HI Gerald and others, Do not, absolutely do not rely on a single copy of anything! Especially a hard drive image burned to optical media such as DVD.
I've been using Image for Windows for some time now (Leo Laporte's security guru suggestion), and the very few times I've used the DVD recovery media I've noticed odd results. The first time something happened where my Dell desktop would take 5 minutes to boot. The only thing different before and after this quirk was that I used my Image for Windows recovery DVDs. I think there might be an issue in regards to the optical nature and structure of a DVD verses the structure of a magnetic hard drive. I could not continue suffering through that long bootup process, so I had my husband reformat and reinstall Windows from scratch. After that incident, I thought it better to take images to external hard drives, which is a faster process, and the bit for bit backup is much more likely to be reproduced accurately when saving the image to a similar medium. One day when I had to restore my netbook, the process of recovering from a burned image from an external hard drive was flawless, and luckily the long bootup issue did not happen. From that day on, I create backups to external hard drives every couple of weeks, burn images to DVD every month, and use synctoy weekly. Gerald's problem is easy to solve, simply take the burned DVD image, use another drive (many computers nowadays have multiple drives), and use Image for Windows to yank a file. Image for windows allows the user to go into an image and pull needed files if necessary. It is also likely that Gerald's bad drive is due to inferior products big name manufacturers put in their desktops. Profit margin is so razor thin that manufacturers will skimp wherever they can find an opportunity. I had an aftermarket Sony burner in my Dell for about 7 years without the slightest issue. Of course those unknowable reasons why things break cannot be ruled out. LS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gerald Levy" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 6:17 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program As I mentioned a few days ago, I had begun experiencing trouble with the DVD drive built into my five-year-old Dell workstation. So yesterday, it was replaced by a Dell technician. He asked me if I had ever used double-layer disks for recording in the origial drive, because he claimed that they could sometimes cause tracking problems with the laser mechanism. I told him that I had only used single-layer, single-sided CD-R's for recording in the faulty drive, so it must have gone bad for some other reason such as dirt accumulation on the laser lens or just old age. He told me that it is not uncommon for a DVD drive to start experiencing tracking problems when it is four or five years old. Apparently, DVD drive reliability declines with age, so there is no guarantee that an image backup created on a DVD drive that is a few years old will be later recognized or read successfully by that drive , especially if double-layer disks are used. Gerald ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Justice" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 8:25 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program > Setting up a new laptop, and the recovery media creator requires 5 DVD's > using double-sided disks, I can get it done with 3. > Double-sided disks are a great space-saver. > > Rick Justice > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David Ferrin" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 7:36 AM > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program > > > Simple really, I used maximum compression from with in the program itself. > It offers several options from no compression at all, as such creating the > image quite quickly to the max which is much slower. I used two single > sided > DVDs available at your local electronic store. > > Note the version I used when I created tutorial one can't perform this > trick. That was 2.03 if memory serves. They are up to around 2.73 by now. > I > have been receiving free upgrades for over 4.5 years now. > David Ferrin > Compromise is never good if it means sacrificing a principle. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Gerald Levy" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 7:07 AM > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program > > > > You claim that you were able to squeeze 29 gb of data onto two DVD's. How > did you accomplish this amazing feat? A standard single-layer, > single-sided > DVD can store approximately 4.7 gb of data, while a single-layer, > double-sided DVD can store 9.4 gb of data. So assuming you used two > single-layer, double-sided DVD's, you could only store a total of about 19 > gb of data. Did you use some hard-to-find double-layer, double-sided > DVD's, > which can hold about 18.5 gb each? Or did you perhaps use blue ray disks, > which have a much higher storage capacity than standard DVD's, but are > much > more expensive and thus not really practical for frequent image backups? > Or > is there some magical technique for cramming more data onto a DVD than it > can physically store? Just curious. > > Gerald > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David Ferrin" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:21 AM > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program > > >> If memory serves I did the first tutorial almost four and a half years >> ago. >> The program has changed slightly with some new features but it is still >> completely usable with a screen reader. >> >> I like using maximum compression for my images. They take a bit longer >> but >> it minimizes the amount of DVDs you end up using. I just did an image the >> other day and 29 GB fit on two disks, now that's an improvement. >> David Ferrin >> Compromise is never good if it means sacrificing a principle. >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "MWB" <[email protected]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 7:11 AM >> Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program >> >> >> Hi Juan, >> >> The owner of this list & the Jaws-Users list did a 3 part tutorial on >> using >> Image for Windows. Below are the direct download links to all 3 parts; >> >> Part#1: >> >> http://www.jaws-users.com/audio/Utilities/ImageForWindows1.mp3 >> >> Part #2: >> >> http://www.jaws-users.com/audio/Utilities/ImageForWindows2.mp3 >> >> Part #3: >> >> http://www.jaws-users.com/audio/Utilities/ImageForWindows3.mp3 >> >> This 3 part tutorial shows how to create an image and restore it using >> speech the whole way from start to finish >> >> Hope this helps. Take care. >> Mike >> This email was sent from my ILazyBoy. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: Juan's Netbook >> To: [email protected] >> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 4:16 PM >> Subject: [Blind-Computing] the image for windows program >> >> >> Hello everyone: >> i am interested in knowing if has anyone ever used the program image for >> windows? >> I am interested in knowing how to make an image of a hard drive then >> re-store it? >> I would greatly appreciate some tips ideas or perhaps a tutorial >> thanks very much >> >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
