Upgrade Report [GeekTech: New App Makes Backups Easier - 09/07/2004]

September 7th, 2004



GeekTech: New App Makes Backups Easier


Sr. Assoc. Ed. Tom Mainelli


Everybody knows you should back up the important data on your PC

often. In fact, if I stacked up all the issues of PC World magazine

that recommend this important task at least once, the pile would

eventually collapse--trapping the smaller members of our staff

underneath.


You get the picture.


Unfortunately, backing up is a tedious, sometimes lengthy process. And

when you're done, your PC doesn't actually go any faster. So where's

the fun in that?


Well, actually, the fun is in still having all your important

data--from family photos to MP3s to financial info--in the unhappy

event your PC goes kaput.


There are lots of ways to back up your hard drive, many of them free.

For a sampling of free programs, browse "Utilities To Back Up Your

Data":

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754897/0/


We recently reviewed a range of backup options, from simple backup

programs to full-blown drive-imaging software. There's a chart

comparing the packages, with links to reviews, at:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754898/0/


I've always preferred to use drive-imaging software. As luck would

have it, that method just got a little bit easier thanks to a new

product from Symantec. More on that in a minute.


What's a Drive Image?


But first, a brief primer on imaging: A drive image is essentially a

snapshot of your hard drive. More specifically, it's an extremely

detailed representation that contains every single bit of data that

you'd find on the original drive. You take this image, compress it,

and then store it someplace safe--on another hard drive, a CD or DVD,

a backup tape, whatever. Should disaster strike and your original

drive is destroyed, you simply put the imaged version on a new drive

and you're back in business.


There are lots of other things you can do with drive-imaging software.

For example, if you're like me and you love to run a PC with a cleanly

installed operating system, you can create backups after reinstalling

Windows. That way you can always go back to that happy time before

some poorly designed program starting slowing down everything. I

covered this topic in depth in "How to Keep Your OS Springtime Fresh":

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754899/0/


Until recently, my favorite drive-imaging software was PowerQuest's

Drive Image 7. Then Symantec, which owned a less-satisfying imaging

product called Norton Ghost, bought PowerQuest and I figured that was

the end of Drive Image. Happily, I was wrong. Symantec's $70 Norton

Ghost 9 looks an awful lot like what could have been Drive Image 8,

and it makes creating backups easier and noticeably quicker.


For a review of Drive Image 7, go to:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754900/0/


Read "Skip Norton Ghost 2003" to see why we thought an earlier version

of Norton Ghost wasn't up to snuff:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754901/0/


Getting Incremental


One of the drawbacks of Drive Image 7 was it could only take a full

snapshot of your drive. In other words, if you used the software to

back up your hard drive, then added another file to the drive, you had

to create another full image to include the new data. That could be a

pain. For example, doing a full image of my one-third-full 30GB

Windows XP partition using Drive Image 7 takes upwards of 15 minutes

with the data verification feature turned on, and the result is a

7.6GB file.


Norton Ghost 9 adds incremental backups, and that's a huge

improvement. Basically this feature lets you add subsequent changes to

a base image. First you create a full snapshot. The next time you

create a backup, the software images only the changes you've made.

This saves time because most incremental backups take just minutes.

Each incremental backup holds only the changes you've made--but when

you restore to a particular file, it uses all the previous files to

create the full image. If you're like me and you want to save multiple

variations of your image, this can save you lots of storage space over

time.


Also, since incremental backups are quick and easy to do, you're more

likely to do them more often. In fact, you can schedule these

incremental backups to happen once a month, once a week, or even

multiple times during the day. Since the process doesn't take long,

you won't mind the slight performance slowdown that occurs if the PC

performs an incremental backup while you're using it. (You can turn

off this feature during long bouts of Doom 3.)


With a product this easy to use, there's no excuse for not backing up.


Restoring those images is simple. You can easily bring back a non-OS

drive or partition from within Windows. But what if you're restoring

your operating system partition? Norton Ghost's updated restore

environment makes that easier than ever, too. You just boot your PC

from the Ghost CD into Symantec's Windows XP-like interface, where

you'll find easy access to your backup images as well as a host of

other Symantec extras including a basic version of Norton Disk Doctor

and even a virus scanner.


Not a Perfect Ghost


I should note that while a beta copy of Norton Ghost 9 has certainly

won me over, it has aspects I really don't like.


First and foremost: Like most Symantec products, this one requires

activation. Piracy stinks, but activation is annoying.


Second, like PowerQuest's Drive Image 7, Norton Ghost 9 forces you to

install Microsoft's .Net framework, which I'm not crazy about.

Symantec says it uses the .Net framework "because it's quickly

becoming a standard technology that most Windows applications will use

in the future."


Finally, this program is for Windows XP and Windows 2000 only. So if

you're thinking about doing yet another clean install of Windows ME, I

guess you're out of luck--in so many more ways than one.


Norton Ghost 9 is far from the only game in town when it comes to

drive-imaging. In fact, some of my technically inclined friends have

voiced a preference for Acronis True Image 7. Acronis--which has

offered incremental backups for some time--just launched True Image 8

for $50. Before I plunk down my money to buy the final version of

Norton Ghost 9, I may have to give that one a spin, too.


For pricing on Norton Ghost 9, go to our Product Finder:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754902/0/


For a review of Acronis True Image 7, go to:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/754903/0/


Read Tom Mainelli's regularly published "GeekTech" columns:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/213949/15377828/239026/0/

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"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice.
It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved."
-- William Jennings Bryan