Mirroring partition while HDD upgradation

tsk1979 · 28th August 2007, 05:33

I got my HDD and Casing
160GB HDD for 102$(tax, shipping etc., included)
SATA 2.5" casing for 11.93, all inclusive.

So tonights its tryout time!

anupmathur · 16th September 2007, 18:09

How did it go? I'm keen to know which software and what procedure you used.
Acronis True Image is the software you were looking for - makes the job a breeze. Very reliable and has been giving Norton Ghost a good run for its money.

tsk1979 · 17th September 2007, 04:04

Very bad.
I tried casper, and thought I will just do a one to one copy and then manage the other space.
MY HDD became 73GB(same as old one) as casper copied the partition table as it is.
So I had to modify the LBA back to the correct value.
I guess its going to be the hard way. Mirroring works best for similar sized HDDs

anupmathur · 17th September 2007, 07:21

Acronis is THE software. Not necessarily Disc Director or Partition Expert, as someone mentioned earlier. You need only True Image. BTW, what you are calling 'mirroring' is actually 'imaging'. Mirroring is only a kind of data backup. Imaging makes a clone of the drive, like a physical photograph. And neither the drive size has to be same, nor the target partition sizes.
I've used 'Acronis True Image Home' for over 2 years on not less than 2 dozen machines, out of which at least 3 were HDD upgrade tasks.

I have not tried the friendly ghost, so I cannot comment.
With Acronis you never need to fool around with Partition Tables, LBA, MBRs, nothing!

Are you saying you have not yet successfully executed the job yet?

tsk1979 · 17th September 2007, 12:06

Well my hard disk size was reduced by these software when I did a complete image copy. Maybe I am just bad with it.
I plan to make my drive clean and empty, after this when I come back I delhi, probably you can help me with this stuff

anupmathur · 17th September 2007, 20:46

You're on tsk1979. When is this likely to happen?

iraghava · 17th September 2007, 21:32

Anup - I was thinking of doing weekly/monthly backups of my Laptop. IYO would Acronis be the best software for the same?

I would be storing the backup on an external HDD & would prefer a whole image of the system.

abhibh · 17th September 2007, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava

Anup - I was thinking of doing weekly/monthly backups of my Laptop. IYO would Acronis be the best software for the same?

I would be storing the backup on an external HDD & would prefer a whole image of the system.

Yes it is I am using it for my documents and does the job perfectly. Though i have not installed it when i reinstalled my windows last month and thnaks for reminding me to install it hehe...

tsk1979 · 17th September 2007, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by anupmathur

You're on tsk1979. When is this likely to happen?

Mid october most probably.
The problem is this
My old HDD is around 73GB actual.
The new one is around 160GB.
I want to mirror my c: and d: as it is(same size) and then create new partitions on the remaining space.
Possible with acronis?

anupmathur · 18th September 2007, 07:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I want to mirror my c: and d: as it is(same size) and then create new partitions on the remaining space.
Possible with acronis?

Yes. The rest of the space can be left 'unallocated'. Later you can create partitions on it.

anupmathur · 18th September 2007, 07:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava

I was thinking of doing weekly/monthly backups of my Laptop. IYO would Acronis be the best software for the same?

I would be storing the backup on an external HDD & would prefer a whole image of the system.

IMO, yes Acronis is one of the best. I use only Acronis True Image Home.
Data backups can be created using a host of software. System backup - ie. physical image of HDD or partition/s on it - is best done with Acronis TI. System backup allows FULL restore of a computer that is not even booting.

The way I recommend setup of a computer is to keep C drive only for Windows. Install all programs in D:\Program Files\ instead of the default C:\Program Files\ folder. This keeps the data on C drive small (typically < 5GB with XPproSP2). Advantage gained is that your C drive image file stays small, allowing very quick restores or allowing you to keep that many more images of your C drive, made at different points of time. (say when you have added more programs etc).
I have not found weekly/monthly INCREMENTAL images to be of much use as they turn out to be of almost the same size as a FULL image. This happens if you regularly de-fragment your drives. If you do not de-fragment, then the incremental image often turns out a LOT smaller.

28th August 2007, 05:33	#31
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,688 Thanked: 23,489 Times View My Garage	I got my HDD and Casing 160GB HDD for 102$(tax, shipping etc., included) SATA 2.5" casing for 11.93, all inclusive. So tonights its tryout time!
	() Thanks

16th September 2007, 18:09	#32
anupmathur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,095 Thanked: 311 Times	How did it go? I'm keen to know which software and what procedure you used. Acronis True Image is the software you were looking for - makes the job a breeze. Very reliable and has been giving Norton Ghost a good run for its money.
	() Thanks

17th September 2007, 04:04	#33
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,688 Thanked: 23,489 Times View My Garage	Very bad. I tried casper, and thought I will just do a one to one copy and then manage the other space. MY HDD became 73GB(same as old one) as casper copied the partition table as it is. So I had to modify the LBA back to the correct value. I guess its going to be the hard way. Mirroring works best for similar sized HDDs
	() Thanks

17th September 2007, 07:21	#34
anupmathur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,095 Thanked: 311 Times	Acronis is THE software. Not necessarily Disc Director or Partition Expert, as someone mentioned earlier. You need only True Image. BTW, what you are calling 'mirroring' is actually 'imaging'. Mirroring is only a kind of data backup. Imaging makes a clone of the drive, like a physical photograph. And neither the drive size has to be same, nor the target partition sizes. I've used 'Acronis True Image Home' for over 2 years on not less than 2 dozen machines, out of which at least 3 were HDD upgrade tasks. I have not tried the friendly ghost, so I cannot comment. With Acronis you never need to fool around with Partition Tables, LBA, MBRs, nothing! Are you saying you have not yet successfully executed the job yet?
	() Thanks

17th September 2007, 12:06	#35
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,688 Thanked: 23,489 Times View My Garage	Well my hard disk size was reduced by these software when I did a complete image copy. Maybe I am just bad with it. I plan to make my drive clean and empty, after this when I come back I delhi, probably you can help me with this stuff
	() Thanks

17th September 2007, 20:46	#36
anupmathur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,095 Thanked: 311 Times	You're on tsk1979. When is this likely to happen?
	() Thanks

17th September 2007, 21:32	#37
iraghava Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 7,993 Thanked: 281 Times View My Garage	Anup - I was thinking of doing weekly/monthly backups of my Laptop. IYO would Acronis be the best software for the same? I would be storing the backup on an external HDD & would prefer a whole image of the system.
	() Thanks