Finally, backup built in

[felix8406]

Question, I did what is supposed to be a complete backup of my "C" drive. When I went to the backup media (external hard drive), there is a folder and one file. The folder is called PAPO-DESKTOP, which is the name I gave my PC, but it is empty. The file is called MediaID.bin, has 528 bytes.

Something did not go as it's supposed to. Any ideas?

[CrowdAds]

[Znod]

That's a good one felix. Backup worked fine for me the few times I used it. Later I switched to Acronis True Image since it works on both XP and Vista. And, unfortunately, I don't have an old Vista backup file to inspect in trying to help you out.

[felix8406]

I suspect that it has something to do with administrator rights. My believe is that the backup was actually successful, but I won't know until I try to recover from a disaster. That's not really what I or any body want...want to know if it works before a distaste happens.

[ants]

Its all great but my beef with it is that there is absolutely no compression in the backup, so if your setup is 50GB so is the backup. Thats a bad thing IMO.

[felix8406]

Vista backup sure has it's limitation, not compressing the backup being one of them, so you must make sure to have plenty of extra room. It does offer two easy to use backup options though...a regular backup and a Complete PC backup. During a regular backup, however, you must use drive letters, instead of individual folders, and Vista decides what to backup. So if you want to secure your daily work, you'll have to backup the entire drive. One way to get around that is to place your data on a separate partition or drive, and then making sure that the partition or drive is included during the backup. However, this does not guarantee that all your data will be backup. So I recommend complete back ups to be on the safe side.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by felix8406

I suspect that it has something to do with administrator rights. My believe is that the backup was actually successful, but I won't know until I try to recover from a disaster. That's not really what I or any body want...want to know if it works before a distaste happens.

Exactly. Lack of confidence is the reason I went to True Image.

[ants]

It has big issues.

*It wont compress
*It fails to identify D9 Duel layer DVDs
*It try's to format NON re writable DVDs that renders them useless.
- There are absolutely no settings to its configuration and how it behaves
*Backing up to Removable Media is basically null and void
*The directory layout it places your backups in is rediculous

[Snuffy]

Grab a nice USB external HD, or simply add one (internal) and make it your backup...
It is super. and works (IMHO) really fast.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by ants

It has big issues.

*It wont compress
*It fails to identify D9 Duel layer DVDs
*It try's to format NON re writable DVDs that renders them useless.
- There are absolutely no settings to its configuration and how it behaves
*Backing up to Removable Media is basically null and void
*The directory layout it places your backups in is rediculous

I agree, but it has worked well for me in a very basic sort of way. I have a backup story to share. but I am out of time now. I'll post it later elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Znod

Exactly. Lack of confidence is the reason I went to True Image.

Znod:

True Image web site indicates "backup and restore your entire operating system" - I however have been burned by other Software which made this claim. Have you, or do you know of someone who has backed up and restored their Windows Vista (typically this would be done to a larger disk given the quick change in drive size taking place)?

Also do you know if it supports the 9.2Gbyte DVDs?

[felix8406]

One of the issues with backup software is that one will not know that it'll work until it's time to recover from a disaster, and then it might be too late. My suggestion is do a backup and then try to see if it really works. I did that with Vista when I had the Home Premium 32-bit version installed on my desktop and it worked. So even if Vista is not the best backup software out there, it does work, at least in my case.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by jemw

Znod:

True Image web site indicates "backup and restore your entire operating system" - I however have been burned by other Software which made this claim. Have you, or do you know of someone who has backed up and restored their Windows Vista (typically this would be done to a larger disk given the quick change in drive size taking place)?

Also do you know if it supports the 9.2Gbyte DVDs?

I agree with the basic point made by felix. However, even that process is not infallible. That is, on one occasion, the Vista backup worked perfectly for me, but on another it did not. True Image has never failed me, having resorted to it three or four times, but it gave me a scare once. I have no idea if True Image will work on the larger capacity DVD's, but I don't have any reason to think it wouldn't.