At 02:46 PM 2/17/2010 -0500, you wrote:
I'm in the process of beginning to add peripheral software to my Flex 5K
computer and would appreciate any comments as to the functionalities or
disadvantages of the Acronis Online service in lieu of purchasing the hard
drive.
Thanks,
Pierce W4ZDI
Hi Pierce,
I have used computers for many years ... back from the early days when it
was a toss up whether Microsoft OS would survive hi hi. I have gone
through many computers and I have had many failures for as many reasons as
you can imagine. I have learned a few things about backups that are pretty
basic. First I look at backups in two distinct categories ..... 1. the OS
and program installation and 2. Data.
Second Category first: .... All our (the xyl and I) documents,
pictures, records, audio books, video's, E-mails, etc .... All told it
presently comes to just under 500 GB .... which seems like a lot ... but in
this day with the huge HDD available ... no problem. I use a network
system to back up this data and make it available ... eg to multi-media
centre ... via a central server (an old computer in other words hi hi). I
always have a couple of copies available in our home ... and I keep another
off the property in case of a fire or a beak-in. I use very simple
synchronizing software to keep the central storage HDD's up to date.
First Category is quite different. This category is the computer OS and
installed programs. Generally speaking I have found that no matter how
many programs I install a 50 GB HDD or partition is all I need. No Data
allowed on this partition ... except what little bit is demanded by
particular computer programs. So if I have 1 HDD on a particular computer
the first thing I do is partition the Drive into a C: and D: partition ....
and as I mentioned C: never needs to be bigger than 50GB. You can make it
bigger if you wish ... but the objective is to keep the amount of material
in the active partition as small as possible by keeping all data elsewhere.
Then, from the very first time this is done and the OS and program software
is installed I make an "image" of the whole C: partition and I call it
"Image 1" .... very original hihi. Then as I install new software or make
any significant changes to the C: partition ... and everything seems stable
... I will then make a second image and call it "Image 2" and on and
on. Each image has a description encoded in it outlining the significance
of this image. Then, at any time I can "restore" partition C: on the old
HDD or a new one if I wish to make a hardware change .... using any image
... putting me back exactly as it was when created. Gone are the days of
re-installing the OS and programs ... and re-doing all the settings
etc.. I keep these images in a folder which is included with my regular
backup's.
I use Acronis Ture Image .... there are others ... Symantics also has a
similar backup program I think it is called 'Ghost'. I have found Acronis
to be very reliable. When installing new software and I find it a little
'buggy' it is only a 10 minute (max) operation to restore it to the
previous state. I can see it would be attractive to save the images
on-line .... however I have a system whereby I exchange external HDD once a
month or so with my safety deposit box hi .... a pattern I used with
College records before I retired hi hi.
My kids all use Mac computers and they tell me the new OS includes backup
software that backs up the whole drive including OS and programs at every
stage of change ... and allows the user to put the computer completely back
to the way it was at any time. I have not really looked into it to see if
similar software is available for Windows OS's since my system serves my
purpose .... but I can see where a more automated system would be very useful.
73,
Jim, VE3CI
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