backing up my HD

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Hello again,
This is a follow-on from the previous thread outlined in my sig. Thanks to all that helped me with that BTW.

I am confused about methods of backing up data. My requirements are quite simply that i would like to be able to do a 1:1 clone/backup of my initial primary hard disk. Although my OS is working again, i am still receiving Event ID errors/warnings in regards to the status of my Harddisk, and apprently, this does mean that my Harddisk is on its way out the window...

I would like a 1:1 copy of my increasingly faulty Harddisk including installed programs/games/files/folders, so that these things can retain their functionaility when backed up, and so they can be simply transferred over to another harddisk when the enivitable crash happens..again. When it does happen, i will install windows onto the HD that has the backed up data and use the faulty one as a means of storage only.


What i have done is download a software called EaseUs Disc Copy, which claims to do the above, This disc copy utility is as we speak making a 1:1 copy of the faulty harddisk onto another harddisk (internal) which is i guess the "slave" of my PC.

My real question is that i am confused on the methods. Should i have done a DISC COPY or DISC IMAGE - (and whats the difference???) bearing in mind my requirements above? I understand that a DISC IMAGE is like an archive file with a .edi extension??

Please can someone clear things up for me? Am i doing the right thing?

Thanks,

 

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You can either read the data at the filesystem level or at the block level. To read at the block level in Windows requires bypassing the HAL. Windows Vista Business and Ultimate come with a service call, not very coincidentally, "Block Level Backup Engine Service", used for the "Complete PC Backup" option. Linux treats everything as a file, so you can access the block device directly through the /dev tree. People frequently use the dd command to create (block level) images.

 

Lamens terms please...

 

I tried backing up my hard drive once, but it kept making those irritating beeping sounds so I quit.

 

Freddie, I think you need to take a look at This thread.

 

Fergal,

LOL. Methinks you need to understand the difference between sarcasm and puns.

 

Ahem... ya think!? Heh heh...

 

Got to be honest, I wouldn't be waiting for the inevitable HDD crash; I'd get the data saved at the very least (I'm sure you'll have done that anyway) and get the new hard disk up and running now.

 

Yes true, but im not having any error msgs anymore inside my event log, so for now am keeping the backed up C: on the second internal drive and wait and see what happens, i havent got much to loose now, as my data is backed up.PC's are weird.

As another question..

I have backed up my primary ("faulty") drive as stated, however, how would i make sure that any NEW info stored on the primary drive stays updated to the drive it has been backed up to? Will i have to re-run the copy disc again overwriting the previous backup?
Guess ill have to periodically just back-up the c: to ensure content is the same on the backup drive.
Another thing id have to remember if i end up using the backed up drive is that my sync'ing filing system would end up being messed up. Id have to re-sync everything.

 

Just point all the software you use to save data to the backup drive so that it is saved there as soon as you create it.

 

I'm not sure at the moment what u use the 2 drives for. But I'd be tempted to use the decent (non-error) creating drive as the master, and the one thats nearly broken as the slave.

I'd personally then move my partners rubbish she insists on keeping onto the nearly broken drive and wait for it to go bang but then thats just the kind person I am

 

Well i have the second drive all ready and set up incase the primary one (faulty one) does go bang. The primary drive at the minute keeps giving me event id's 11 and 51, but is not actually displaying any noticeable error symptoms...that i know of anyway.

I have not set the primary HD (faulty one) up as slave yet for these reasons maybe someone can help me?:

The HD that has my backup on (2nd HD) has the drive letter "I" assigned to it...Im not sure if i set everything up the way you have suggested if, programs and such will run correctly...(due to everything being installed under the default c: ) am i being over-cautious?

The disk copy utlity i used allowed functionality of programs when it copied the contents over, so im sure everything would indeed be ok.

IF you understood those ramblings, please advise.

Thanks.

edit: oh and to answer your question, the primary faulty drive is obviously being used to run windows and has programs on it. The second drive has a mirror image copy of the faulty one (including windows folders/OS) and is split into 2 partitions...ie: it is 300GB in size, 1 partition holds the backup for the primary drive the 2nd partition is for storage/games etc.