O.T. Best Cloning Software

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

I can't speak to trueimage - as I haven't used it. It could be a grand package, and it could be a bust, I wouldn't know. I can tell you however that if you have a drive failing - and you just have to save everything on it - ghost is a good tool. Create an image file (or in most cases files as it will create spanned images when putting the files to a FAT file system) - even burn em to dvd's as needed. Every drive on your block can fail if ya do that - and you can slap in another and be running just like before the crash within about 30 minutes (for a full size, all apps and games installed image).

Same with True Image. The difference is only that True Image is a GUI based program. With either method one thing is necessary and I've been surprised how many people have these programs and don't do it.

You have to make that bootable rescue disk to run Ghost or True Image independently of your installed operating system. OK, there's two things: your disk image should be on another medium than your functioning boot drive. If the boot drive augers in it takes its image with it. So both your Ghost/True Image and your disk image should be on separate media. Your Ghost/True Image program has to be on a bootable media because your worst-case scenario (the one you WILL encounter unless you're ready for it) is that your boot drive becomes a paperweight and your computer won't boot at all. (this space reserved for overly technical nit-picking clarifications)

When everything is in order for restoration, hard drives' lives are measured in decades.:rotfl: