I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell XPS
laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of having to
do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems, I could get
back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known execution environment
where most of my applications were installed and registered/running/etc.
Data backups (while they would probably exist in this scheme) that I care
about would be done separately and much more frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world (like
Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have a couple
of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right? If so
do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups take
two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a single
(but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up regularly just as a
copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live Mail data is backed up
via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many disks
I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any experience
with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of used space on my
Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to as much as 200G.

Thanks.

dave

On Sun, 9 Nov 2008 09:57:55 -0500, "Dave Lee"
wrote:

I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell XPS
laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of having to
do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems, I could get
back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known execution environment
where most of my applications were installed and registered/running/etc.
Data backups (while they would probably exist in this scheme) that I care
about would be done separately and much more frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world (like
Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have a couple
of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right? If so
do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

Acronis True Image.

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups take
two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a single
(but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up regularly just as a
copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live Mail data is backed up
via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many disks
I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any experience
with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of used space on my
Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to as much as 200G.

That will involve a LOT of DVDs: do the math. You won't get that much
compression, so just figure it 1:1.

While it's doable with DVDs, an external USB hard drive would be a
smarter choice, and a lot faster. PLUS your backups could be
accomplished unattended.

--
Max

Acronis True Image Home 2009 is the imaging software I use regularly.

In the main I backup to a removable USB drive.

If you are looking at DVD storage (which I also do), for the amount of data
you are backing up you are probably looking at around 16 DVDs (approx), on
the default compression. The problem with higher compressions is that they
can take a considerably long time to complete.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Dave Lee" wrote in message
...
I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell
XPS laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of
having to do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems, I
could get back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known execution
environment where most of my applications were installed and
registered/running/etc. Data backups (while they would probably exist in
this scheme) that I care about would be done separately and much more
frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world (like
Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have a
couple of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right? If
so do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups take
two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a single
(but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up regularly just as
a copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live Mail data is backed
up via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many
disks I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any
experience with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of
used space on my Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to
as much as 200G.

Thanks.

dave

Thanks, Max. At 1-1 compression I do believe that a larger USB attached
drive just made my Christmas list.

dave

"The Max" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 9 Nov 2008 09:57:55 -0500, "Dave Lee"
wrote:

I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell
XPS
laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of having to
do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems, I could get
back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known execution environment
where most of my applications were installed and registered/running/etc.
Data backups (while they would probably exist in this scheme) that I care
about would be done separately and much more frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world (like
Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have a
couple
of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right? If
so
do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

Acronis True Image.

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups take
two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a single
(but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up regularly just as
a
copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live Mail data is backed up
via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many
disks
I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any experience
with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of used space on
my
Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to as much as 200G.

That will involve a LOT of DVDs: do the math. You won't get that much
compression, so just figure it 1:1.

While it's doable with DVDs, an external USB hard drive would be a
smarter choice, and a lot faster. PLUS your backups could be
accomplished unattended.

--
Max

Thanks for the very helpful feedback, John.

dave

"John Barnett MVP" wrote in message
...
Acronis True Image Home 2009 is the imaging software I use regularly.

In the main I backup to a removable USB drive.

If you are looking at DVD storage (which I also do), for the amount of
data you are backing up you are probably looking at around 16 DVDs
(approx), on the default compression. The problem with higher compressions
is that they can take a considerably long time to complete.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable
for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of
the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Dave Lee" wrote in message
...
I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell
XPS laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of
having to do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems,
I could get back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known execution
environment where most of my applications were installed and
registered/running/etc. Data backups (while they would probably exist in
this scheme) that I care about would be done separately and much more
frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world (like
Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have a
couple of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right? If
so do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups
take two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a
single (but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up regularly
just as a copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live Mail data
is backed up via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many
disks I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any
experience with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of
used space on my Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to
as much as 200G.

Thanks.

dave

You're Welcome

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Dave Lee" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the very helpful feedback, John.

dave

"John Barnett MVP" wrote in message
...
Acronis True Image Home 2009 is the imaging software I use regularly.

In the main I backup to a removable USB drive.

If you are looking at DVD storage (which I also do), for the amount of
data you are backing up you are probably looking at around 16 DVDs
(approx), on the default compression. The problem with higher
compressions is that they can take a considerably long time to complete.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable
for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of
the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..


"Dave Lee" wrote in message
...
I would like to capture an occasional snapshot of my whole system (Dell
XPS laptop). The purpose here would that, in the unfortunate case of
having to do a complete re-install due to hardware or software problems,
I could get back (in a relatively simple fashion) to some known
execution environment where most of my applications were installed and
registered/running/etc. Data backups (while they would probably exist in
this scheme) that I care about would be done separately and much more
frequently.

There is a lot of stuff out there from the commercial Windows world
(like Acronis) to stuff from a Unix/Linux heritage such as Ghost. I have
a couple of simple questions.

1) I assume that this (at least in principle) is do-able - that right?
If so do you have recommendations as to the right software package?

2) Any general "gotcha's" to be concerned about? FWIW my data backups
take two forms. All the personal data that I care about is stored in a
single (but complicated) folder structure and that is backed up
regularly just as a copy to a USB-2 attached harddrive. My Windows Live
Mail data is backed up via Vista Backup/Restore.

3) I would really like to do this to CD/DVD's (have a relatively recent
vintage CD/DVD drive that supports pretty much all the read and write
formats that existed as of 1/2008). But I have no idea as to how many
disks I could ultimately be dealing with here. Does anyone have any
experience with this out there? Right now I'm looking at around 80G of
used space on my Dell XPS laptop. But down the read this could get up to
as much as 200G.

Thanks.

dave