.

I must say here that my only intention is to install a system from scratch,
that is
Insert my Windows disk, partition my hard drive, install the OS and drivers
and updates, install the hardware (printer,modem,etc)
Install fav applications and back that up. Incremental backups I'm not
concerned with and I'll tell you why.

I have a very good friend with a new pc I put together for her. After one
month she's having problems seemingly with the registry
or currupt applications.
Rather than playing around with the registry/troubleshooting or reinstalling
her system (you know how long that takes with updates and all)
I'd rather install something like Casper into her machine, make a backup and
quickly reinstall that when needed.

Mickey

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:49:54 GMT, "Mickey Mouse"
wrote:

Ritchie, I don't mean to sound rude but I must ask, have you and Anna ever
been married to each other at some time?
You sound a little aggressive towards her. Anna's replies are a little
longwinded making it a little difficult for me keeping up
with her but she is trying to help. Anna, comes across as intelligent and
knowledgable about this Casper program and appears to want
to assist in my much needed help. You suggest she may work for that company
and she may be pushing Casper. All I can say about
that is..... "all the better for me". Acronis in my limited knowledge is
probably a much better featured program but more to the point I'm
looking for ease of use. I'm not interested in incremental backups, all I
want is to install a initial fresh system and my applications, then
make a backup copy using say, casper and at some later time when/if my
system gets somewhat corrupted just reinstall the backup.

Notice it's a "cloning" program, not a "backup" program.

And the point is...... considering my needs?

You want to make a backup to use in case your installation fails at
some time, in case it gets fried, or in case you want to start over.

Cloning makes an exact copy of your drive on another drive, and it
uses the entire drive because the intent of cloning is to create
another bootable drive the same as your system drive. If you use
Casper to do that, and your original Windows installation gets fried
(but the hard drive is still OK), you will have to use Casper on a CD
(remember, that will cost extra with Casper) to "reverse clone" from
your cloned drive to your system drive.

Imaging creates a compressed version of your drive, doesn't take the
entire drive you keep it on (unless it's a drive that is the same size
of the image) and you can restore your system by accessing the image
after booting using the FREE Acronis bootable CD to handle the restore
for you.

Acronis does it all - and a lot MORE. It does it simply and at a
lower cost.

Like I said... I use BOTH on a daily basis. To clone my drive to the
other internal drive using ATI, I would have to restart my system and
wait for the cloning to complete. With Casper, I can do it without
restarting, and I can update it (make an incremental clone) from
within Windows as well... in about a quarter of the time it takes for
ATI to make a clone.

You don't NEED a clone. You need an image.

Casper can't create an image.

ATI can - from within Windows (no restarting) - and it can also make
updates to that image from within Windows in a very short time.

Richie Hardwick

I wrote:

Acronis does it all - and a lot MORE. It does it simply and at a
lower cost.

Like I said... I use BOTH on a daily basis. To clone my drive to the
other internal drive using ATI, I would have to restart my system and
wait for the cloning to complete. With Casper, I can do it without
restarting, and I can update it (make an incremental clone) from
within Windows as well... in about a quarter of the time it takes for
ATI to make a clone.

You don't NEED a clone. You need an image.

Casper can't create an image.

ATI can - from within Windows (no restarting) - and it can also make
updates to that image from within Windows in a very short time.

Let me add: the cloned drive is merely there IN CASE my system drive
completely fails... i.e., it becomes a brick.

My image(s) I make using ATI are used to put things back together
after I experiment with something, or if something screws up my system
and I want to put it back together quickly and simply (using the FREE
bootable CD).

I also use the image(s) to restore data that's become screwed up,
accidentally and permanently deleted, etc.

Richie Hardwick

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:54:18 GMT, "Mickey Mouse"
wrote:

Hey Anna,thanks for the reply

First of all may I ask you to keep your replies short and to the point. I'm
asking in the nicest possibly way.

If your request is successful, you're a magician ;-)

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:26:42 -0600, Randall Flagg
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:54:18 GMT, "Mickey Mouse"
wrote:

Hey Anna,thanks for the reply

First of all may I ask you to keep your replies short and to the point. I'm
asking in the nicest possibly way.

If your request is successful, you're a magician ;-)

snork

What Randall said.

Richie Hardwick

"Mickey Mouse" wrote in message
...
Hey Anna,thanks for the reply

First of all may I ask you to keep your replies short and to the point.
I'm asking in the nicest possibly way.
I have have a slight handicap which inhibits my learning capacity
(shortterm) when given too much information. I hope you understand.
Also please excuse my spelling, I'm using Outlook Express and just
discovered the spell check facility is in French.. lol
so I'm going to need to try to spell correctly the first time... aslo lol!

I'm about to install Casper5 (trial) and from your writing I have a couple
of concerns also I need to snip some of what you've written.

First of all, the demo version of Casper 5 is slightly crippled

*** I read that the trial version was fully functional.
Crippled in what way?

$9.95 for the "Casper Startup Disk

*** Also, I'm surprised that I would need to purchase a $9.95 "Casper
Startup Disk.
Is this the disk needed to access and reinstall the backup?
Seems a bit silly having to purchase a startup disk to access the backup
Casper has created.

*** Will I need to create an unpartitioned space for casper to use?

*** I have data on my C: system drive and my D: drive, will I loose any of
this data when I use Casper for the first time?
My HHD is one physical drive partitioned C: & D:

As you see from the above, my questions are simple and basic, of which I'm
going to have many, are you going to have the patience?
Hope your like me, I don't care how many times a person asks the same
question. It's bound to get through sooner or later lol.

I must say here that my only intention is to install a system from
scratch, that is Insert my Windows disk, partition my hard drive, install
the OS and drivers and updates, install the hardware (printer,modem,etc)
Install fav applications and back that up. Incremental backups I'm not
concerned with and I'll tell you why.

I have a very good friend with a new pc I put together for her. After one
month she's having problems seemingly with the registry
or currupt applications.
Rather than playing around with the registry/troubleshooting or
reinstalling her system (you know how long that takes with updates and
all)
I'd rather install something like Casper into her machine, make a backup
and quickly reinstall that when needed.

Mickey


Mickey:
Let me try to answer your questions point-by-point...

As to my "long-windedness".

It is not the first-time (nor do I believe it will be the *last* time!) that
I have been accused of verbosity - particularly with respect to my technical
writing of one sort or another, including my posts to this and similar
newsgroups. While I do not resent your request to keep my replies "short and
to the point", I can only promise to *try* to be on-point, but I make no
promises now or in the future to keep them "short".

When I post a response to this or similar newsgroups - I attempt to write
with clarity and sufficient detail so as to be as responsive as I can to the
query or issue raised. I would much rather be accused of providing more
detail than is necessary than being accused of providing a cursory response
which does not fully address the poster's query or provide sufficient info
to (hopefully) resolve the problem raised. And if I am repetitive in my
remarks it's because I desire to emphasize a particular point or area. I
make no apology for all of this.

You say that "I have a slight handicap which inhibits my learning capacity
(shortterm) when given too much information." Judging from your previous
posts it's hard for me to believe you have any problem in that area. All I
can suggest, should you have the desire, interest, and inclination to do so,
is to read my posts on a "chunk-by-chunk" basis.

BTW, the likely reason your OE spell-check is in French is because you've
probably installed MS Office 2007. There's an absurd glitch in that program
that installs the spell checker in French and carries over to OE. (Some
English-speaking users have also reported the spell checker in German!). In
any event, the common workaround that many, if not most users have found is
to use a (free) third-party spell checking program (in English!) - Spell
Checker for OE 2.1. (There are others). It seems to work fine based on the
experience I & others have had with it. A fair number of websites carry the
program for download - one of them being...
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2952 which seems to be a reliable
source.

1. As to my comment that the demo version of the Casper 5 program is
"slightly crippled"...

While the trial version is basically operational in that it will "clone" the
contents of one HDD to another HDD, the "destination" HDD, i.e., the
recipient of the clone, will be resized only to the extent of the disk size
of the "source" HDD, i.e., the HDD that is being cloned.

For example, say you're using the program to clone the contents of your 40
GB HDD to a 320 GB HDD. After the disk-cloning operation is completed the
320 GB HDD will contain the contents of the 40 GB HDD, however, only a 40 GB
partition will be created on the 320 GB HDD; the remaining disk space on
that "destination" drive will constitute "unallocated" disk space - disk
space that can later be partitioned/formatted.

This limitation is not present using the licensed version of Casper. The
full disk space of the destination HDD would be utilized to contain the
cloned contents of the source HDD so that there would be no "unallocated"
disk space on the destination HDD (unless of course the user desired to have
unallocated disk space on the destination drive).

In any event, the demo version should give one a good idea of the program's
capability and ease of use.

2. As to the additional cost of the "Startup Disk" download to create that
bootable CD, I agree with your comment that the developer should not charge
an additional $9.95 for that program. As I stated in my previous post, we
have complained to the developer about that charge, but (at least till now)
to no avail.

3. As to your question "Will I need to create an unpartitioned space for
casper to use?" I'm not entirely sure I understand the question so let me
answer it this way...
If you're cloning the *entire* contents of one HDD to another HDD there is
no need to create a partition on the "destination" HDD, i.e., the recipient
of the clone. Nor is there any need to create "unallocated" disk space.

The only time it would be necessary to create a partition on the destination
HDD is where you desired to clone the contents of the source HDD to a
particular partition on the destination drive. For example, let's say that
you were cloning the contents of a 320 GB HDD to a 500 GB HDD, but you did
not want to use the entire disk space of the latter HDD to hold those cloned
contents. You could create a partition of whatever size you desired on the
destination HDD as long as it was large enough to hold the *actual* data
contents of the source HDD. (The partition need not be formatted. The
cloning process will take care of that). The remaining disk space on the
destination HDD could be used for whatever other purpose you had in mind.

As I believe I indicated in my previous post. Casper 5 has the capability of
partition-to-partition cloning in addition to (complete) disk-to-disk
cloning. The process is simple using either approach.

4. You will not lose any data on your present HDD - the one with two
partitions. Neither the first time you use Casper or the one-thousandth time
you use the program. Only the destination's HDD data will be (obviously)
deleted assuming a disk-to-disk cloning operation.

5. You say that you are not interested in "incremental backups". Let me tell
you frankly if that is indeed the case, there is really no special need for
you to purchase the Casper 5 program. If all you're interested in is some
"one-shot deal" where you will clone the contents of your day-to-day working
HDD to another HDD and nevermore use the program for routine systematic
backups to keep your system reasonably up-to-date, then *any* disk-cloning
(or disk-imaging) program would probably suffice for your needs.

I thought I had made it clear in my previous post that the *real* value of
the Casper 5 program is that it is a comprehensive backup program that's
simple to use and quick in operation and which is designed to be
*frequently* used to maintain this up-to-date backup of your system. You
might want to read my previous post if you're so inclined.

Let me finally say - hopefully for the last time - that I have no
connection, either personal or commercial, with the developer of the Casper
program.
Anna

Richie Hardwick wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:49:54 GMT, "Mickey Mouse"
wrote:

Ritchie, I don't mean to sound rude but I must ask, have you and Anna
ever
been married to each other at some time?
You sound a little aggressive towards her. Anna's replies are a little
longwinded making it a little difficult for me keeping up
with her but she is trying to help. Anna, comes across as intelligent
and
knowledgable about this Casper program and appears to want
to assist in my much needed help. You suggest she may work for that
company
and she may be pushing Casper. All I can say about
that is..... "all the better for me". Acronis in my limited knowledge is
probably a much better featured program but more to the point I'm
looking for ease of use. I'm not interested in incremental backups, all
I
want is to install a initial fresh system and my applications, then
make a backup copy using say, casper and at some later time when/if my
system gets somewhat corrupted just reinstall the backup.

Notice it's a "cloning" program, not a "backup" program.

And the point is...... considering my needs?

You want to make a backup to use in case your installation fails at
some time, in case it gets fried, or in case you want to start over.

Cloning makes an exact copy of your drive on another drive, and it
uses the entire drive because the intent of cloning is to create
another bootable drive the same as your system drive. If you use
Casper to do that, and your original Windows installation gets fried
(but the hard drive is still OK), you will have to use Casper on a CD
(remember, that will cost extra with Casper) to "reverse clone" from
your cloned drive to your system drive.

But what from Anna pointed out, and I quote:
"Casper 5 has the capability of partition-to-partition cloning in addition
to (complete) disk-to-disk cloning."

So apparently Casper CAN also just clone a partition, and not JUST clone the
WHOLE drive.

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:35:52 -0700, "Bill in Co."
wrote:

But what from Anna pointed out, and I quote:
"Casper 5 has the capability of partition-to-partition cloning in addition
to (complete) disk-to-disk cloning."

So apparently Casper CAN also just clone a partition, and not JUST clone the
WHOLE drive.

You and she are correct. Pardon my oversight/error.

That said... MOST (read: average home) users want to backup the entire
drive. Agreed?

And from all this discussion - including many of the past discussions
- wouldn't you ALSO agree that the Acronis product is the best for the
average home user?

You don't have to answer: I know you decided to use it after much
back and forth here about Casper with Anna.

ONE MORE TIME: I think Casper is a FINE program, and no other program
does what it does better than it does. I LOVE IT. But I ONLY use it
to cover me in case a very specific situation arises: if my system
drive completely dies and I want to get back up and running in mere
seconds. I use ATI to create backup images to cover ALL OTHER
situations.

I think ATI is a BETTER program overall for the average home user who
wants merely to backup the system drive and or specific collections of
data and to maintain those backups easily.

Not to mention that it (including its FREE bootable CD) is cheaper.

Richie Hardwick

Richie Hardwick wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:35:52 -0700, "Bill in Co."
wrote:

But what from Anna pointed out, and I quote:
"Casper 5 has the capability of partition-to-partition cloning in
addition
to (complete) disk-to-disk cloning."

So apparently Casper CAN also just clone a partition, and not JUST clone
the
WHOLE drive.

You and she are correct. Pardon my oversight/error.

That said... MOST (read: average home) users want to backup the entire
drive. Agreed?

Probably. (I don't know for sure what they want).

And from all this discussion - including many of the past discussions
- wouldn't you ALSO agree that the Acronis product is the best for the
average home user?

You don't have to answer: I know you decided to use it after much
back and forth here about Casper with Anna.

Yes, I use Acronis True Image. It has seemed more convenient for my usage,
because I do some of the things you already mentioned with it.

ONE MORE TIME: I think Casper is a FINE program, and no other program
does what it does better than it does. I LOVE IT. But I ONLY use it
to cover me in case a very specific situation arises: if my system
drive completely dies and I want to get back up and running in mere
seconds.

Which (admitedly) is not my principal use for it, and so I'm using ATI.

My principal use for it is some of the stuff you already enumerated, chief
of which is all the software tests, and messing around with the software
that I do. And I need several complete system image backups for that. (I
have often restored a specific image to get back to where I was before I
tried something out that didn't pan out so well)

And - I want to have readily available several different, dated, backups
with ready file access if I want to copy or just look at those files for
some comparisons, etc. So my backup hard drive has one large partition it
it, with multiple backup images of my system in it.

I use ATI to create backup images to cover ALL OTHER situations.

On Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:10:13 -0700, "Bill in Co."
wrote:

ONE MORE TIME: I think Casper is a FINE program, and no other program
does what it does better than it does. I LOVE IT. But I ONLY use it
to cover me in case a very specific situation arises: if my system
drive completely dies and I want to get back up and running in mere
seconds.

Which (admitedly) is not my principal use for it, and so I'm using ATI.

My principal use for it is some of the stuff you already enumerated, chief
of which is all the software tests, and messing around with the software
that I do. And I need several complete system image backups for that. (I
have often restored a specific image to get back to where I was before I
tried something out that didn't pan out so well)

And - I want to have readily available several different, dated, backups
with ready file access if I want to copy or just look at those files for
some comparisons, etc. So my backup hard drive has one large partition it
it, with multiple backup images of my system in it.

Same here. I have no fewer than a dozen "old" backups covering the
past 30 days or so. Those "old" backups include 4 complete backups
along with their incremental backups (which can also be used to
restore to the date of the incremental backup).

Those different, dated backups are ALSO very nice to have on hand in
case you've inadvertently backed up a hosed system where you haven't
discovered that it is hosed until after your most recent backup has
been made.

Can't do that with Casper, because it only has ONE "backup" to restore
from.

Incidentally... I am in the midst of another ATI incremental backup
right now. When that's done, I will use Casper to update my clone.

Richie Hardwick