Backup software and can this be done......

Pepperami

Pepperami

Pepperami

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Sussex UK
Hiya Guys,

After a bit of reading, and a fairly slow Vista Drive not playing some of my older but much loved games, I went about installing the DUAL BOOT system, XP Professional First, then Vista Ultimate 64bit

I used EasyBCD and now have a fully functioning Dual Boot System, with everything installed and running nicely

So what happens when the inevitable strikes :eek:

I have used Backup software Before, Arconis being a favourite, but ideally, I wanted to ask if the following could be achieved?

Is there a way to back up the HD with the Dual Boot System and both Operating Systems & Data, and then if for whatever reason it went ****, then it could be restored simply and easily WITHOUT having to install the operating Systems and EasyBCD again?

I have an External 500GB perfect for the job of holding the backup, but really would like to be able to back it all up and retore it all as described, is it possible?

Thoughts on a postcard please :D
 
Greenlizard0 said:
If you backup an image, I'm sure it could be done...though, don't quote me on that.
Click to expand...

True

Depends on how Arconis works, does it simply backup the data or does it do an image? Also how does EasyBCD work? Does it have an .ini once in Windows or does it purely work outside of the OS. Is it really too much hard work to simply recreate the the Boot manager if it does all go tilt though?
 
acronis true image will do this.

basically you would boot from the acronis CD, and save an 'image' of the hard drive onto your 500gb one.

then you can boot from the cd again to restore that image (it will be an exact copy of all data/files when you made the backup)
 
Thanks for the replies guys....

bledd. said:
acronis true image will do this.

basically you would boot from the acronis CD, and save an 'image' of the hard drive onto your 500gb one.

then you can boot from the cd again to restore that image (it will be an exact copy of all data/files when you made the backup)
Click to expand...

Ok, but this would only do one of the operating systems yes?

Is Arconis capable of backing up EVERYTHING to ONE image, then once it restores it, it would be back to a dual booting system again?

EasyBCD I "THINK" installs a custom MBR doesnt it? It allows you to choose which operating system you then want to boot from, but which ever one you choose, the selected booted system becomes C: and the Non booted one becomes D: and visaversa

If I installed Arconis on for instance XP Drive, and booted XP, the Vista System is shown as D: so if I then create an image, in THEORY it would make an image of everything I ask it to, then if I booted using an arconis CD and selected the External Drive image, it would hopefully restore everything as it should be?

I suppose the only thing to do is to try it and see what happens :eek:

lol
 
If you want to easily back up the MBR, and Acronis can't do it, grab a Linux LiveCD and:

dd if=/dev/hda of=mbr.copy bs=512 count=1
Click to expand...

if = input file ( the disk is viewed as a file )
of = output file
bs = block size ( MBR is 512 bytes )
count = number of blocks ( 1 block, in this case )

hda is the first hard disk. Might be sda. List all drives / partitions with:

Code: 
fdisk -l
 
bledd. said:
if you tick it, it has to restore the whole drive
Click to expand...

Mm, you can select/exclude folders and filter files on a "My data" backup so I am not sure how it would achieve restoring the entire drive?

Edit - Just ran through a My Data backup/restore process and was not prompted nor had options for MBR once.
 
Last edited:
hmm


what version do you have?

acrontmp.JPG


just took this


from the live cd yes?
 
Ah, that is where the confusion is, that is "My Computer" not "My data".

Probably fault on my part referring to My Computer backup as Sector by Sector as its also an option to use sector copy or not on a My Computer image.
 
bledd. said:
i just answered the question the OP asked tbh :o
Click to expand...

Yes, and I was saying to make sure he does the correct kind of image as Acronis DOES do raw data images only, effectively a compressed archive of files and folders which would leave him a bit screwed from a MBR point of view.
 
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