how good is win 7 drive image vs buying a 3rd party software

[marty1856]

how good is win 7 drive image fs buying a 3rd party software. I used accronis in xp but will win 7 internal drive image on a external hard disk give me equal results

 

[Phone Man]

A lot of us on here use Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Works great and fast. Give it a try it is FREE.

Jim

 

[zigzag3143]

Acronis, or Macrium are my vote

 

[franka]

Had problems with ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE in the past on both Vista and Win 7.
If you use Eset Home Security and Vista Acronis is not compatible, confirmed by Acronis.

I now use Paragon Hard Drive Manager and never had a problem.

 

[richyrichuk]

good question i've been looking at this to marty. anybody got a good insite and issues with 7 clone/backup i was considering this myself to.

i do currently use paragon as i dont like giving my cow to Mc Donald's.....same deal with the M$ corporation

 

[Fayla]

The only issue I've had with the Window's 7 drive imaging is that it only lets me keep one copy per device it backs up too. Other than that it has worked flawlessly and efficiently for me every time.

 

[marsmimar]

I use the Win 7 imaging tool as well as Macrium free just for the redundency of having more than one system image. Some folks have said they've experienced problems with Win 7. I never have. When you image with the 7 utility it creates WindowsImageBackup file. That's the name of the file it looks for if you have to restore the image. If you create a second image it will overwrite that first file.

If you want to save that first image and not have it overwritten, rename it to something like SysImg03012011. The new second image will then be called WindowsImageBackup. As long as you keep renaming WindowsImageBackup to something else you can save as many images as you have room for. If you want to restore your computer back to SysImg03012011 (for example) rename it WindowsSystemImage and you're good to go. Once the restore is finished you can rename it SysImg03012011 again and it won't be accidentally overwritten.

 

[pparks1]

The thing that I don't like about the built-in tool....is that rather than create a single file (that is the backup), it creates a folder and plops a whole mess of files and folders there. And it doesn't allow you to copy this folder to another drive or folder. While you can copy it, you are no longer able to restore from it. However, when I have just used the backup and made a single image to my external drive, I've been able to restore from it successfully....so it's worked as advertised.

I like the third party tools as I can create a full image at the end of each week and keep 5 weeks worth of files in a folder and if I want to copy them someplace else, I can do so with Windows explorer. The other thing that I like is that with the third parties, I can easily mount that backup image and copy files and folders out of there if need be.

 

[Hopalong X]

I use the Windows7 backup and System Image.
Also use Macrium free version.

I have used both to reimage and both have worked well.

I'm using 2 internal HD's one 640GB for back ups/ extra files. I have the space so why not use it.

Mike

 

[mjf]

I use Windows System Imaging and Macrium as a secondary safeguard.
Even though Windows is my primary imaging tool and has never failed me I don't trust it fully.

 

[kado897]

Before you decide on any third party imaging tool make sure that the recovery disk works with your setup. Most of these are Linux disks which can have problems locating your backup drive. I have had this problem with Macrium Free although others have had no trouble. It all depends on your setup.

 

[Clinkz]

I mentioned this in a post yesterday but there is nothing wrong with reiterating it here. I have used many imaging tools and so far my favorite has to be PING, i have used it for the past year without fail, highly recommended!

 

[Golden]

Let the statistics speak:

http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...estore-points-3rd-party-imaging-software.html

 

[gregrocker]

If you own a WD or Seagate HD you get a free copy of Acronis premium cloning/imaging app on either of their Support Downloads webpages. This is the best one I've found short of their paid versions.

The others all have limitations, but Win7 backup imaging should be tried to see how it suits you. We are hoping it evolves from it's infant state. If I can find members of it's Product Team here at the MVP Global Summit I will pass along the shortcomings that have been laid out most fully in SevenForums.