Backup: System Images

[pparks1]

I only do this to take advantage of Win7 bringing backup imaging to the masses for the first time, which is why it needs repeating since most ordinary users filter out "backup imaging" like it is Martian.

I feel the same way and I think it's fantastic that this feature is included. The overwhelming majority of PC owners simply have 1 hard drive partition (C. So, if you get an external drive and every once in a while, create a system image to that external drive...if they even have to restore it 1 time...it will seem like an absolute godsend to them. Or even to just use it before a big change...for example...making a full system image of their computer before they attempt to install Windows 7. That piece of mind knowing that they can easily rollback is fabulous.

Don't get me wrong..I understand the value of some of the 3rd party apps and have been using a 30 day trial of Acronis 2010 at work. I've found NewEgg sells this software for $38...but I cannot yet justify to myself that I actually "need" that functionality for my Windows box at home. To me, $38 is very cheap and almost worth the experience...but since my data is stored on a server and I don't use a ton of applications (all of which are freely available), I just don't get much bang for the buck out of being able to back this up incrementally, daily, etc. And I don't have needs to restore to other machines, partitions, drives, etc.

And for me, if I do decide that I would like to experiment with another OS on my main machine...I simply disconnect my primary drive, install a spare hard drive that I have lying around and use that.

So, I'm not trying to say that any way is right or better than another, but all of us...even us power users have differing needs. At home, I have 5 computers that are used regularly. My laptop (Ubuntu for home, Vista Enterprise for work), My wife's laptop (Vista), My server (CentOS), My AMD Dual Core (Ubuntu) and my Quad Core (Win7).

 

[SIW2]

I also think it's great MS have included it.

It seems to me to be aimed at the very people who didn't know anything about it before.

When prompted to make an Image - many will not have the remotest idea what an image is. They will do it anyway - and it may save a lot from disaster.

That has to be a good thing.

 

[whs]

I also think it's great MS have included it.

It seems to me to be aimed at the very people who didn't know anything about it before.

When prompted to make an Image - many will not have the remotest idea what an image is. They will do it anyway - and it may save a lot from disaster.

That has to be a good thing.

Very good point.

 

[JamesR404]

Got the same error, and yes, it's a 1TB 32 FAT drive I wanted to back up to.

... Guess I'll switch to Paragon then =]

Note I also bought Macrium Reflect and am very happy with it - Except that it only wants to be installed on one system. ... Errr. I have about 3/4 systems operational at any given moment. ... Only one backed up? Well, not ideal.

 

[motc7]

For the record, I would like to say that memeo is a great backup solution.

 

[whs]

Got the same error, and yes, it's a 1TB 32 FAT drive I wanted to back up to.

... Guess I'll switch to Paragon then =]

Note I also bought Macrium Reflect and am very happy with it - Except that it only wants to be installed on one system. ... Errr. I have about 3/4 systems operational at any given moment. ... Only one backed up? Well, not ideal.

I use the free Macrium on several system without any problems. The only important function you lose over the paid version is incrememtal backup. And since I am not a fan of incrememtals anyhow, that does not bother me. I rather spend the extra $10 to get a bigger backup disk.