Hard Drive Cloning

I've had my new computer for about a month now and am ready to clone the
hdd. I installed a internal 1TB but I think instead of using that I'm going
to use a 1TB drive that's not installed. Just pop it in a docking station
and perform a clone...how often??
Do subsequent backups just write the changes or rewrite the entire drive
contents?
I've never cloned my os drive before and when my system went semi-belly up
back in Sept, several of you allowed as had I cloned the drive, I wouldn't
be in this pickle (like I needed to be reminded) g
On a recent thread, BillW50 suggested XXClone. Has anyone else used this?
Any other suggestions? Free is always good I don't have PhD in rocket
science or computer science so simplicity is most welcomed
That will give me one clone backup and two data backups.
Monica

For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally used
when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone immediately.

"Brian K" wrote in message
ond.com...

For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally used
when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone immediately.
Not So
Cloning is a good way to backup a HD. I've been using Casper for years. Yes
it costs a few $$$ but is much faster than imaging since once the initial
backup is made it only copies new or changed files so I can usually clone
one of my 2 500gb drives in about 3-4 minutes each while most imaging
programs take alot longer. I've had a HD failure and by installing my cloned
drive in place of the bad one I was up and running in a couple of minutes.
The only data lost is whatever wasn't included in the last clone and since I
do it everyday I lose very little if any. You can set it up to perform a
clone on schedule. My cloned drives are installed in a dual USB enclosure.
http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/

In ,
Monica wrote:
I've had my new computer for about a month now and am ready to clone
the hdd. I installed a internal 1TB but I think instead of using
that I'm going to use a 1TB drive that's not installed. Just pop it
in a docking station and perform a clone...how often??

The same as often as you would be doing with a backup program. For some,
it is hourly, others nightly, others still weekly, etc. It all depends
on how much you are willing to loose.

Do subsequent backups just write the changes or rewrite the entire
drive contents?

It depends on the software. Most overwrite everything. But Casper and
the commercial version of XXClone can write just the changes. Which
means cloning is very fast after the first time.

I've never cloned my os drive before and when my system went
semi-belly up back in Sept, several of you allowed as had I cloned
the drive, I wouldn't be in this pickle (like I needed to be
reminded) g On a recent thread, BillW50 suggested XXClone. Has
anyone else used
this? Any other suggestions? Free is always good I don't have
PhD in rocket science or computer science so simplicity is most
welcomed That will give me one clone backup and two data backups.
Monica

I've used many cloning software. And what bothers me is that with the
exception of XXClone, they don't always get it right. Then I have to
repair the clone to get it usable once again. Although all of these
problems disappeared once I started using XXClone. And it is so easy to
use as well. The free version all you do is to click on the Start button
(unless you have more than two drives connected, then you have to make
sure the right target and source drives are correct). And the commercial
version you have to check one of four cloning options.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

In ond.com,
Brian K wrote:
For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally
used when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone
immediately.

I used to say the very same thing. ;-) Although after going through the
horrors of restoring images a number of times, you learn there has to be
a better way. And that better way is by cloning. The only downside I
know by cloning instead is that you need more individual drives. But
that too is a plus when you think about it. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

On 10/16/2011 8:06 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ond.com,
Brian K wrote:
For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally
used when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone
immediately.

I used to say the very same thing. ;-) Although after going through the
horrors of restoring images a number of times, you learn there has to be
a better way. And that better way is by cloning. The only downside I
know by cloning instead is that you need more individual drives. But
that too is a plus when you think about it. ;-)


This thread is of interest to me also. I use Acronis for daily
differential backups, and see that the differential backups average
around 50 GB, while the initial full backup is around 180 GB. 50 GB
seems awfully large if just the changes made in one day are reflected in
it. No gaming, just email, occasional "researching" on the 'Net, an odd
stint or two on FX flight simulator (OK, not a game, a simulation!). Any
insight appreciated.

In ,
Dan Wenz wrote:
On 10/16/2011 8:06 AM, BillW50 wrote:
In ond.com,
Brian K wrote:
For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally
used when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone
immediately.

I used to say the very same thing. ;-) Although after going through
the horrors of restoring images a number of times, you learn there
has to be a better way. And that better way is by cloning. The only
downside I know by cloning instead is that you need more individual
drives. But that too is a plus when you think about it. ;-)

This thread is of interest to me also. I use Acronis for daily
differential backups, and see that the differential backups average
around 50 GB, while the initial full backup is around 180 GB. 50 GB
seems awfully large if just the changes made in one day are reflected
in it. No gaming, just email, occasional "researching" on the 'Net,
an odd stint or two on FX flight simulator (OK, not a game, a
simulation!). Any insight appreciated.

Acronis is great when it works. I can understand why it is so popular.
Although it won't restore from some USB drives (it will backup to the
same ones all day, go figure). And when using Acronis cloning feature,
it lacks incremental / differential cloning. It is all or nothing.

I too am a big time flight simulator user since '81. And since I am a
pilot and a RC pilot too, I have most of whatever has been made. By the
way, have you tried XPlane yet? They have a trial version of it so you
can try it out before buying. Although speaking about Acronis and
cloning, Acronis can't even clone the 18 keys I need for RealFlight,
addons, and expansion packs. So I am not too impressed to say the least
with Acronis 2009 or 2011.

Incremental cloning is the best way to go IMHO. No more BS that you have
with imaging files. And you don't even know if those images can actually
be restored until you actually tried them. And since I view this as a
must do (because I learned the hard way some of them won't)... you
should have cloned in the first place. ;-)

The only two cloning programs that I know of that does incremental
cloning is Casper and the commercial version of XXClone. Hopefully there
is more of them, or at least hopefully more of them will follow. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

On Oct 15, 8:14*pm, "Monica" wrote:
I've had my new computer for about a month now and am ready to clone the
hdd. *I installed a internal 1TB but I think instead of using that I'm going
to use a 1TB drive that's not installed. *Just pop it in a docking station
and perform a clone...how often??
Do subsequent backups just write the changes or rewrite the entire drive
contents?
I've never cloned my os drive before and when my system went semi-belly up
back in Sept, several of you allowed as had I cloned the drive, I wouldn't
be in this pickle (like I needed to be reminded) g
On a recent thread, BillW50 suggested XXClone. *Has anyone else used this?
Any other suggestions? *Free is always good *I don't have PhD in rocket
science or computer science *so simplicity *is most welcomed
That will give me one clone backup and two data backups.
Monica

I use the free Seagate version of Acronis, Seagate Disc Wizard to
clone a backup to the second drive in my desktop. Both hard drives are
the same size. One is a Seagate and the other is a WD. Since most of
my work is writing, I use a usb drive for daily backups and do the
full clone backup once a week or so. It takes about 15 minutes for the
cloning procedure. But at least one drive has to be a Seagate.

The Seagate disc Wizard can be downloaded from the Seagate website.
As someone said, with a cloned drive you can be up and running in a
few minutes.

In ,
olfart wrote:
"Brian K" wrote in message
ond.com...

For a backup you should be considering images. Cloning is generally
used when upgrading to a larger HD and you want to use the clone
immediately.
Not So
Cloning is a good way to backup a HD. I've been using Casper for
years. Yes it costs a few $$$ but is much faster than imaging since
once the initial backup is made it only copies new or changed files
so I can usually clone one of my 2 500gb drives in about 3-4 minutes
each while most imaging programs take alot longer. I've had a HD
failure and by installing my cloned drive in place of the bad one I
was up and running in a couple of minutes. The only data lost is
whatever wasn't included in the last clone and since I do it everyday
I lose very little if any. You can set it up to perform a clone on
schedule. My cloned drives are installed in a dual USB enclosure.
http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/

Yes I agree that cloning is the best way to go. But backup software also
does the incremental thing that is also very quick. Well Acronis is
quick in this department and Paragon is one of the worst. Don't ask me
why Paragon's incremental takes like 5 times longer than a full backup
does. Otherwise Paragon and Acronis is pretty much the same in other
departments. Although each one also has their own quirks.

You know, there is another software that is a bit different than cloning
and backing up. Yet it does everything that those all do (except AFAIK
making a new drive bootable) and does so much more too. It started out
as one of the best syncing applications I know of. But it has evolved
into so much more. It is called SyncBack. They have three different
versions including a free version. The other two versions can be used up
to 5 computers per license. And boy is it fast too. ;-)

Backup software comparison
http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/compare.html

I have used the free version for years for backing up, restoring, and
syncing data files. But I am really close to trying the trial versions
of the other two products. As they do so much that nothing else comes
close to having all of the features as the SE and Pro versions can do.
You can even set them up to do their thing when your backup or clone
drive comes online automatically. Geez, how lazy can you get?

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

In ,
BillW50 wrote:
You know, there is another software that is a bit different than
cloning and backing up. Yet it does everything that those all do
(except AFAIK making a new drive bootable) and does so much more too.
It started out as one of the best syncing applications I know of. But
it has evolved into so much more. It is called SyncBack. They have
three different versions including a free version. The other two
versions can be used up to 5 computers per license. And boy is it
fast too. ;-)
Backup software comparison
http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/compare.html

I have used the free version for years for backing up, restoring, and
syncing data files. But I am really close to trying the trial versions
of the other two products. As they do so much that nothing else comes
close to having all of the features as the SE and Pro versions can do.
You can even set them up to do their thing when your backup or clone
drive comes online automatically. Geez, how lazy can you get?

UPDATE: I used SyncBackSE on a clone I did a few days ago. Everything
seemed to go fine and it was really fast. The real test was actually
using the updated clone. Well that test failed! Windows booted for about
10 seconds and the computer was stuck in an endless rebooting loop. That
sure was disappointing. The free version is still great for data files
though. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP3